Using video as a tool for the analysis of music and dance performances

The paper presents three case studies as examples of the possibilities offered by digital video technology and editing software in the analysis of music and dance performances. In one case, slow motion and frame-by-frame analysis allowed the discovery and description of a peculiar synchronization pattern between body movement and musical rhythm in the tarantella music-dance of Southern Calabria (South Italy). These findings led to an original interpretation of the relation between beat and accent on one side and muscular tension and effort on the other. The second case study shows how the same analytical method and technique has been used in order to understand and describe the complex relationship between drums, handclapping and dance steps in the performance of a female dance in a Sena village of Malawi. In the third case study video technology allowed the identification of individual and original playing techniques in the performances of the nkangala musical bow in Malawi. Since decades the term “visual ethnomusicology" has been intended mainly in connection with the use of film and video as a way to represent significant and complex aspects of a musical culture, taking advantage of the richness of the cinematographic language. The issue here presented is to remind that film and video documentation still remains a tremendous and incredibly powerful research tool in order to analyse, understand and reveal musical behaviour.