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AbstractDance learning through online videos has gained popularity, but it presents challenges in providing comprehensive information and personalized feedback. This paper introduces DanceSculpt, a system that utilizes 3D human reconstruction and tracking technology to enhance the dance learning experience. DanceSculpt consists of a dancer viewer that reconstructs dancers in video into 3D avatars and a dance feedback tool that analyzes and compares the user’s performance with that of the reference dancer. We conducted a comparative study to investigate the effectiveness of DanceSculpt against conventional video-based learning. Participants’ dance performances were evaluated using a motion comparison algorithm that measured the temporal and spatial deviation between the users’ and reference dancers’ movements in terms of pose, trajectory, formation, and timing accuracy. Additionally, user experience was assessed through questionnaires and interviews, focusing on aspects such as effectiveness, usefulness, and satisfaction with the system. The results showed that participants using DanceSculpt achieved significant improvements in dance performance compared to those using conventional methods. Furthermore, the participants rated DanceSculpt highly in terms of effectiveness (avg. 4.27) and usefulness (avg. 4.17) for learning dance. The DanceSculpt system demonstrates the potential of leveraging 3D human reconstruction and tracking technology to provide a more informative and interactive dance learning experience. By offering detailed visual information, multiple viewpoints, and quantitative performance feedback, DanceSculpt addresses the limitations of traditional video-based learning and supports learners in effectively analyzing and improving their dance skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports visualization has developed into an active research field over the last decades. Many approaches focus on analyzing movement data recorded from unstructured situations, such as soccer. For the analysis of choreographed activities like formation dancing, however, the goal differs, as dancers follow specific formations in coordinated movement trajectories. To date, little work exists on how visual analytics methods can support such choreographed performances. To fill this gap, we introduce a new visual approach for planning and assessing dance choreographies. In terms of planning choreographies, we contribute a web application with interactive authoring tools and views for the dancers' positions and orientations, movement trajectories, poses, dance floor utilization, and movement distances. For assessing dancers' real‐world movement trajectories, extracted by manual bounding box annotations, we developed a timeline showing aggregated trajectory deviations and a dance floor view for detailed trajectory comparison. Our approach was developed and evaluated in collaboration with dance instructors, showing that introducing visual analytics into this domain promises improvements in training efficiency for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of breath, close physical proximity, and tactile cues are some of the unique facets of dance training. In March of 2020, as COVID-19 lockdowns occurred, these aspects were removed from the lexicon of dance educators as virtual learning took the place of in-person training. This data-driven project explores the benefits and challenges of virtual dance, examining whether online dance can acutely improve mental health and enhance social connectivity. We explore our findings from an education perspective, focusing on learning style, class experience, and dance history. Our findings suggest that online dance can improve mood and increase community connectedness in healthy adults. Importantly, we found that an individual's trait learning style can influence the effectiveness of online learning, with tactile learners benefitting the most in terms of mood state and visual learners benefitting the most in terms of social connectivity. Additionally, we found that greater levels of experienced enjoyment provided the greatest benefits to mood state, whereas greater levels of perceived difficulty may have detrimental effects. We suggest best practices for online dance learning, provide future areas of research, and highlight the importance of using online learning to increase dance accessibility to diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the basic skills of a dancer is the ability to keep the body balance (aplomb) while performing various dance figures. These movements are often performed with limited vision control due to dynamic motion or environmental conditions. Our aim was to verify whether the exercises with eyes closed of the ballet school students would reduce postural sway whilst improving the body balance. The training without visual feedback forces the body to rely more on information from the proprioceptive system about the alignment and motion of body parts in relation to each other and the external environment. In a group of thirteen female students of Comprehensive