How are dance sequences encoded and recalled by expert dancers?

The purpose of this study was to analyze the memory mechanisms that underli e the use of expertise in dance. In general, the impact of expertise on dan ce sequence recall is ascribed to the subject's knowledge base. But there m ay be other important factors, such as the way information is encoded in me mory. We compared the motor recall performance of expert dancers as a funct ion of the amount of structure in the sequences to be memorized, the encodi ng conditions (normal, or with a verbal or motor interference task), and th e type of dancing (ballet or modern dance). The results indicated an effect of the type of dancing, as well as an interaction between sequence structu re and the type of interference. In addition, the verbal interference task was found to lower recall scores slightly, and structured sequences were re called better than unstructured ones in the control condition. Further rese arch is nevertheless necessary due to the nature of our results and to disc repancies in experimental results obtained elsewhere.