There are two approaches to the studying of the relationship between dance movements and emotions: one that studies what impression is perceived by a person who sees a movement (Matsumoto.1984), and the other that studies so-called “Bodily Sensations,” or emotional perceptions which a dancer perceives while he or she is dancing. (Shiba 1996,1997a,1997b,1998,2003b)
We assumed that investigating the interrelated process of the refinement of dance technique and emotional perceptions in dance would lead to finding an effective way of teaching dance. And we aimed to come up with a hypothetical model of correlation between the level of improvement in dance technique and the level of emotional perceptions.
The results are as follows:
1. Emotional perceptions vary with improvement of dance technique.
2. Students also improve in dance technique as they rehearse movements further. In the case of the students with less experience in dance, each movement is integrated into a more flowin g sequence at first. And as they proceed, they become increasingly aware of the elements e ssential for making their own expressions, such as timing, sense of space and breathing wh ich are considered essential for creating original expressions.
As above, dance technique and emotion al perceptions affect each other, and they constitute important aspects of creative dance expression.