Ballet School, a significant reduction in postural sway was already found after three weeks of the nine-week training. This phenomenon occurred only during quiet standing with eyes closed. The use of stabilographic testing can be recommended as an objective evaluation of the aplomb level in ballet dancers. At the same time, this research showed that the introduction of ballet exercises with eyes closed improved postural stability without compromising stability with eyes open. Therefore, it can be assumed that such exercises do not harm but rather may be beneficial for the development of aplomb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ballerina Tamara Karsavina experienced vast shifts from romantic and post-romantic performance styles to twentieth-century modernism. In the first section of this essay, I give an overview of these shifts; then, I explore Karsavina's writings for insights into her views on performance and artistry. In her writing, she develops her artistic credo and expresses the conviction that to contribute to a living art form, ballet dancers must deepen their expressivity while expanding technique and their practice of classical mime. For her, the future of ballet can be found in the traditions of the danse d'école and the classical repertoire [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the most enigmatic passages in the so-called 'diary' of Vaslav Nijinsky are the four descriptions of the walks Nijinsky presumably took around St. Moritz where he moved in 1917. This article concerns research on these walks conducted by the author in St. Moritz, by means of wayfaring as conceptualized by Tim Ingold. It presents the current state of the sites mentioned by the dancer and hypothesizes about his routes and the dramatic effects of walks through the Upper Engandine landscape. It also ponders the impossibility of accessing the 'original' sites, and hence the walks as they happened, as well as the advantages of this impossibility for a more open dance history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic TikTok became a vibrant virtual space to circulate dance performances and challenges when other forms of movement were heavily restricted. A new generation of Irish dancers joined the app to share their choreographies and creativity, bringing this form of Irish culture to young global audiences. Evident as part of this trend were new mediations of Irishness attached to the cultural concerns of Gen Z (primary users of the TikTok app). African American Irish dancer, Morgan Bullock, provides an informative case study on the tensions that emerge between national Irish and diasporic identities. Articulations of Ireland as especially inclusive are explored through a range of popular culture productions including viral short videos, comment sections, television series and dance performances. These explorations reveal layers of meaning attached to "being Irish" through the contestations and negotiations of Irish identity in online spaces. The article concludes that while performances of inclusion carry considerable weight in virtual spaces like TikTok, this is not for the most part reflected in the social and political policies that shape the everyday experiences of people of colour living and working in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to analyse the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Self-Estimated Functional Inability due to Pain Questionnaire (SEFIP) in Dance Conservatory students. For this purpose, the Self-Estimated Functional Inability Because Of Pain (SEFIP) instrument was used, translated into Spanish, validated by experts and administered to a total of 451 students from the Professional and Superior Dance Conservatories of Andalusia (418 females = 92.7%; 33 males = 7.3%) aged 10 and 48 years (M = 18.66; SD = 5.296). The structure of the instrument was then analysed using confirmatory procedures. The Spanish version of the instrument was named Cuestionario de Incapacidad Funcional Autoestimada debido al Dolor. The results show that the model that presents correct fits in the confirmatory analysis is the one-factor model. The model fit data were very good: χ2/gl = 3.37, p = .000; CFI = .94; NFI = .95; GFI = .91; RMSEA = .07 (90% CI = .603; .821). The results support the validity and reliability of this instrument in this population to be used to prevent injuries in dancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music training is associated with better beat processing in the auditory modality. However, it is unknown how rhythmic training that emphasizes visual rhythms, such as dance training, might affect beat processing, nor whether training effects in general are modality specific. Here we examined how music and dance training interacted with modality during audiovisual integration and synchronization to auditory and visual isochronous sequences. In two experiments, musicians, dancers, and controls completed an audiovisual integration task and an audiovisual target-distractor synchronization task using dynamic visual stimuli (a bouncing figure). The groups performed similarly on the audiovisual