Cambridge Scholars Publishing Taichi Meets Motor Neuroscience: An Inspiration for Contemporary Dance and Humanoid Robotics

Is Taichi Chuan anything more than an exotic form of soft gymnastics, for the wellness of elderly people? The answer is definitely ‘yes’, and this book shows that it can be used as a master key to open doors of communication between Western and Eastern cultures, along the re-opened Silk Road. In the Chinese tradition, this carefully-coded physical activity is defined as meditation in motion, a deep concept that highlights the fundamental unity of body and mind, at the individual level, and the perennial motion of Nature/Universe/Tao at the philosophical level. The book focuses on East-West points of contrast and convergence along the Taichi metaphorical line, namely cognitive neuroscience, embodied cognition, cognitive robotics, and contemporary dance. About the Author Pietro Morasso is currently a Senior Researcher at the Department of Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Italian Institute of Technology. After a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering, from Genoa University, Italy, in 1968, he was Visiting Professor at MIT until 1978, before returning to Genoa, where he served as Full Professor in Biomedical Engineering. He is the author of six books and over 400 publications in the field of motor neuroscience and humanoid robotics. Martina Morasso is a Choreographer, Performer, and Dance QiGong-Trainer. She holds an MA from Genoa University, Italy, a degree in Dance Studies from the Dance/Music-Academy of Cologne, and a degree Choreography from the Palucca Dance University of Dresden, Germany. During 1994-2012, she was employed as a dancer and ballet master in several theatres in Germany, including the Komische Oper in Berlin. Since 2011, she has worked as a freelance choreographer in collaboration with TanzNetzDresden and Mittelsächsisches Theater in Freiberg.