ABSTRACT
SENSORY PERCEPTION In an oversimplified way, we can say that a performing art usually comprises three compo nents: the medium, the instrument, and the message. First, it is essential to establish some precise definitions as to what is the instrument, what is the medium, and wherein rests the message. In music, these three components are easily discernable: the piano is the instrument, the sound emanating from the piano is the medium, and the nature of the sound, caused to happen by the aesthetic manipulation of the performing artist is the message. In dance, however, there are confusions and also irra tional concepts about all three of these factors. The one great difference, and certainly the most complex one, is that the instrument and the artist are one and the same. The task is to distinguish the boundaries and domains of each. The human body is a complex array of bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, and sensory origins, as well as a morass of other biological material. All of these communicate with the brain, which forms the center of the nervous system and the seat of consciousness and volition.
