The Sense of Time While Watching a Dance Performance

Although the judgment of time is an important experience embedded in the context of cognitive and emotional appraisal of events, there are few studies concerning perceived time within an ecologically valid context. Watching a cultural event such as a dance performance is a paradigmatic situation in which viewers perceive time differently as a function of performance characteristics and viewers’ personal engagement. We staged two dance pieces that differed in speed of movement performed by a professional female dancer. Fifty-two participants watched both performances in counterbalanced order and rated their impressions, senses of self, and perceptions of space and time. On average, spectator-participants liked the faster dance better than the slower dance and felt more positive afterward. During the fast dance, participants focused more on the dancer’s breathing and less on their own body. Participant’s subjective perceptions were that time seemed to pass more slowly during the slow dance, but participants estimated the faster dance to have lasted longer. Path analyses revealed that paying attention to one’s bodily signals mediated the feeling of time. As typical flow states are characterized by positive feelings during an activity, as well as by a diminished sense of self and time, these results suggest that the participant’s average response reflected a relatively stronger flow state in the fast dance condition. Future studies might be encouraged assessing time perception in a variety of real-life situations. Participants’ responses could then be assessed with different methodological approaches.