Mathematical Modeling of Kandyan Dancing

Abstract

Kandyan dancing is the traditional dance of Sri Lanka which performs an important role in the culture of Sri Lanka. The main building blocks of Kandyan dancing are Pa Saramba and Goda Saramba, which assist the dancers to improve their body movement techniques used in Kandyan dancing. 

Goda Saramba consists of 12 sequences of hand and leg movements. Each of these movements can be analysed  by considering them as a discrete sequence of joint angle variations at thw spine shoulder, shoulders, elbows, wrists, spine base, hips, knees and ankles. This article describes the modeling of the first Goda Saramba under the rhythm Wilamba using Discrete Fourier Transform. Therefore, the data on a cycle of first Goda Saramba was gathered from Pahim Path qualified Kandyan dancers for 10 trials using Kinect V2 device. 

Then, the obtained data sequence at an angle was transformed into a frequency domain using Discrete Fourier Transform and the amplitude spectrum was constructed. It reveals remarkable results on variation of the angle. The average fundamental amplitude of the amplitude spectrum for an angle is approximately equal to the magnitude of that angle at the basic posture of Kandyan dancing. Furthermore, the amplitudes of the second to eight harmonics of lower body angles reveal information on basic postures of the first Goda Saramba. 

Additionally, the effect of Body Mass Index on the constructed amplitude spectrum was investigated, and the only effect of Body Mass Index was on the amplitude spectrum of the spine base.