Sandhiya Kalyanasundaram

We used a combination of behavioral, computational vision and fMRI methods to examine human brain activity while viewing a 386 s video of a solo Bharatanatyam dance. A computational analysis provided us with a Motion Index (MI) quantifying the silhouette motion of the dancer throughout the dance. A behavioral analysis using 30 naïve observers provided us with the time points where observers were most likely to report event boundaries where one movement segment ended and another began. These behavioral and computational data were used to interpret the brain activity of a different set of 11 naïve observers who viewed the dance video while brain activity was measured using fMRI. Results showed that the Motion Index related to brain activity in a single cluster in the right Inferior Temporal Gyrus (ITG) in the vicinity of the Extrastriate Body Area (EBA). Perception of event boundaries in the video was related to the BA44 region of right Inferior Frontal Gyrus as well as extensive clusters of bilateral activity in the Inferior Occipital Gyrus which extended in the right hemisphere towards the posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus (pSTS).

This essay discusses the choreographic ethos that integrates technology and dance as an evolving mode of storytelling in South Indian (Tamil-Kollywood) movies by tracing the work of director Shankar Shanmugam. Through analyses of song-dance sequences, I identify three key principles for using screendance techniques, and reflect on how these innovations contribute to cultivating and shaping the audience imagination. The audience is challenged to further engage at multiple levels and grapple with the relationships between human and more than human worlds. In the Kollywood scene, there is a constant quest for new techniques that can embrace inner realities.