A labanotation based ontology for representing dance movement

Abstract

In this paper, we present a Knowledge Based System for describing and storing dances that takes advantage of the expressivity of Description Logics. We propose exploiting the tools of the Semantic Web Technologies in representing and archiving dance choreographies by developing a Dance Ontology in OWL-2. Description Logics allow us to express complex relations and inference rules for the domain of dance movement, while Reasoning capabilities make it easy to extract new knowledge from existing knowledge. Furthermore, we can search within the ontology based on the steps and movements of dances by writing SPARQL queries. The constructing elements of the ontology and their relationships to construct the dance model are based on the semantics of the Labanotation system, a widely applied language that uses symbols to denote dance choreographies. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.