Emerging dance movements under ecological constraints in Contact Improvisation dancers with different background

Contact improvisation dance generates different ways of moving and a varied use of motor creativity depending on the constraints acting on the system. The aim of this study was to analyse the softly-assembled dynamics and the emergency of different dance movements of different couples of improvisers with different background dancing under specific task constraints manipulations. One couple of contemporary dancers and one couple of novices were video-recorded while dancing with different constraints: 1) try to maintain both pelvis as close as possible and 2) try to maintain body contact but both pelvis as far as possible. Resulting trials were sequentially observed using an observational instrument and the data obtained were analysed using a soft-assembled hierarchy model analysis: a Principal Components Analysis (PCA), calculation of Hamming distances (HD) between binary vectors and the calculation of dynamic overlap order parameter q to determine the structure of the potential landscape of the dancer and its dynamic properties. Results showed a higher exploratory behaviour when the system was constrained in a specific way, but also constraints forced the system to train specific techniques or movement patterns. Configurations were modified depending on the constraint in the couple of contemporary dancers, but the novices were less influenced.