integration tasks (Experiments 1 and 2). However, in the finger-tapping synchronization task (Experiment 1), musicians were more influenced by auditory distractors when synchronizing to visual sequences, while dancers were more influenced by visual distractors when synchronizing to auditory sequences. When participants synchronized with whole-body movements instead of finger-tapping (Experiment 2), all groups were more influenced by the visual distractor than the auditory distractor. Taken together, this study highlights how training is associated with audiovisual processing, and how different types of visual rhythmic stimuli and different movements alter beat perception and production outcome measures. Implications for the modality appropriateness hypothesis are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An anecdote, ascribed to Dicaearchus by Athenaeus (13.603.a–b) and found also in Plutarch (Alexander 67.7–8), details Alexander's kissing of the eunuch Bagoas during theatrical contests in Carmania in 325 bce. This article examines the enthusiastic response that this encounter is said to have elicited from Alexander's soldiers. It is suggested that this impromptu kiss was read as a display of homoerotic behaviour that was fundamentally Greek, and even as a gesture of Greek domination over Persians, and that, as such, it was welcomed by the army as a momentary departure from the increasingly Persianized behaviour of the king himself and of his court. Further, consideration is given to the possibility that the choral contest in which Bagoas is reported to have competed prior to the kiss may have been an innovative form of pyrrhic dance, in which for the first time the dancers depicted Dionysus' conquest of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a case study design, we explored two ballet dancers' perfectionism experiences via interviews and questionnaires at two time points 5 years apart. They represented the two types of "pure perfectionism" in the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism: a female representing pure personal standards perfectionism (high perfectionistic strivings, low perfectionistic concerns) and a male representing pure evaluative concerns perfectionism (low perfectionistic strivings, high perfectionistic concerns). The pure personal standards perfectionism dancer reported stable perfectionism across time, seemingly resilient to any perfectionistic concerns developing. She attributed this to her stable, grounded personality, also reporting autonomous motivation and performance success. The dancer representing pure evaluative concerns perfectionism reported increased perfectionistic strivings and lowered perfectionistic concerns over time; concurrently, his motivation became less controlled and more autonomous. He described the reasons in terms of improved basic psychological needs satisfaction and personal growth. Overall, autonomy might be important in mitigating perfectionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To report normative stiffness parameters obtained using shear wave elastography in dorsiflexion from the Achilles tendons in asymptomatic professional ballet dancers and compare them with college-level athletes. Methods: An Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved study consists of 28 professional ballet dancers and 64 asymptomatic collegiate athletes. The athletes were further subdivided into runner and non-runner disciplines. Shear wave elastography (SWE) measurements were made in maximum ankle dorsiflexion position. Results and discussion: Forty-eight (52%) males and 44 (48%) females were examined with an overall mean age of 22.2 (± 3.8 years). There were no significant SWE differences between dominant and non-dominant legs in both groups and comparing spin vs. non-spin leg of ballet dancers (p > 0.05). Ballet dancers had significantly higher short-axis velocity values than runners and non-runners (2.34 m/s increase and 2.79 m/s increase, respectively, p < 0.001). Long-axis velocity was significantly higher in ballet dancers compared to non-runners (by 0.80 m/s, p < 0.001), but was not different between ballet dancers and runners (p > 0.05). Short-axis modulus was significantly higher in dancers compared to runners and non-runners (by 135.2 kPa and 159.2 kPa, respectively, p < 0.001). Long-axis modulus (LAM) was not significantly different in ballet dancers when compared to runners. Conclusion: Asymptomatic professional ballet dancers exhibit greater short-axis tendon stiffness compared to athletes and greater long-axis tendon stiffness compared to non-runners but similar to runners. The functional benefit from elevated short-axis stiffness in dancers is not clear but may be related to greater axial loading and adaptations of the tendon matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mikhuspa ukyaspa ima tinkuyku is Quechua for “eating and drinking, we encounter one another.” Food and drinks have historically been important mediators in the development and renewal of relationships of reciprocity in the Andean region. This article demonstrates how contemporary Andean people continue to use food and drinks to mediate encounters where knowledge transmission and community building take place. In particular, the article explains how members of a dance troupe in Cusco, Peru, use food and drinks to integrate its new members into the dance troupe, teach them the traditions of the group, and explore and (re)define their relationships of reciprocity. By sharing food and drinks, dancers connect their Quechua heritage with their lived experiences to explore and (re)shape their own identities. The article employs a research methodology that centers local epistemology, particularly the Quechua concept of tinkuy, defined as an encounter of different elements that creates something new. