DANCE: KEY TAKE-AWAYS FOR IMAGERY AND MOVEMENT

There are many reasons to incorporate a specific quality or energy into movement. Maybe a ballerina wants to add a fluid aesthetic to their performance to evoke certain emotions from the audience. Or a high jumper may want to embody a springy quality to increase their jump height. 

Using mental imagery to enhance movement is especially common in dance. A literature review of 43 articles with 48 different studies found that old, young, experienced and inexperienced dancers all incorporate imagery into their practice. Compared to sports psychology research, dancers use imagery more often and for different reasons than athletes. Both disciplines could benefit from further cross-over in research and practices.

Some of the differences in imagery use between sports and dance can be attributed to the methods of coaches and dance teachers. While the use of visualization is common in athletics to improve performance, dance teachers tend to use imagery more often, and they use it to enhance creativity and technique as well as performance. Athletes have a lot to learn from dancers about connecting their movement to the world around them! 

WHAT IS MENTAL IMAGERY?

When a dancer creates an image in their mind, research has found that there is a partial reactivation of sensorimotor neural networks associated with past experience. Even if the dancer doesn’t actually move, imagery causes electrical activation in the brain and muscles. Because of this, researchers believe that visualization is an integral part of physical action. Mental imagery makes use of the concept of embodied cognition, or the idea that humans understand and learn about the world through their bodies. By using analogies, dancers explore similarities between the perceived world and complex movements.

TYPES OF IMAGERY

Studies have found that the imagery used by dancers can vary by content, sensory modality, and perspective. Coaches or dance teachers can intentionally manipulate different types of imagery to accomplish specific training or performance goals. 

Content: What Exactly are Dancers Picturing? 

• Direct Imagery: Dancers imagine themselves doing something, like performing a specific move or technique. This type of imagery is commonly used in athletics and is also known as a mental rehearsal. Direct Imagery can be used to boost confidence before a performance.  
• Anatomical Imagery: Dancers imagine their organs or bones moving in certain ways. For example, a teacher may cue a class to roll one vertebra at a time when bending the spine. This type of imagery may be used to alter or improve posture or skeletal alignment.  
• Analogising or Metaphorical Imagery: Dancers use metaphors of the world around them and apply them to bodily movement. Imagining moving fluidly “like water,” or moving as if your “arms turned to wings,” would be examples of analogizing movement. This type of imagery is used much more often in dance to affect the quality or aesthetic of the movement.  

Sensory Modality: What Senses are Dancers Using to Apply Imagery to Movement?  

• Visual: A choreographer may use pictures to represent different qualities of movement. 
• Auditory: A dance teacher may use verbal cues (words) to help dancers conjure imagery during a rehearsal.
• Tactile / Kinesthetic: A dancer may feel their body performing a technique perfectly. 
• Multi-modal: Some imagery may contain multiple senses. For example, if water is used as a stimulus, the dancer may hear the sound of waves crashing, feel their body within water, or visualize the fluidity of water. 

Perspective: How Do Dancers Visualize the Movement?

• Internal Perspective: The dancer or performer may visualize through their own eyes. 
• External Perspective: The dancer may imagine the movement through the eyes of the audience. 

WHY IS IMAGERY USED IN DANCE?

Modifications

Using imagery may help a dancer alter or improve their technique, posture, or skeletal alignment.

• Alignment Example: “Imagine a string attached to your head that gently pulls to elongate your spine.” 
• Technique Example: “Imagine a rocket launcher attached to the center axis of your body to improve your jump height.” 

Quality of Movement

Dance teachers or choreographers often include image-based cues to inspire certain qualities in movement. This is the main difference between the type of images used in dance compared to “non-aesthetic” physical activities such as sports. 

• Example: “Let your arms flutter like hummingbirds.
• Example: “Move your body like a wave crashing on the shore.” 

Dancers also frequently incorporate different energies into their movement that can be associated with varying emotions. 

• Example: Using a “collapsing” energy can be associated with feelings of failure or grief. Similarly using a “vibratory” energy can be associated with anger or resentment. 

Mood Regulation

Imagery can help with self-confidence and lower anxiety before dancers walk on stage. This use of imagery is more commonly used and studied and studied in sports. 

• Example: “Imagine yourself perfectly executing a complex move.”
• Example: “Imagine a cheering audience after the performance.”

WHAT CAN DANCERS TEACH OTHER ATHLETES?

While dance has made use of metaphorical and analogizing imagery more than sports, the use of mental rehearsal to enhance self-confidence is more common in athletics. Athletes and dancers alike can learn from each other to enhance their overall use of imagery. 

Imagery in Climbing

Consider the application to climbing. While a climber may not need their movement to embody a certain aesthetic, applying a “springy” or “fluid” quality through the use of metaphorical imagery could improve their power or efficiency. Next time you are attempting a dyno, imagine you have frog legs. Your knees bend to store potential energy, then they spring open, powering you toward the next hold. Or maybe you need to dial in your efficiency on the easier movement as you head toward the crux on your sport climbing project. Some climbers may hear a metronome in their head, ticking with each move, helping them steadily continue upward progress. 

KEY TAKE-AWAYS

1. Use Imagery Often

Studies have shown a positive correlation between the amount of imagery used and performance in both dance and sports. More experienced dancers also report using more complex imagery both before and during a performance. 

2. Use Different Types of Imagery

Visual, verbal, and kinesthetic cues all can be used to modify or enhance movement. Different types may work better for different athletes or dancers, so using a variety of cues can improve overall performance. 

3. Use Imagery with Intention

Coaches and dance teachers often use metaphors or imagery on the fly, and their students tend to learn how to use imagery by observation rather than a formal lesson. Imagery can be interpreted in many different ways or bring up diverse emotions depending on the person, so setting up a specific context or intention around it will help achieve the desired goal.