Audience and Critic Evaluations of Contemporary Dance Works Created Using a Body-Part Motion Synthesis System

“Body-part Motion Synthesis System” (BMSS), which generates infinite variations of contemporary dance movements using 3D motion data, has been developed. To verify how the audience evaluates the choreographic creation of contemporary dance using BMSS, three professional choreographers created each original dance work using the system, professional dancers performed their works, and a questionnaire survey was conducted on 228 audience members and three dance critics who watched the performance. As a result of analyzing 130 questionnaires collected from the audiences, 85.2% of them felt that the computer software was effective and meaningful, and the three dance critics all agreed. An analysis of the free-text answers from both the audience and critics revealed that the system was considered useful in the creation of contemporary dance in three key areas: (1) the utilization of three patterns of non-organic movement, (2) the efficiency improvement of existing choreographic methods, such as contact improvisation and the editing of movement materials, and (3) the enhancement of the creative process through the awareness of creative actions.