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Le syndrome du carrefour postérieur de la cheville (SCP) est la traduction d'un conflit mécanique, parfois aigu mais beaucoup plus souvent chronique, entre les parois osseuses du carrefour et les éléments osseux et tissulaires que l'on y rencontre. Ce conflit survient lors d'un mouvement de flexion plantaire forcé. La compression intéresse le plus souvent des éléments osseux : partie postérieure du talus ou un os trigone, mais aussi des éléments tissulaires : culs-de-sac synoviaux, complexe ligamentaire postérieur. Le tendon du long fléchisseur du gros orteil ou Flexor Hallucis Longus (FHL) peut également être impliqué. L'examen clinique est essentiel pour évoquer le diagnostic de SCP avec le test d'impaction postérieure. L'imagerie va le confirmer. Les radiographies standard sont indispensables ; la tomodensitométrie complète l'étude osseuse et l'imagerie par résonance magnétique va mieux visualiser les éléments tissulaires éventuellement en cause. La scintigraphie couplée au scanner est indiquée en cas de doute diagnostique Le traitement du syndrome du carrefour postérieur est avant tout conservateur, associant repos, immobilisation, infiltrations, rééducation et modifications du geste sportif. En cas de persistance de la symptomatologie, un traitement chirurgical sera nécessaire : résection d'un os trigone ou d'un processus postéro-externe du talus, libération du FHL, synovectomie, selon les structures en cause. Jusqu'à une période récente, ces gestes étaient effectués à ciel ouvert. Actuellement, le développement de l'arthroscopie de cheville permet d'effectuer les mêmes gestes, mais avec une morbidité moindre et une récupération plus rapide. The posterior ankle impingement syndrome is a pain syndrome caused by compression of bony or soft tissues structures in the posterior tibiocalcaneal interval. Overuse injury is more frequent than acute trauma. The impingement occurs during a forced plantar flexion of the foot. It is described in ballet dancers, soccers or football players. The pathology involved mainly the bones structures: posterolateral talar process or os trigonum, but also soft tissues as synovitis and posterior ligaments. The FHL tendon can present a tendinopathy. The forced hyperplantar test is most important for the diagnosis, reprodiucing the posterior pain reported by the patient. Plains radiographs, CT scan will show osseous lesions. MRI will focus on the soft tissue lesions or bone marrowedema. A spect-CT scan may be helpful in case of doubt. The treatment is first conservative: rest, immobilisation, cortisone injection, physicaltherapy and adaptation of the sport activities. Surgery is indicated for recalcitrant pain: excision of os trigonum or prominent posterior process, release of the FHL tendon, resection of scar tissue, depending of the origin of the inpingement. These procedures were commonly performed by posterior open approach, but endoscopic procedure became now the main technic with a less morbidity and a quicker recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific aesthetic features of the object and observer's expertise seem to be related to the perception of motion aesthetics. How differing kinematic motion characteristics and their manifestation are related to the perception of motion aesthetics and how this relates to the observer's expertise is still investigated. It is hypothesized that different manifestations of the kinematic motion characteristics amplitude, fluency, and complexity are related to perceived motion aesthetics of dance skills and observer's expertise. Dancers' and non-dancers' perception of motion aesthetics was assessed when watching stick-figure video sequences of semi-standardized dance jumps, classified relating to three kinematic motion characteristics and their semantic differentials. Large, fluent, and complex dance jumps were perceived as more aesthetic than small, jerky, and simple jumps. There was no general effect on the observer's expertise. Nevertheless, non-dancers gave higher aesthetic ratings for complex dance jumps than dancers. Findings indicate that expertise does not relate to the perception of motion aesthetics per se. In contrast, specific kinematic motion characteristics of dance jumps do. Amplitude and fluency seem to be remarkable objective aesthetic qualities when perceiving motion aesthetics of dance skills. The observed dance skills' complexity