Poetry of coordinated motion: The beauty of dance lies in the physics of the movement

What is perceived as beautiful movement in dance? We investigated quantitative relations between the subjective experience of observing dance and objective physical variables. By integrating datasets from perceptual psychophysics and movement biomechanics, we explored how the control, coordination and energetics of dance movements, which represent dance skill, related to perceptual judgements of a naïve audience. Multidimensional perceptual ratings of dance were found to distil statistically into a single Gestalt, 'aesthetic value' (or beauty), which was systematically related to multiple physical variables. Higher aesthetic value was attributed to more-skilled dancers demonstrating greater amplitude and speed of motion, with coordinated and economical execution. These findings thus are consistent with the Romantic conception of beauty being related to vitality. Moreover, the enhanced coordination and economy of these skilled movements align with the Classical conception, endorsed by Plato, Aristotle and Leibniz, that beauty is measurable (quantifiable), proportionate (mathematical) and encompasses harmony and symmetry. Historically, the lack of technology to measure the dynamic qualities of dance movement in three-dimensional space meant that it was not possible to corroborate empirically this classical perspective, which is substantiated here for the first time. Overall, the findings support an evolutionary framework, whereby a dancer's aesthetic value to observers reflects the quality of their vigour and neuromuscular function, the dominant perceptual factor influencing mate selection thus being the beauty of dance performance, driven by dancer skill.