Category Archives: Dance Science

Reminder: Roehampton research seminar, 17 Feb: Judith Lynne Hanna ‘The Performing Brain’

Dance Science, Research Seminars

The Centre for Dance Research, University of Roehampton, presents:

The Performing Brain: Dance, Cognition, Emotion, and Movement

Dr Judith Lynne Hanna, Affiliate Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland

17 February 2016, 1-2pm, LU.052 Lulham, Froebel Campus, University of Roehampton SW15 5PJ

Free, all welcome, no need to book

Be surprised about what is hidden from our sight. Technological advances in neuroscience are helping to unravel secrets about the cognitive, emotional, and movement power of dance. Its multisensory language shares places in the brain for verbal language, and thus dance has powerful communication potential in expressing ideas and feelings. Equally important, do you need smarts? Dance as physical exercise sparks new brain cells, their interconnections and neural plasticity – the brain’s amazing ability to change throughout life. Moreover, dance helps us to reduce, resist, and escape stress that interferes with performance and the acquisition of all kinds of knowledge. The mysterious brain choreographs the operations underlying the complex feat of dance.

An anthropologist/dance scholar at the University of Maryland, US, Dr. Judith Lynne Hanna has explored the relationship between dance and society in African villages and cities and American theaters, school playgrounds and classrooms as well as adult entertainment clubs and their communities. Dance and the brain is a current interest. See .

More: 

CDR research seminar, 17 Feb: Judith Lynne Hanna – The Performing Brain: Dance, Cognition, Emotion, and Movement

Dance Science, Research Seminars

Centre for Dance Research, University of Roehampton presents:

‘The Performing Brain: Dance, Cognition, Emotion, and Movement’

Dr Judith Lynne Hanna, Affiliate Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland

17 February 2016, 1-2pm, LU.052 Lulham, Froebel Campus, University of Roehampton SW15 5PJ
Free, all welcome, no need to book

Be surprised about what is hidden from our sight. Technological advances in neuroscience are helping to unravel secrets about the cognitive, emotional, and movement power of dance. Its multisensory language shares places in the brain for verbal language, and thus dance has powerful communication potential in expressing ideas and feelings. Equally important, do you need smarts? Dance as physical exercise sparks new brain cells, their interconnections and neural plasticity – the brain’s amazing ability to change throughout life. Moreover, dance helps us to reduce, resist, and escape stress that interferes with performance and the acquisition of all kinds of knowledge. The mysterious brain choreographs the operations underlying the complex feat of dance.

An anthropologist/dance scholar at the University of Maryland, US, Dr. Judith Lynne Hanna has explored the relationship between dance and society in African villages and cities and American theaters, school playgrounds and classrooms as well as adult entertainment clubs and their communities. Dance and the brain is a current interest. See .

More: 

Tenure-track position in Dance Science

Dance Science, Job Adverts
In the area of DANCE SCIENCE at the University of Calgary in Canada.
Please take a look at the online posting  or the detailed description included below”The Faculty of Arts (Dance Division, School of Creative and Performing Arts) and the Faculty of Kinesiology invite applications for a joint tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the area of Dance Science. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2016.

The University of Calgary’s combined Bachelor of Arts (Dance) / Bachelor of Kinesiology degree, the first of its kind in Canada, highlights the relationships between the sciences, arts, and humanities, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives in the investigation of movement studies and promoting a holistic paradigm for examining human movement. The successful candidate will serve as the liaison between the Dance Division of the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) and the Faculty of Kinesiology and will provide leadership and mentoring to students enrolled in the combined program.

The successful candidate will have earned a Ph.D. in Kinesiology or a related discipline and a Master of Arts/Fine Arts in Dance or Dance Science.  Candidates should have an established or emerging program of research and scholarly activities, thereby demonstrating potential to become a leader in their research field, as evidenced by publications, presentations, and external funding. They should also have demonstrated a commitment to teaching excellence at the undergraduate level; successful graduate teaching experience will be a distinct asset.

Teaching responsibilities will involve courses from both the Dance Division of the SCPA and the Faculty of Kinesiology, including required courses in each program and additional courses related to the successful candidate’s area(s) of expertise. Preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate a commitment to service within a university setting or the wider community. The successful candidate will also be expected to provide active engagement in the field of Dance Science, connecting the University of Calgary to the broader national and international community of Dance Science researchers and professional associations, and to be active within the Calgary dance community, making connections to dance companies and dance training centers.