appears to be a critical parameter when addressing observers with different expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dancers with disabilities are increasingly participating in performances throughout Asia. In this article, based on long-term research, I provide an analysis of changeABLE cohesion , a mixed-abled, intercultural performance co-created by Sri Lankan dancers and Gerda König, choreographer of the renowned German DIN A13 dance company. The article focuses on the experiences and interpretations of the dancers, analyzing the creative process they employed as well as the long-term impacts that participation in changeABLE cohesion had on their lives and work. By providing the perspectives of multiple actors, the article seeks to demonstrate how an expansive ethnographic approach can enrich our understanding of disability and intercultural performances and provide the means to more accurately address the many thorny ethical questions they raise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 1999, I took my final curtsey as an aspiring ballet dancer in London. At the time, I was devastated, having been "assessed out" by the ballet school I'd attended the year after I finished high school in Ireland. I wish I knew then what I know now: there are no endings in a career, just different paths. It took a few more iterations for me to learn that lesson. I hope my experience described in this article can provide some reassurance for anyone out there grappling with their next career move. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimizing postural sway during tiptoe standing is essential for ballet dancers. Investigation of the activity of the plantar intrinsic foot muscles (PIFMs) may provide insight into postural sway in dancers. Herein, we compared PIFM activity during tiptoe standing between dancers and non-dancers and examined its relationship with postural sway. We enrolled 14 female ballet dancers and 13 female non-dancers. Electromyography (EMG) amplitudes of 64 channels of PIFMs and center of pressure (COP) data were recorded during bipedal tiptoe standing tasks performed with ankle plantarflexion angles of 20°, 40°, and 60° (dancers only). The EMG amplitudes were normalized to those during the maximum voluntary contraction, and the muscle activity level and its coefficient of variation over time (EMG-CV time) during the task were assessed. Standard deviations in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions, velocity, and area were calculated from the COP data. Most COP and EMG variables were significantly lower in dancers than in non-dancers in both the 20° and 40° tasks (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were found between most combinations of the COP and EMG variables in both the 20° and 40° tasks in the whole cohort (r = 0.468–0.807, p ≤ 0.014). In the 60° task in dancers, COP velocity was strongly correlated with EMG-CV time (r = 0.700, p = 0.005). These results provide novel evidence that the PIFMs do not require high activity, but rather that its low, steady activity is the key, to achieve less postural sway during bipedal tiptoe standing in dancers. • Plantar intrinsic muscle activity is low while dancers are standing on tiptoe. • Postural sway correlates with variability of plantar intrinsic muscle activity. • Plantar intrinsic muscle activity increases with greater ankle plantarflexion angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether you are a sophisticated critic or an untrained spectator, when it comes to our experience of dance, we are generally able to appreciate the way a dancer's bodily movements fit the music. Our experience of dance thus lends itself to a range of crossmodal judgments, that is, our perception of dance enables us to make claims that purport to be about how bodily movements which can be visually seen fit together with aspects of the music which can be heard or felt. But we are not determined to perceive every case of fit unproblematically. That it is possible one may fail to initially perceive a fit that others claim ought to be viewable suggests that there is a normative dimension to this phenomenon. In this article, I argue that we can explain the source of this normativity with a multisensory account of dance. More specifically, I argue that dance is a novel feature type, a feature of perceptual experience that is essentially multimodal. The basic perception of dance, which grounds more sophisticated forms of judgment concerning crossmodal fit downstream, is the actualization of a unique multisensory capacity that non-inferentially tracks a real, fundamental connection between music and movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with American poet Susan Howe's is presented. She discusses her work integrating poetry and live performance. She combines her identity with archives and archival fragments, transforming them into poetry. Howe, a classically trained ballet dancer with the New York City Ballet, collaborates with physicists, theatre artists, and visual artists to create innovative choreographic productions, focusing on Jennifer Homans's biography.

