The Neurocognition of Dance

Bettina Bläsing is a research scientist at the Neurocognition and Action Research Group at Bielefeld University, responsible investigator at the Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), and member of the Research Institute for Cognition and Robotics (CoR-Lab). Her main research interests are the control and learning of complex movements, mental representations of the body, movement, actions and skills and neurocognitive aspects and expertise in dance. Martin Puttke was formerly a dancer, headmaster and artistic director of the State Ballet School Berlin. He was also the ballet director of the State Opera Ballet Company Berlin and of the Aalto Ballett Theater Essen. He is a renowned ballet pedagogue. In 1988 he became a Professor at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch" Berlin. His main interest is the renewal of the school of classical dance by his new system DANAMOS. Thomas Schack is Professor and head of the Neurocognition and Action Research Group at Bielefeld University. He is principal investigator at the Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) and member of the Research Institute for Cognition and Robotics (CoR-Lab). His main research interests concern mental movement representation, mental training, cognitive robotics and the neurocognitive basis of complex movement.

I. Wachsmuth, Preface. B. Bläsing, M. Puttke, T. Schacke, Preface: Towards a Neurocognitive Science of Dance - Two Worlds Approaching or Two Approaches to the Same World of Movement? Part 1. The Scientist's Perspective. T. Schack, "Do Your Senses Tingle?" Building Blocks and Architecture of Dance. D. Rosenbaum, Shall We Dance? Action Researchers and Dancers Can Move Together. H. Cruse, M. Schilling, Getting Cognitive. B. Bläsing, The Dancer's Memory: Expertise and Cognitive Structures in Dance. Part 2. The Dance Perspective. M. Puttke, Learning to Dance Means Learning to Think! G. Zöllig, Searching for That Other Land of Dance: The Phases in Developing a Choreography. G. BenZion, Overcoming the Dyslexia Barrier: The Role of Kinesthetic Stimuli in the Teaching of Spelling. Part 3. Neurocognitive Studies of Dance. B. Calvo-Merino, Neural Mechansims for Seeing Dance. E. Cross, Building a Dance in the Human Brain: Insights from Expert and Novice Dancers. C. Jola, Research and Choreography: Merging Dance and Cognitive Neuroscience.