Dance motion generation by recombination of body parts from motion source

In this paper, we propose an approach to synthesize new dance routines by combining body part motions from a human motion database. The proposed approach aims to provide a movement source to allow robots or animation characters to perform improvised dances to music, and also to inspire choreographers with the provided movements. Based on the observation that some body parts perform more appropriately than other body parts during dance performances, a correlation analysis of music and motion is conducted to identify the expressive body parts. We then combine the body part movement sources to create a new motion, which differs from all sources in the database. The generated performances are evaluated by a user questionnaire assessment, and the results are discussed to understand what is important in generating more appealing dance routines.