The present article brings to light new information about Thomas Peadle, a representative of the younger generation of a late 16th- and early 17th-century family of strolling entertainers, whose career has been very imperfectly documented. Archival materials relating to his marriage in Amsterdam in 1639, his presence at Delft in 1640, and his appearance at The Hague in 1641 suggest that Peadle took his troupe on a tour of The Low Countries in the 1630s and early 1640s. Further evidence of his theatrical activities on the continent is contained in an agreement for co-operation concluded at Paris on 22 October 1649 between Peadle and Thomas Cosby, a fellow rope dancer, on the one hand, and Florent Marchand, a French 'water-spouter', on the other. They continued their joint performances in England, where their co-operation ended in 1650, culminating in the English partners' ruthless exposure of Marchand's 'trade secrets'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the book "The Industrial Ephemeral: Labor and Love in Indian Architecture and Construction" by Namita Vijay Dharia. The book explores the intersection of gender, race, and transnational identity in the context of Indian architecture and construction. It examines how power dynamics in the industry lead to mistreatment and body shaming of performers who do not meet certain standards, as well as the silencing of dancers' bodies and voices. The book also discusses the role of caste structure in the industry, although it is noted that there is a lack of detailed exploration on this topic. Overall, the book provides valuable insights into the experiences of workers in the Indian architecture and construction industry. [Extracted from the article]

"The Dancer's Voice: Performance and Womanhood in Transnational India" by Rumya Sree Putcha explores the complexities of power relations in Indian dance performance and their connection to questions of citizenship and transnationalism. The book examines the silencing of lower caste hereditary performing women in Indian classical dance, the erasure of courtesan community women as public cultural performers, the intersectionality of caste and gender in cultural spaces, and the layers of silences within classical dance performances. While the book makes significant contributions to gender and cultural studies, it lacks a clear delineation of the caste structure and assumes readers' familiarity with Indian caste dynamics. [Extracted from the article]

This book review discusses the biography of Michael Somes, a dancer, director, and choreographer in the Royal Ballet. The author highlights Somes' influence on Frederick Ashton and the careers of many principal dancers in the company. The biography explores Somes' early training, his rise to principal dancer and partner of Margot Fonteyn, and his later roles as repetiteur and assistant director. The review acknowledges Somes' strict discipline and irascible nature, but also emphasizes his generosity, love for the dancers, and dedication to the art of ballet. The author notes that Somes' contributions were privately acknowledged by the company, despite his abrupt dismissal in 1984. The review concludes by praising the book as a fascinating and readable history of English ballet from the 1940s onwards. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the evolution of the term "classy" within the strip club industry and its impact on dancers. Topics include the shift from gritty, small-time clubs to upscale establishments, the use of "classy" to enforce appearance and behavior standards, and the inherent classism and exclusion embedded in the term.

