The Morphemes of Human Movement

The frequency and uniformity of some deficiencies in the execution of movements lead to the conclusion that, irrespective of the technical complexity of the movement as a whole, only a few basic elements determine the quality of the execution. The biomechanical analysis of all (dance) technical elements for essential and constantly repeating components, shows that only a few basic “building blocks” can be filtered out. But these can be found in every movement, no matter how complicated, and determine its basic structure. Artistic and dynamic parameters are deliberately ignored for the time being. This meant no simple segmentation into individual elements of a movement, but rather through a kinematic analysis of the dance movement elements (ballet), a main function or sub function was assigned to the individual movement elements. Only a few basic “building blocks” can be filtered out in this way, but they can be found in every movement, no matter how complicated, and determine its basic structure. They usually seem small and insignificant and are therefore often not recognised and overlooked in complex (virtuoso) movements, with serious consequences for the intended correct execution. I find an analogy from linguistics to illustrate this network of the human motor system, with its division into main and sub functions, more simple and therefore more clear (the fusion of functional and “semantic” contexts of these basic elements). In linguistics, the smallest, no longer divisible units of a word are called morphemes that still carry a meaning, e.g. the words “chair” or “child”.

Through this study, the researchers achieved the development of a reliable and cost-effective system that meets the needs for realtime traffic data collection, specifically addressing the challenges of power supply, communication, and installation. The results demonstrate that the system provides accurate traffic counts, with errors primarily occurring due to environmental factors, which are discussed in the results section.

These content morphemes or lexical morphemes represent the basic inventory of a language and can be extended at will by allomorphs (e.g. allomorph ren, children, Kind, Kinder) I am using this term morpheme and its function in grammar here in order to be able to describe and represent the system of human, natural movements in its basic elements more simply. In other words, to emphasise and name movement elements that represent the smallest, no longer divisible, kinetic units that carry a functional meaning. These smallest movement units extracted from the human body motor system, known as morphemes of human motor action, are an analytic and pedagogic tool. In the following, only the term morpheme will be used. Morphemes 1 to 7 denote the basic elements of natural human movement. They refer to the core elements of every (dance) movement and form the basis on which every (dance) movement architecture is built. This results in a hierarchically structured movement architecture, which for the time being deliberately does not emphasise artistic interpretative or stylistic design in movement planning. The networking or allocation of simultaneous movement details does not usually take place through conscious control by the performer at the moment of action, but through a kinetic algorithm (morphemes). This enables an efficient and economical execution of the movement, even with very complex movement sequences, and thus creates the space for further physical, cognitive (artistic) potential. Even with extremely complicated technical dance elements, focussing on the natural movement morphemes stored in the movement memory makes it possible to avoid accidents, and is therefore an indispensable basis for the dancer’s health.
a) Morpheme centre of mass of the body (in the pelvic region). Its transfer to one or both legs, in a twist or turn on the ground and in the air.
b) Morpheme body axis. Its different use during locomotion on the ground, in the air and turning, coordinated with the placement or transfer of the 1st morpheme.
c) Morpheme raising and lowering the whole (playing) leg. All forms of battement (e.g. relevé lent).
d) Morpheme bending and extending the leg. Upper and lower leg are active in the hip, knee and ankle joint and perform this element simultaneously and at the same speed (e.g. plié, bending the leg).
e) Morpheme bending of the lower leg and stretching to the starting position. The thigh remains immobile or passively follows the change in height of the lower leg. This morpheme is closely linked to the 3rd morpheme (e.g. battement fondu, rond de jambe en l’air) only reacts passively in order to achieve the desired leg height when the leg is raised. See below for the meaning of this morpheme for port de bras.
f) Morpheme turning and guiding the leg in the hip joint on a circular plane (all types of rond de jambe par terre and the corresponding forms en l’air).
g) Morpheme – turning the upper body and pelvis while both legs maintain their position on the floor or in the air (dance technique: pivot). This morpheme is inseparable from the 1st morpheme.

The „chamber tone” (Kammerton) of dance

This morphemological system of seven movement morphemes could be compared to the “chamber tone” of dance with the function of the „chamber tone“ in music. The concert pitch in music is precisely physically determined by the number of vibrations (440htz). This is what makes the interplay of different instruments in the orchestra possible. In a similar way, the seven movement morphemes act as a physiological and physical kinematic corrective to all parts of the body and their seemingly infinite free interplay, regardless of technique, design or style. Even in breakdance or in postmodern variants of contemporary dance, all movements refer to this morphemological system, the “chamber tone” of dance, both in the execution and kinaesthetics of the dancer and in the perception of the spectator. Or vice versa: one can recognise deviations and experience joy when observing even unusual or ‘crazy’ forms of human movement, as is the case in classical ballet or breakdance, for example. This process of perception can be understood as an interpersonal, synaesthetic reaction (socio aesthetic feedback Haggard, Oxford). The viewer unconsciously compares what they see with their own morphemological experiences of movement stored in their movement memory, and can use this kinaesthetic process to form a judgement and come to like or dislike it.