WhoLoDancE: Deliverable 1.1 - State of the art survey

The following deliverable reflects the outcomes of the State of the Art (SoA) Survey which is held by Athena RC for the WhoLoDancE project1 (Whole-body interaction Learning for Dance Education). The SoA Survey is one of the tools to achieve the objectives of the work package entitled: “WP1 Learning Models and Technical Requirements”. The main objectives of this work package are: a) to deliver a user-oriented approach through understanding the domain of dance education in relation to ICT, b) to elicit the technical requirements of learning scenarios that will be innovative, but at the same time compliant with the contemporary approaches of dance teaching and learning, and c) to support the interdisciplinary collaboration for providing input to other work packages and the basis for the evaluation.
The first objective of this survey is to describe the main characteristics of dance teaching and learning, based on the recent advancement of dance education research and contemporary practices, as well as documenting the expertise coming from the dance partners within the consortium. The second main objective is to present relevant efforts and tools, summarizing their approach, the relevant technologies and methodologies used, as well as the context of experimentation and application.
Taking into account the lack of formal and fully described methodologies for each dance genre and context, this survey aims at selecting state-of-the-art approaches, needs and contexts, and serve as a basis for the rest of the project activities. The deliverable consists of two parts: a) Part A-Dance Learning Models and b) Dance and Technology State of the Art (SoA). Part A presents the recent advancements in dance education in relation to general contemporary learning approaches, and discusses the most significant of these models, as well as the potential benefits of the use of interactive technologies based on recent relevant literature. The second part presents the outcomes of recent research advancements in the design and development of tools to support dance teaching in learning through different technologies (Interactive whole-body experiences, Motion Capture, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Sonification, Annotation tools, Desktop and Mobile apps, etc). This presentation includes comments of the relation of these recent advancements to the main objectives of WhoLoDancE: 1) Investigate Body Knowledge, 2) Preserve Cultural Heritage, 3) Innovate the teaching of dance, 4) Revolutionize choreography, 5) Widen the access and practice of dance.