The image of the Apsara, a celestial dancer in Cambodian myth, is closely associated with Cambodian cultural preservation practices like Cambodian classical dance. The Apsara, its aesthetic features and its association with Cambodian cultural preservation have taken on new meaning in Cambodia's diasporic communities. In the diaspora, Apsara aesthetics have come to symbolize Cambodian heritage, history and identity, becoming a major feature of performances by Cambodian diasporic artists. However, orientalist expectations of Asian performers in the diaspora, paired with both the forgotten history of colonial intervention in Cambodian arts and state-sanctioned initiatives towards Cambodian nationalism, contributes to orientalist (and thus racialized) expectations of Cambodian diasporic performance. Mixed-race artists fail to fit neatly into the dominant narratives of Cambodian performance and have been marginalized by the Cambodian diasporic community's dominant conceptions of performance that are rooted in cultural preservation. As people that sit outside of the aestheticized markers of Cambodian-ness, mixed-race artists often struggle to have their work and their subjectivities recognized by their communities. To circumvent questions of their racial legibility, mixed-race Cambodian American artists construct performances that are strategically padded with markers of Khmer identity by engaging with Apsara aesthetics. This article will explore how three different SoCal-based artists have negotiated their Cambodian American identity and cultural politics through performance and/or performance related materials (ads, images, etc.). I will be using examples from the work of music artist and violinist Chrysanthe Tan, theater practitioner Kalean Ung, and autoethnographic engagement with my own creative projects to show how examining the work of multi-racial Cambodian American performing artists can bring forth the complex dynamics of Cambodian diasporic cultural politics and belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Color ontogeny and variations associated with discrete morphological differences may generate taxonomical challenges, which requires multiple data types and in-depth historical review. The nudibranch known as the Spanish dancer, Hexabranchus sanguineus, is a classic example with over 200 years of taxonomic confusion. Currently, H. sanguineus is accepted by most authors as a single species from the Indo-Pacific Ocean with Hexabranchus morsomus as a valid species from the Atlantic Ocean. Yet, despite these species being highly studied, their systematic status remains debatable. Over 30 synonyms have been proposed for H. sanguineus and even a distinct genus for H. morsomus. Here we provide, for the first time, a comprehensive review of all proposed names and an integrative taxonomic revision of the genus including morphological and molecular data. Our results reveal that H. sanguineus is a complex of five species: four previously described and an undescribed species, one of the largest nudibranchs in the world: Hexabranchus giganteus sp. nov. The genus Caribranchus is considered a junior synonym of Hexabranchus Ehrenberg, 1828 and the ontogeny of color pattern is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, Russian belly dancer Gohara catapulted to stardom after being charged with 'inciting debauchery' and nearly deported when a video of her Cairo disco performance went viral. Based on participant-observation of the belly dance industry in Egypt, this article employs ethnographic narratives to demonstrate that although attention is commodified across Egyptian belly dance venues, so is inattention and discretion. While foreign dancers like Gohara can often profit from any attention, for Egyptian dancers the social costs of attracting attention frequently make it undesirable, creating opportunities for exploitation and the commodification of inattention and discretion. As such, the growing dominance of the visually based economies of attention on social media is generating new challenges for Egyptian belly dancers trying to compete in a changing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intelligibility of a performance of improvised dance does not reside in the rehearsed execution of a pre-existing script, nor does it result from a sustained verbal interaction between the dancers. Many aspects of the speechless performance obviously play an important role in the achieved intelligibility of the dance: a dancer is seen moving on and from a ground, on a stage, in a space delimited by walls, illuminated by spotlights, sounded by music, in front of an audience. And of course with other dancers, whose joint gestures and moves give shape to a choreography by providing pace, rhythm and sequences, thereby constituting a narrative or fragments thereof. This paper addresses the manufacture of this witnessable order, by presenting some results of an ethnographic inquiry. The investigation will be focused on how, in an improvised duet, each dancer interacts with the other, and more specifically how she or he positions her- or himself in relation to the other, from distance to proximity and touch. This work of distance management is the dance, whose choreographic accountability is produced and structured by dancers staying at a distance, getting closer and touching each other. The analysis shows that distance management is oriented to as relevant by the dancers and that it has consequences on their improvised duet. It is also what makes their performance analyzable by distant observers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, mainstream media sources from the US and UK have shown an increased interest in topics involving transgender and non-binary populations. Yet, their portrayals of such individuals tend to reaffirm rather than challenge cisnormative ideas surrounding bodies and gender. In this article, we consider this ongoing trend within the highly body-centric, traditionally-gendered artform—classical ballet. With a transgender studies and dance studies lens, we analyze current discourse surrounding the recent move for classical ballet companies and schools to adapt casting and training curricula to better include non-binary dancers. Through these analyses we reveal ways media sensationalizes the transgender body by focusing on information regarding hormone therapy and surgeries, and with the topic of ballet in mind, how this transphobic move becomes intertwined with ballet-specific processes of reshaping the body. We claim that although these popular press pieces contribute to a greater awareness of the lived experiences of transgender and non-binary dancers, they simultaneously reiterate ongoing balletic gender tropes that mark the artform as feminine and designate particular body types and movements to specific binarized genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

