The ballet automaton: A formal model for human motion

In this paper we present a discrete event model whose marked language, i.e., sequences of movements, make up canonical warm-up routines in classical ballet. Through composition operations that trim physically infeasible transitions and ensure that the rules of classical ballet are adhered to, a richer model is obtained that supports the generation of free flowing dance sequences in the style of classical ballet. This type of construction not only allows us to produce a rich set of stylized human motions, but it also allows for variations in the "personalities" of these motions through the potential use of different composition specifications.