Modern dance: theoretical fundamentals of the latest educational approaches

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the theoretical principles of using specific approaches in the process of training performers of modern dance. The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary synthesis of scientific methods and approaches integrated with pedagogy, art history, and psychology. General scientific methods were also used: analysis, synthesis, generalization. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the conceptualization of the theoretical substantiation of specific approaches in the preparation of performers for modern dance, in particular, taking into account the latest technologies and psycho-emotional and mental characteristics of the performer. Conclusions. Along with traditional methods of teaching modern dances, it is necessary to develop and implement innovative methods and approaches that would meet the requirements of the latest technological development. In particular, they are related to the peculiarities of distance education, the ability to use computer programs to simulate biomechanical models of movement, to hone their kinematic technique, which largely determines the aesthetic and visual superiority and complexity of modern dance compositions. It is important to take into account the psycho-emotional characteristics of the modern dancer based on the development of his creative and innovative thinking, improvisation, as well as the socio-communicative component, which involves the ability to convey a wide range of potential emotional expressions and social signals from performer to spectator. Keywords: modern dance, innovative thinking, creative thinking, new approaches, teaching choreography, hand biomechanics, psychoemotional state.

Modern dance: theoretical foundations of the latest approaches to teaching

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the theoretical principles of using specific approaches in the process of training performers of modern dance. The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary synthesis of scientific methods and approaches integrated into pedagogy, art history, and psychology. General scientific methods were also used: analysis, synthesis, generalization. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the conceptualization of the theoretical substantiation of specific approaches in the preparation of performers for modern dance, in particular, taking into account the latest technologies and psycho-emotional and mental characteristics of the performer. Conclusions. Along with traditional methods of teaching modern dances, it is necessary to develop and implement innovative methods and approaches that would meet the requirements of the latest technological development. In particular, they are related to the peculiarities of distance education, the ability to use computer programs to simulate biomechanical models of movement, to hone their kinematic technique, which largely determines the aesthetic and visual superiority and complexity of modern dance compositions. It is important to take into account the psycho-emotional characteristics of the modern dancer based on the development of his creative and innovative thinking, improvisation, as well as the socio-communicative component, which involves the ability to convey a wide range of potential emotional expressions and social signals from performer to spectator. Keywords: modern dance, innovative thinking, creative thinking, new approaches, teaching choreography, hand biomechanics, psychoemotional state.

PIANO: A Parametric Hand Bone Model from Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Hand modeling is critical for immersive VR/AR, action understanding, or human healthcare. Existing parametric models account only for hand shape, pose, or texture, without modeling the anatomical attributes like bone, which is essential for realistic hand biomechanics analysis. In this paper, we present PIANO, the first parametric bone model of human hands from MRI data. Our PIANO model is biologically correct, simple to animate, and differentiable, achieving more anatomically precise modeling of the inner hand kinematic structure in a data-driven manner than the traditional hand models based on the outer surface only. Furthermore, our PIANO model can be applied in neural network layers to enable training with a fine-grained semantic loss, which opens up the new task of data-driven fine-grained hand bone anatomic and semantic understanding from MRI or even RGB images. We make our model publicly available.

The Impact of Musical Training on Hand Biomechanics in String Musicians

Background: The effects of musical training on the body in professional musicians remain an understudied area, particularly in reference to understanding and managing orthopedic/neuromuscular deviations and injuries in this population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate hand/finger fine motor function in musicians via physical examination as well as laboratory-based evaluations. Methods: Thirteen healthy noninjured young elite string musicians participated in this study. Performance of musicians was compared with healthy age-matched, sex-matched, and handedness-matched nonmusician controls. Results: Musicians exhibited decreased intrinsic muscle strength compared with controls; however, no change in extrinsic muscle strength was found between groups. No between-group differences in overall force control were found; however, Group × Hand (right vs left) interactions were found in force control. Conclusions: These data suggest that musicians are a unique population with respect to: (1) fine motor control of the hand; and (2) exhibit changes in differential hand use. This suggests cortical reorganization of string musicians, such that this population should be studied separately from typical healthy controls with respect to hand function.

Design and Performance of a Motor-Driven Mechanism to Conduct Experiments With the Human Index Finger

Passive properties of the human hands, defined by the joint stiffness and damping, play an important role in hand biomechanics and neuromuscular control. Introduction of mechanical element that generates humanlike passive properties in a robotic form may lead to improved grasping and manipulation abilities of the next generation of robotic hands. This paper presents a novel mechanism, which is designed to conduct experiments with the human subjects in order to develop mathematical models of the passive properties at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint. We designed a motor-driven system that integrates with a noninvasive and infrared motion capture system, and can control and record the MCP joint angle, angular velocity, and passive forces of the MCP joint in the index finger. A total of 19 subjects participated in the experiments. The modular and adjustable design was suitable for variant sizes of the human hands. Sample results of the viscoelastic moment, hysteresis loop, and complex module are presented in the paper. We also carried out an error analysis and a statistical test to validate the reliability and repeatability of the mechanism. The results show that the mechanism can precisely collect kinematic and kinetic data during static and dynamic tests, thus allowing us to further understand the insights of passive properties of the human hand joints. The viscoelastic behavior of the MCP joint showed a nonlinear dependency on the frequency. It implies that the elastic and viscous component of the hand joint coordinate to adapt to the external loading based on the applied frequency. The findings derived from the experiments with the mechanism can provide important guidelines for design of humanlike compliance of the robotic hands.

Hand biomechanics in skilled pianists playing a scale in thirds

Pianists, who attend to the integral relationship of their particular musculoskeletal characteristics to the piano technique at hand, discover an efficient path to technical advancement and, consequently, to injury prevention. Thus, a study of pianist's hand biomechanics in relation to different piano techniques is highly relevant, as hand features may influence various techniques in different ways. This study addressed relationships between pianists' hand biomechanics and the performance of a scale in thirds, as a part of an ongoing series of studies examining relationships between hand biomechanics and performance data of primary techniques. The biomechanics of hand length and width, finger length, hand span, hand and arm weights, and ulnar deviation at the wrist were compared with tempo, articulation, and dynamic voicing (tone balance between two notes of the thirds). Pearson correlation analysis showed a positive association between ulnar deviation and tempo; the other biomechanical features showed no relationships with any of the performance criteria. Qualitative cross-sectional observation of individual profiles showed that experienced pianists perform with a higher degree of synchrony in two-note descent while pianists with organ training background play with a lesser degree of synchrony. All biomechanical features were closely related among one another with one exception: wrist ulnar deviation was not associated with any other biomechanical features; rather, data suggest possible negative associations. This study underscores the importance of wrist mobility in piano skills development. Further research using a complete set of prototype piano techniques and multiple-level pianist-subjects could provide substantive biomechanical information that may be used to develop efficient pedagogy and prevention strategies for playing-related injuries as well as rehabilitation.