\nWhat are the new findings \nHow might it impact on clinical practice in the future Lower extremities (LE) play a fundamental role in ballet technique, yet they are not often assessed as thoroughly as other areas of the body in the youngest pre-professional dancers. The aim of this study was to assess the functional and structural characteristics in the LE of first-grade dance conservatory students to a more thorough extent. This study included a manual assessment of LE length in supine and sitting positions, measuring passive hip internal rotation (PHIR) and external rotation (PHER), comparing PHIR/PHER between both sides, functional assessment and visual inspection of rear and forefoot, classification of joint mobility, and inspection of postural alignment. Seventy-eight young dance students (9.5 ± 2.5 years, 91% female) were evaluated. Over 60% presented LE length discrepancy in both supine and sitting positions. Asymmetry of PHIR and PHER was detected. Signs of increased pronation were observed in 62.8% of cases, and 24.4% presented indications of postural asymmetry and/or scoliosis. Including the tests performed in this study in dance screenings may help in detecting functional characteristics of LE earlier. These in turn might affect the performance of young students; but if detected early, they can be assisted with correction or treatment. Over 40% of young pre-professional dancers showed medially deviated STJ axis. Medially deviated STJ axis was associated with hypermobility and a positive functional hallux limitus test (FHLT). Lower extremity length discrepancy (LELD) was detected in 52.6% of participants, with a higher frequency of right lower extremity being the short one being associated with asymmetry in passive hip rotation. Over 40% of young pre-professional dancers showed medially deviated STJ axis.Medially deviated STJ axis was associated with hypermobility and a positive functional hallux limitus test (FHLT).Lower extremity length discrepancy (LELD) was detected in 52.6% of participants, with a higher frequency of right lower extremity being the short one being associated with asymmetry in passive hip rotation. Biomechanical foot assessment and detecting of asymmetries would enhance the efficiency of the screening process in the youngest pre-professional students. The suggested assessment contributes to the early detection of intrinsic risk factors of dance-related injuries. The data provided allow for the design of individualized specific guidelines for children who begin their training in classical dancing. Biomechanical foot assessment and detecting of asymmetries would enhance the efficiency of the screening process in the youngest pre-professional students.The suggested assessment contributes to the early detection of intrinsic risk factors of dance-related injuries.The data provided allow for the design of individualized specific guidelines for children who begin their training in classical dancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional labor has been a focal point in occupational well-being literature, but studies have long overlooked an important group of emotional laborers: performers. This research represents a pioneering effort to examine dancers' adoption of emotional labor strategies, their antecedent of self-consciousness, and the outcome of flow experience. We explored these elements both in the traditional setting of stage dancing and in the novel context of online dance classes without on-site spectators during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that dancers employed all three common emotional labor strategies: surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotions, with deep acting being the most frequent. In the traditional setting, only the expression of naturally felt emotions mediated the positive effect of private self-consciousness and the negative effect of public self-consciousness on flow experience. In contrast, in the online setting, only private self-consciousness impacted flow through the mediation of deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotions. This exploratory study bridges dramaturgy-originated theories of emotional labor with empirical performing arts research, preliminarily advancing knowledge in the relevant fields of dance education, self-presentation, and flow studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting in the late 1820s, romantic ballet swept over US stages, most often presented by European ballerinas who revealed a new movement world, new theatrical expressivity, and their bodies to viewers curious, shocked, inspired, and moved by their performances. These dancers were subject to visual, aesthetic, and moral scrutiny – notable in both graphic and textual descriptions emerging from US presses. Three ballerinas are the subject of this presentation, based on their depictions in American-produced visual and verbal commentary. This essay investigates the corporeal and costume allusions in these depictions, as they reveal the technical and expressive capacities of performers, and – perhaps more so – the aesthetic exaltation and moral scruples expressed by viewers of those performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]