
How do we perceive and experience complex movement patterns? A scientific exploration
Why are we fascinated by complex movement patterns? What determines whether a choreography remains captivating? KU Leuven researchers in search of answers
For more than 40 years, the repetitive patterns of the dance performance Fase have captivated us. But why are we so fascinated by complex, formal movement patterns? And what determines whether a choreography keeps us engaged? KU Leuven's multidisciplinary research group PALETTES tries to answer these questions through experimental research. Using theories from empirical psychology and dance analysis, they examine how people experience complex choreographic patterns and why they like certain patterns more than others.
In this lecture, Elisabeth Van der Hulst takes you behind the scenes of the research. She introduces some important concepts from perception science that are also of great importance in choreography: perceptual grouping, order and complexity. In addition, she shows how theoretical research can be put into practice to provide a realistic representation of our viewing behaviour.
Finally, she presents the first results of their research on complexity and aesthetic appreciation.
PRACTICAL
➤ 06.03
➤ 19:30 - 20:15 (45 min)
➤ Verbeeckzaal
➤ Free (without reservation)
➤ Language: Dutch
Would you like to participate in this research?
During each evening performance of Fase in Body of Work, six participants can take part in the research. You will receive special eye-tracking glasses and can watch the performance for free.
Elisabeth Van der Hulst
Elisabeth Van der Hulst is a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of KU Leuven. As part of the GestaltRevision research group and the interdisciplinary research group PALETTES, she conducts both research on the mechanism behind perceptual organisation and applied research on the importance of perceptual organisation, order and complexity in the appreciation of static (e.g. patterns) and dynamic (e.g. dance) images. Together with postdoctoral researcher Jonas Rutgeerts of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, she investigates how the visual complexity of choreography contributes to the appreciation of a dance performance.
Jonas Rutgeerts
Jonas Rutgeerts is a dramaturg and researcher. He holds a PhD in philosophy from the Higher Institute of Philosophy (KU Leuven) and has been affiliated with the research groups PALETTES and Cultural Studies at KU Leuven since 2023. As a dramaturg, he has collaborated with companies and artists such as Needcompany, Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Ivana Müller, and Arkadi Zaides, among others. He is the author of Re-act: On Re-enactment in Contemporary Dance (Tectum Verlag, 2015) and Unbecoming Rhythms: Performing Temporality in Contemporary European Dance (Intellect Books, 2021), as well as the editor of Choreographing Visuality: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and the Visual Arts (Routledge, 2025).
CREDITS
Elisabeth Van der Hulst (OE Brain and Cognition, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven)
i.s.m. Jonas Rutgeerts (Research Group PALETTES and Cultural Studies, KU Leuven)
Location
Price
Free (without reservation)