Overview
Neuroscience has helped us understand in exquisite detail how our brain moves our body. But most of this work focuses on how the brain sends and corrects motor commands, forgetting our subjective experience of being in a moving body. Why does it feel like anything at all to move our bodies? How does the brain consciously know how it moves our body? And, considering that much of our movement and postural muscle control is unconscious, how much can the brain consciously know about how it moves our bodies? Are there limits to our introspection?
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"Science on the Dance Floor" lies at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and movement practice. It explores motor metacognition — how we consciously experience and assess our own movements — by blending scientific research with dance practices. In interactive workshops participants are invited to introspect their bodily sensations and engage in a dynamic exchange of knowledge. Aimed at everyone studying, working with or interested in movement — including dancers, actors, athletes, therapists, and embodiment practitioners and other curious minds, this project not only communicates cutting-edge research but also fosters collaboration between science and the arts.
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Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. Dr. Elisa Filevich.
Funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung
Supported by: Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik Central Institute of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
TEAM
Elisa Filevich
Metamotor Lab
Elisa is a cognitive neuroscientist interested in the neural correlates of consciousness. She focuses on different aspects of motor awareness and the subjective experiences associated with it, and more recently on the role of motor awareness in motor learning.
A biologist by training, she completed her PhD in London, working on understanding how we decide not to move. She then moved to Berlin where she worked on finding and understanding the limits to how much, and how well, we can describe our moving body. Elisa has worked in leading institutions like University College London, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and currently at the Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, in Tübingen.
Gayatri Nerpagar
www.nerpagargayatri.com
Gayatri Nerpagar is cognitive neuroscience researcher and a trained Bharatnatyam dancer (Indian Classical dance form). She holds a master’s degree in Cognitive Science from IIT Gandhinagar, India, where she conducted research on dance movements, biomechanics, embodiment, and the perception and execution of emotion in dancers. Additionally, she holds a diploma in Bharatnatyam.
As a performer, Gayatri has performed at various dance festivals across India, showcasing Bharatnatyam and other folk dances of India. Her artistic pursuits extend to interdisciplinary art projects, exploring the dynamic representation of emotional movement through visual mediums such as painting.
Her master's research sparked interest in the cognitive underpinnings of artistic movement, leading to her current work as a PhD candidate at the Meta Motor Lab at the University of Tübingen under the guidance of Elisa. Her doctoral research focuses on multisensory integration and metacognition in movement learning, investigating the mechanisms of artistic movement acquisition and awareness.
Irina Demina
choreography / dramaturgy / artistic direction
Scarbod Lab.
Irina Demina is a choreographer, dramaturge, educator, and artistic researcher. She studied philology and earned a master's degree in choreography at Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin (HZT). Since 2012, she has developed international choreographic projects, collaborated with renowned artists, and received recognition, including the Pina Bausch Fellowship and an award at the competition The Best German Dance Solo. Invited by various institutions, she has participated in choreographic residencies in Germany, South Korea, Norway, Spain, Hungary, and Russia. Her work encompasses performances, teaching, workshops, and dynamic transdisciplinary formats. With SCARBOD Lab (a name derived from Science, Art, and Body), an experimental platform she founded, she investigates how body-based artistic practices can open up new approaches to scientific research.
Julia B. Nowikowa
www.julia-b-nowikowa.com
Julia B. Nowikowa (born in St. Petersburg) is a German-Russian artist and stage and costume designer. She studied at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, focusing on costume and stage design, dramaturgy, and painting. Nowikowa has worked as a freelance illustrator and stage and costume designer for opera, musicals, theatre, and dance. She has collaborated with different theaters and book publishers, including Deutsche Theater Berlin, the Royal District Theatre in Tbilisi (Georgien) and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Her illustrations have been featured in projects with publishers such as Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt, ULLSTEIN Buchverlage, and Meridiaan Uitgevers.
​Deliah Seefluth
Deliah’s experience spans dance, yoga, dance science and cognitive psychology. She trained as a dancer and dance pedagogue at Iwanson International (Munich) and Peridance Capezio Center (New York City) before moving to London, where she earned an MA in Choreography and an MSc in Dance Science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
As a performer and choreographer, Deliah has contributed to internationally recognized festivals such as Resolution and Move It! in London and developed interdisciplinary art projects showcased in London galleries. In addition to her creative work, she has led and taught modules at Trinity Laban and delivered guest classes at the University of Tübingen.
Her master's research in performance psychology resulted in a growing interest in cognitive psychology in the context of movement and led to her current work as a research assistant at the Metamotorlab at the University of Tübingen.
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