An application of artificial intelligence to the choreography of dance

This paper describes an experimental computer program that applies the techniques of artificial intelligence to the creation of dance. Specifically, a user expresses a set of dance rules (in a special English-like rule language) which describes some of the dynamic aspects of a dance. These rules are applied nondeterministically by a rule driver program. The rules themselves are similar to those that form the knowledge base of expert systems. The rule driver embodies a heuristic algorithm of the type found in many artificial intelligence programs.James H. Bradford is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Brock University. He is an active researcher in the area of Human/Computer Interaction with particular interests in the analysis of speech and the representation of dance.Paulette Côté-Laurence is an Associate Professor of Physical Education at Brock University. Her research interests are in the areas of motor control and the acquisition of dance skills, psychology of rhythm, and dance technology.