Towards an Interactive Tool for Music and Dance: Gestures, Laban Movement Analysis and Spectromorphology

The paper presents a real-time tool for the segmentation and analysis of body gestures, part of a larger setup for exploring music and dance in the contexts of electroacoustic composition, live-electronics and other interactive performances. The idea of gesture is the foundation of the proposed interactive strategies, and is discussed from different points of view. The current implementation uses the Max/Msp programming language and Kinect sensors. The segmentation of dance gestures is based on the inspection of the zero-crossings of the acceleration curve of each body joint. Concepts from Laban Movement Analysis are used to qualify the extracted gestures. Dance improvisations on Petrushka excerpts are the basis of a case study, where the relations between the music (tempo, pulses, instrumentation, character) and Laban Basic Actions are stressed.