Senior Analise LaRiviere has danced for most of her life, and that training has led her to explore different areas of dance that are not covered in the classes she takes. One example is authentic movement, which LaRiviere investigated for her independent study.

“Authentic movement is an improvisational technique used in dance, where you dance with your eyes closed in order to get a better feel of your body in space,” said LaRiviere.

Authentic movement is when someone dances with their eyes closed, not worrying about the aesthetic of their movement or the judgement of others. It is often used in conjunction with movement therapy for survivors of sexual assault or those who suffer from PTSD. It can also stimulate creativity for choreographers.

LaRiviere conducted an experiment on dancers from her classes as well as her non-dancing peers. She gave each person a partner and filmed them dancing to a variety of external stimuli, from “It’s Tricky” by Run D.M.C., to complete silence. LaRiviere found that, while the dancers kept their movements mostly smooth and flowing, the non-dancers were affected by the music changes and danced more with the rhythm and beat, with movement that was not fluid or aesthetically pleasing.

LaRiviere’s presentation was in the form of a slide show, accompanied by videos she filmed of her experiment.

“I’ve learned that authentic movement is really important if you want to become a better improv-er, and that it’s important to sometimes take the aesthetic out of things and just look at your body from inside your own head,” said LaRiviere.