The School of Creative and Performing Arts is a community of practicing creators, performers and scholars who, with expert technical and administrative support, are dedicated to the education of artists and critical thinkers in the context of a University devoted to the formation of intelligent and engaged citizens.  In addition to a deep engagement with the foundation of their chosen discipline(s), students have the opportunity enrich their education through structured encounters with the other disciplines in the School and beyond. Additional graduate degrees in interarts performance are currently in development. As such, experience and/or expertise in interarts and interdisciplinary practice and research will be an asset. For more information about the School, please visit .

The Faculty of Kinesiology’s vision is to be an international leader in the study and advancement of human movement, sport, health, and wellness. Our Faculty is committed to creating a healthier society and our research shows that the key to better health is exercise. We advocate for healthy, active living and we are working to create a healthier society by preventing injury, reversing unhealthy trends such as obesity and diabetes, and by helping individuals return to the activities they enjoy as quickly as possible after injury or disease. The Faculty of Kinesiology also includes Active Living, Dinos Athletics, the Olympic Oval, and the Sport Medicine Centre. For more information about the Faculty, please visit .

Interested individuals are asked to submit their application electronically. Please provide a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching philosophy, a statement of research interests, evidence of successful teaching, no more than four samples of scholarly and/or creative work, and three confidential letters of reference sent directly to the Chair of the Academic Selection Committee (Bruce Barton, Director, SCPA). All materials should be forwarded to:

Bruce Barton, Director
School of Creative and Performing Arts
University of Calgary
CHD100, 2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4

These materials can also be sent electronically in confidence to .

Applications will be accepted until January 25, 2016.

Call for Papers: STS and Artistic Research

Conference Call, Dance and Technology, Dance Science

We welcome paper abstracts to the track STS and Artistic Research at the 4S/EASST Conference in Barcelona August 31 – September 3, 2016.

In this track, we propose a dialogue of STS research on the arts and Artistic Research. It covers studies of artistic practices, reflexive practitioners at the boundaries between the arts and science, technology, and medicine, as well as arts-based research methods and enhanced modes of publication.

Convenors:

Trevor Pinch, Henk Borgdorff and Peter Peters

 

If you would want to discuss your abstract with us, please send us an email. We would be happy if you could forward this call for papers to anyone you think might be interested.

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STS scholars have studied the arts in relation to questions about science and its history, e.g. exploring the role of artists in creating the visual apparatus used by scientists. Recent work in STS has focused on the backstage, practical and preparatory activities constituting works of art or people’s engagement with these works. The interest in artistic practices can be linked to research agenda’s in STS such as subjectivity and the senses, technology and materiality, boundary work, and embodied, situated, and enacted forms of cognition.

STS emphasizes the constitutive role of practices and things in the production of knowledge and technologies. This ‘practice turn’ is manifest in the field of Artistic Research, positioned at the interface of art worlds and academic research. In artistic research, material practices and things – e.g. performances or artefacts – are in a methodological sense the vehicles through which knowledge and understanding can be gained. Epistemologically they embody the knowledge and understanding we gain. This type of research does not easily fit the conventional frameworks and values of actors and institutions in science and technology.

This track proposes a dialogue of STS research on the arts and Artistic Research. It could include topics such as studies of artistic practices; reflexive practitioners at the boundaries between the arts and science, technology, and medicine; non-propositional forms of reasoning; unconventional (arts-based) research methods and enhanced modes of presentation and publication. Contributors are invited to use alternative (rich-media) formats for their presentations.

The deadline for submissions is 21st February 2016

Abstracts should be submitted at 

More information about this track can be found at

New publication at Dance Books – ‘Dance Science’ by Gayanne Grossman

Dance Science, Publications

Rather than focusing on dance injuries, this new book takes a positive approach showing what a dancer can do to dance better, which, in turn, will decrease injury rates. It presents human anatomy and motion in a functional, dance-specific way that teaches the readers to appreciate and take ownership of their bodies through a tour of the musculoskeletal system and movement analysis.

As usual, you’ll find full details and ordering facilities at the Dance Books web site: