text:
Internal Careers Service
Mentoring Project
Academic Director – Claire McFadzean
Student Directors – Taylor Pollock and Louise Thomson
Operations Manager – Ellen Shearer
Media Manager – Aleena Murtaza
Operations Managers (Outreach) – Jamie Stewart and Molly Maclean
Marketing Manager – Maggie Wierzbicka
Office Manager – Rhea Darroch and Caitlin Daly (Assistant Office Manager)
Projects Manager – Lucy and Mackay Simona Gesheva (Assistant Projects Manager)
Street Law
Sheridans Solicitors
Operations Managers
Student Directors
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Outreach Managers
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SULCN Conference 2017
Paving the Way: The First Four
Posted by lawclinic
As we have mentioned previously on the blog, this year marks 100 years since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 was introduced. This landmark act proved to be revolutionary, as it provided women with the opportunity to enter the legal profession for the first time. It was Carrie Morrison, Mary Pickup, Mary Sykes and Maud Crofts who took advantage of this incredible opportunity.
Carrie Morrison, at 34 years old, was the first woman to receive acceptance as a solicitor in England and Wales in December 1922. She spent most of her time working as a 'Poor Man's Lawyer' in the East End of London. Furthermore, she also represented prostitutes in court, worked for the Women and Children's Protection Society and even defended the Becontree Estate protesters in 1932. A pioneering woman who dedicated her career to helping those less fortunate, Carrie set a high bar for other women to follow.
The other three women qualified in January 1923, and also led ground-breaking careers. Mary Pickup worked alongside her husband after getting accepted, having spent the 10 years before that also assisting him. She also worked at the Poor Man's Lawyer Department in Birmingham. Mary was also the only one of the four women who had children to care for whilst studying for her exams. However, it was her determination that allowed her to complete her exams alongside having a family.
Mary Sykes worked for her father's firm until 1930, when she set up her own legal firm – Mary Sykes and Co. Her father – also a solicitor – died in 1921 so never got to see his only daughter's achievements. Yet her perseverance and determination allowed her, in 1935, to become the only woman on Huddersfield Town Council and Huddersfield's only female practising lawyer simultaneously.
Maud Crofts spent a lifetime campaigning for woman's rights. Even through the First World War she did not give up her fight, instead gaining experience in a solicitor's office at the same time. Once qualified, Maud and her husband set up their own practice alongside Maud's brother, Robert Ingram. Maud did not stop work even when she had children, although at the time it was seen as the right thing to do. Maud did not retire until ill-health left her with no other choice. She was 66 years old. Both Maud's daughter Rosemary and grand-daughter Mary also followed in her footsteps and entered the legal profession. This made them England's first three generational family of female solicitors.
All four of these women overcame obstacles and fought hard for the right to practice law. They paved the way for women in law now, and in their time they truly changed the legal world for the better.
By Shona Christie
GCU Law Clinic Volunteer, LLB3
Women in Law Wednesday: Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe
For this week's 'Women in Law Wednesday' we have chosen Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe, who we had the pleasure of talking to. We found out all about her journey in the legal profession so far, discussed inequality in law and some inspiring advice was shared.
In her relatively short career Seonaid has achieved an incredible amount. In 2012 she graduated with a 1st class degree in Law and English Literature from the University of Glasgow before studying for an LLM in International Law, which was funded by the Carnegie Cameron Scholarship. She then worked at the International Criminal Court in The Hague before returning to Glasgow to study for the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (graduating first in her year). Seonaid then trained at Maclay, Murray and Spens (now Dentons) and is now a human rights lawyer with The Ethnic Minorities Law Centre in Glasgow. She also works part time as a Research Assistant with the University of Glasgow on their project celebrating the centenary of women in law (https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/law/100years/).
Seonaid is the co-founder of RebLaw Scotland, something that we were especially interested in talking to her about. Throughout the interview, the clear theme was Seonaid's passion for social justice and using law as a tool to achieve that. Which is exactly what the 'rebellious lawyering' project is about. 'Rebellious lawyering' is a movement founded by the UCLA academic, Professor Gerald López, which has resulted in the annual Yale RebLaw conference. Seonaid attended the first RebLaw conference in the UK in London during her traineeship and brought the idea of a similar Scottish conference back up to Glasgow. She co-founded RebLaw Scotland with Mairi McAllan and Katy MacAskill, women who she trained with at Maclay Murray Spens. The friendship between the three, Seonaid notes, was one of the highlights of her traineeship.
RebLaw Scotland hosts an annual conference, where they bring together professionals from the third sector, from academia, and practising lawyers, to talk about tackling social problems through radical lawyering. In recent years they have discussed legal responses to homelessness, refugee rights and tackling forced marriage. Seonaid also talks of other plans, such as visiting law schools around Scotland in the new year. We would strongly encourage anyone reading to keep an eye out for upcoming RebLaw Scotland events!
Another interesting part of Seonaid's journey so far is that she initially did not want to be a practicing solicitor. When she first went into her undergraduate degree, she wanted to be a journalist but realised that she did really enjoy the law, even the 'boring' bits! She still however did not opt to do the diploma after graduation and worked for a small charity as a research and policy officer before completing her LLM. She then started work at the International Criminal Court, which is where she finally decided she wanted to qualify as a lawyer. In The Hague she saw human rights law in practice and decided that she wanted to be able to advocate on behalf of victims of human rights abuses in the judicial system. This is what then pushed her to go back to Glasgow and undertake the diploma and traineeship.
Despite her achievements, Seonaid was keen to explain that it hasn't been all plain sailing and she points to many incredible women in her life who have helped her along the way. She highlighted in particular the support of her mum, who is also a lawyer, which she notes has undeniably placed her in a privileged position. She said "I think every achievement I have ever made is thanks to her" and that, therefore, "women supporting women is such an important principle for me."
As an example of this, Seonaid told us about feeling like an imposter when she first moved to The Hague. Helena Kennedy QC, author of 'Eve Was Framed' (and more recently 'Eve Was Shamed') had long been an inspiration for Seonaid. Helena Kennedy QC was an alumna of Seonaid's secondary school, one of the largest comprehensive schools in the UK. Seonaid explained that she would regularly read 'Eve Was Framed' as a source of inspiration when her confidence was failing. Struggling with her confidence when she first moved to The Hague, Seonaid picked up the book and decided to email Helena Kennedy QC to thank her, never expecting a response. She was stunned to receive a reply, filled with encouragement. This small act of kindness demonstrated to Seonaid how powerful it can be for women to support one another. She goes on to explain that the feeling that she got from the email – that she was not alone – inspires her work with the University of Glasgow '100 Voices for 100 Years' project. "When you read the voices of other women saying isn't this hard, isn't this difficult, it makes you realise that it is not just you that feels like that, other women do too." She explained that the project is a space for talking about gender equality but that there also needs to be wider changes in terms of diversity in the legal profession, particularly in terms of representation of those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Finally, we asked Seonaid the question we ask all our interviewees – what does being a women in law mean to you?
"It means that I am in a privileged position to use my voice to support vulnerable women. I try to do that in my work with migrant women, and I try to do that to support other women in law to achieve what they want to. Being a lawyer is a massive privilege and I think that we should use that little bit of power for good."
We are very grateful to Seonaid for sitting down with us and talking about her experiences, and we think she may be on the receiving end of emails such as the one she sent to Helena Kennedy QC in the not too distant future.
By Lucy Mackay
'Women in Law Wednesday' Week 5: Cheryl Liddell
Date November 13, 2019
Our Women in Law Wednesday this week is Cheryl Liddell. Cheryl studied Law at GCU and was also the Student Director of the Law Clinic in her 4thyear. Now that she has completed her diploma and is embarking on her traineeship, we caught up with her so that we could find out where she is now, get some advice for those following the same path as her and ask her opinion on the 'women in law' project..
We started by asking her the – rather generic – question, what inspired you to choose law? Cheryl replied with a rather generic (her words) answer, saying that law had always seemed really interesting on TV programmes. She explained that no one in her family had ever been to University so she didn't have anyone to talk to who had done law, so she decided to go to college for two years first. She admitted that she enjoyed it so much more than she thought she would, so decided to progress into the LLB at GCU. Due to the two years she spent at college, she felt this gave her a helpful start in 1st year as she had covered a lot of the content already. Third year was where it started to get harder for her (as we all know too well).
Talking more about her time at GCU, Cheryl mentioned two of the GCU Law lecturers, Claire McFadzean and Alison Britton. She had worked with Claire through the Law Clinic and found her move from private practice to academia inspiring as a law student, similarly with Alison's involvement with the Scottish Government, taking seminars and mountain climbing feats.
Moving on to her involvement with the Law Clinic, Cheryl explains that she was involved with the Law Clinic from 1styear. She stressed the importance of this involvement from the start of her degree throughout her interview, and encourages future managers to make sure that they are making 1st year students feel valued and involved. Talking of her achievements in the clinic, Cheryl explains that while she was student director the Law Clinic started to get recognised in the wider community and began to win awards. She attributes this to past managers as well. She also explains that she went to court once when volunteering at the Law Clinic, which as well as being an achievement at the time is also helping her with the litigation side of her traineeship now.
Moving on to where she is now, Cheryl explains that she is doing in house traineeship at Arnold Clark, which she is really enjoying. It is different from traditional traineeships in the sense that you do not get given seats, you are essentially there for any legal need that the company has. Anyone can come round and ask you a question. There is not the same hierarchy that there is in private practice, people from other departments will ask you for the same help whether you are a trainee or not. While she explains this can be a good thing, it can also be challenging as there are not as many people to ask for advice as in private practice. If someone chooses to come to her with her problem, which can be to do with a large range of legal issues, it is her responsibility to handle it.
Discussing her journey into her traineeship, Cheryl explains that she did not specifically choose to go in house. She began at Arnold Clark as a legal advisor, after a couple of months her boss offered her a traineeship. A good point to note for anyone who is feeling stressed about going into the diploma without a traineeship.
We then moved on to chat more about 'women in law'. We asked her if she had ever felt disadvantaged as a woman in law, or alternatively, motivated. She explains that, although it is not a direct disadvantage to her, it is strange to go from the degree where classes are 80% female, to having 1 female to 10 males in practice. It is a stark difference and she wonders where everyone went. She definitely finds that being a woman motivates her. She wants to support the other women that she knows in the profession, explaining that, for example, if a job came up she would be more likely to send it to her female friends.
Finally, the question we ask every week, what does being a women in law mean to you? 'It shows the development of how far women have come in law. So this project is obviously to commemorate the first 100 years of women entering the legal profession. The fact that when you look around the classroom that there can be 90% females, when 100 years ago we wouldn't even be able to enter the profession. Now we have figures like Lady Hale. It shows society's progression and their support of females in more extensive ways allowing them to do things that were once perceived as strictly 'male jobs.'
Thank you to Cheryl for meeting us and getting involved with the project!
Dame Margaret Henderson Kidd
Dame Margaret Henderson Kidd QC paved the way for aspiring female lawyers; establishing and securing women's role within the legal profession. Born in 1900, in Bo'ness, during a time where tending to their house and children was generally the extent of a woman's responsibilities, it would be hard to imagine that just two decades later the first woman would graduate with an LLB; especially in a society which granted women no political rights. Nevertheless, Margaret, following in the footsteps of her solicitor father, James, wished to pursue a diplomatic career.
Women were not recognised as "people" within the meaning of the Solicitors Act 1843 but with the introduction of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, women could now work as practicing lawyers and sit as jurors, as well as perform a number of other jobs previously thought only capable by men.
Margaret graduated from the University of Edinburgh, in 1922, with a master's degree and an LLB. She was called to the Faculty of Advocates in 1923, after training with Mitchell & Baxter WS, becoming the first female lawyer to have the right to plead in the Supreme Court of Scotland. She remained the only female advocate up until 1948. Throughout her career, Margaret continued to break into undiscovered territories, obtaining a considerable amount of 'firsts' for women in the history of Britain; becoming not only the first female advocate to appear before the House of Lords, but also the first woman appointed King's Council in Britain, as well as the first woman to hold the post of Sheriff Principal for Dumfries and Galloway.
Margaret helped shape the future for aspiring female lawyers, giving speeches and lectures and encouraging more and more women to become solicitors as the close work with people would better mould public opinion into one that believed that women were both equally as capable and deserving of the right to study and practice law as their male counterparts.
By Alana Farewell, GCU Law Clinic Volunteer, LLB1
'Women in Law Wednesday' Week 4: Patricia Taylor
For this week's 'Women in Law Wednesday', we reached out to former GCU Law student and Operations Manager of the Law Clinic, Patricia Taylor. As part of the project, it is important to us that we are celebrating women at all stages of their journey in the legal profession. It therefore made sense for us to approach Patricia to find out where she is now after leaving GCU and the Law Clinic and ask for her thoughts on Women in Law…
After gaining a First Class Honours in the LLB, Patricia undertook the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow. She is now over halfway through her traineeship with the international firm DWF, currently sitting in the Commercial Litigation department. Alongside this, Patricia is a committee member of the Scottish Young Lawyers' Association and a mentor under the Law Society of Scotland's Mentoring Scheme (links to both will be at the end of the blog).
As part of the 'Women in Law' project we hope to inspire young women who are embarking on their journey into the legal profession. We therefore wanted to ask Patricia if there were any moments throughout her studies or current career that particularly inspired her. Responding to this question, Patricia explains, "If you'd have told me seven years ago, when I was but a nervous first year (carrying around 'Woolman on Contract' like it was another limb), that I'd now be a year away from becoming a solicitor in a commercial firm, I'd probably have had to thoroughly google what that would even entail." She goes on however, 'A second year lecture on corporate law peaked that interest, and was funnily enough delivered by GCU [Law Clinic's] 'Woman in Law' [two weeks ago], Claire McFadzean. Claire's practical insights, humorous quips, and indeed honesty, as to the realities of the commercial world, meant that this is a career I've been pursuing ever since'. Firstly, I believe that there may not be a Law student that cannot relate to the image of being that scared 1st year. Secondly, Patricia gaining inspiration from our Academic Director (a theme we may see recurring) encapsulates the spirit of the project perfectly. Patricia then went on to praise her family, "my Mum and Gran actively placed no limits on what I could become, regardless of my background or gender." She qualifies this by pointing out another recurring theme within the project that, "ultimately, it is easier said than done, and our sector has some way to go in embodying that message itself, but I do (and must) believe that we will get there". Something I am sure we can all agree on.
This leads on to the next question that we put to Patricia, 'Has there ever been a point in your degree or career where you have felt that being a woman has disadvantaged you'. She gave a very profound answer, "At a recent roundtable discussion, we examined the Law Society of Scotland's publication, 'Profile of the Profession'. This uncovered statistics relating to the issue (amongst others) of unconscious bias, which continues to pose a prevalent issue within the legal sphere. Although I do not feel that being a woman has disadvantaged me in my career so far, this is not cause for complacency, for I am one of the lucky ones. Further, I appreciate that I am a "small fish in a big pond"; aware that the age-old glass-ceiling may very well present itself in the face of my progression." She finishes her answer with a hopeful message, "I do believe, however, that the tide is shifting. Encouragingly, conversations on these issues are increasing, as is awareness and activism for change". The message that Patricia is sending here is a very important one: just because it isn't directly affecting you presently, does not mean it is not there or does not affect other people. We hope to continue the conversation that she speaks of through this project.
Finally, as we will ask all of our interviewees in this series, we found out what being a Woman in Law means to Patricia. "Being a trainee solicitor is a privilege in its own right, additionally so, when I consider being a woman in law. I recently attended the Law Society's Annual Conference, where a speaker remarked that we, as women in law in 2019, are "standing on the shoulders of giants." It reminded me of the following by Rupi Kaur: "I stand on the sacrifices of a million women before me, thinking, what can I do to make this mountain taller, so that the women after me, can see farther?". And frankly, we, men and women alike, cannot let them down."
We thank Patricia for her valuable contribution to the project and we hope that reading her insights into the topic and about her career has inspired other LLB students hoping to follow along the same path.
Lucy Mackay, Projects Manager, LLB3
Scottish Young Lawyers' Association upcoming events: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/scottish-young-lawyers-association-1867524801
Scottish Young Lawyers' Association website: http://www.syla.co.uk/
Law Society of Scotland Mentoring Scheme: https://www.lawscot.org.uk/members/career-growth/mentoring/
Free Sanitary Products – the Landmark Ruling on Period Poverty
Despite being an existing issue since the beginning of time, it took several months of debating by individuals and members of parliament before the landmark ruling on period poverty was finally considered in the Scottish Parliament in 2017.
The year 2018 marked a remarkable achievement for Scotland in satisfying fundamental women's rights as it became the first country in the world which granted access to free sanitary products for students. As described by Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell: "Being able to access free sanitary products is fundamental to equality and human dignity".
However, currently free period products are only supplied under voluntary schemes which is why this year, Labour MSP Monica Lennon officially lodged the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill. This Bill aimed to make it a statutory requirement for schools, colleges and universities to provide free access to such sanitary products. How would this impact Scotland? Lennon has supported her reason for bringing this Bill into parliament by stating how this not only gives a chance for Scotland to "put access on a legal footing" but also to potentially lead the rest of the world in introducing similar laws.
In order to maintain current free provision, an investment of £5.5 million was made by the Scottish Government with local authorities receiving an additional £2 million and universities attaining up to £3.5 million in funding.
This proposed Bill aims to tackle the underlying stigma with addressing gender equality and "dignity issues" regardless of people's income and will bring about many positive effects in Scotland. Sanitary products have been debated to be a "necessity for a very large part of a woman's life" as opposed to the historic view of it being treated as a luxury product. Therefore, if implemented, the access to free period products becoming statutory will "scourge period poverty" and help reduce the current basic right imbalance.
Women in Law Project Week 3 – Gwyneth Bebb
After studying Law at Oxford and gaining the marks for a first-class honours degree, Gwyneth Bebb was rejected not only from gaining her award but from applying to sit her Barr exams also. As mentioned previously in our first Women in Law blog, women could not practice as professional lawyers before the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 or even be granted the award they had studied for.
It was Gwyneth Bebb that was behind the movement fighting for woman to be officially recognised as legal professionals. In the famous case of Bebb v Law Society she fought for woman to be regarded as "persons" under the Solicitors Act 1843. Being female was classed as a "disability" and she lost on the grounds of precedent with the court ruling that it was the parliaments duty to change the law and not for the courts in this instance.
Despite losing the case and the appeal her actions went on the spark the movement which led to the introduction of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. She travelled around the country along with other woman raising awareness and spreading their cause, it was her persistence and determination that allowed for woman to become fully qualified and practicing lawyers.
Unfortunately Gwetyth Bebb died from child birth complications whilst studying for her Barr exam so she never got the chance to utilise what she had worked so hard to achieve but 176 years later: woman now make up 48% of all lawyers in the United Kingdom and 47% of the workforce, exceeding the number of male practising lawyers for the first time in 2017.
By Hannah Ritchie
Female Lawyers and University – does higher education match reality?
What comes to mind when you think of a law student?
Do you think of a young, handsome, clever man in a fancy suit and tie? Or your best friend who went to law school just because they hated maths and were kind of good at winning arguments?
In fact, for the majority of human history, women never really fit in the picture. Although the symbol of law itself, Lady Justice, is female, women were mostly excluded from the profession until the 20thcentury. Nowadays the situation has actually considerably altered,and it may just be that women outnumber men in some Universities.
For those of you who are law students or lecturers- next time you are in class, look around. What do you see? Chances are, you would notice that the ratio of women to men in the room is significantly leaning towards the former's side. According to recent statistics, the percentage of women studying the LLB in England and Wales works out overwhelmingly in their favour- 68,8%. This is reflected in a similar way across the pond in America where the statistic is 56,49%. Our own Glasgow Caledonian University does not fall behind in this trend with a staggering 72,4% of law students here being female in the academic year of 2019/2020.
But what does this mean? Have all hurdles for women disappeared with the progress of time? Why are we even doing this project since it is in fact men who appear to be disadvantaged in certain circumstances? The truth is, while there are more women in higher education than ever before, as the career progresses and as you look into different fields the numbers start lowering. Substantially. For example, according to the 'first100years' project, as of 2016 women amount to only 125 of the 462 Scottish Advocates, 21 out of the 112 QCs and 9 out of the 31 judges!
Although these are not the only legal professions out there, it is important to recognise the stark difference between how few women pursue them and how many study law in general. Are females looked at differently at interviews or do they simply avoid those positions due to their nature? The reason can be as sinister as women being seen as more unreliable in the long term due to childbirth or not a good fit for the job because of their "inherent femininity". Or are we, as women, just not confident enough in our ability to tackle such male-dominated fields?
What is clear is that University might not be a good indicator for women in the legal profession. Our research suggests that, even though there are less of them studying the LLB, men have a much higher chance to succeed in higher positions of power than their female counterparts. Through our 'Women in Law' project we aim to find out why that is, what hurdles women still face and what can be done to increase equality within the legal sector as a whole.
A UK first: the introduction of the 'smacking ban' in Scotland
On the 3rdof October 2019 Scotland became the first country in the UK to make it an offence to smack your child. The ban on all physical punishment was introduced by Green MSP John Finnie and was backed by 84 votes to 29. Although Scotland may be leading the way in the UK, legislating against smacking children is not a ground-breaking concept. Sweden became the first country to ban smacking back in 1979, and Scotland is now the 58thcountry in the world follow suit. Wales is also on the verge of introducing a ban but there are no current plans for England or Northern Ireland to introduce legislation of this type.
The ban removes the defence of reasonable chastisement. When deciding whether the chastisement was reasonable, the courts would take into account factors such as; the nature of the punishment, its duration and frequency, the age of the child and the effect it had physically and mentally. Now children in Scotland have the same protection from assault as adults.
There are critics of the ban including the Scottish Conservatives and some child psychologists. There has also been a campaign against the ban led by 'Be Reasonable Scotland'. They argue that the smacking ban is unnecessary, will not help vulnerable children and may lead to 'traumatic intervention' in 'good' families. In support of the ban, some Paediatricians argue that smacking can cause long-term harm and leads to the development of more aggressive behaviours. The passing of the Act has been hailed as a step forward for child's rights and shows the change of societies view on physical discipline on children.
It will be interesting to see how the new legislation is utilised in practice and what changes we might see unfolding in the next few years.
By Carys McIntyre, Law Clinic volunteer, LLB3
GCU's Women in Law Project Continues..
As part of our ongoing 'Women in Law Wednesday' series on our social media we chose to put our Academic Director, Claire McFadzean, in the spotlight. As well as being the Academic Director of GCU Law Clinic, Claire is also a Lecturer in Law here at GCU, a Solicitor and a Senior Fellow (HEA). We have chosen Claire this week not only because she is a driving force behind the Women in Law project and the clinic, but also because she provides all of us here at the clinic with guidance and support in pursuing our own careers as women in law. Anyone that has taken a module run by Claire will know how valuable her lessons are. As well as taking you through what you need to pass the module, Claire's classes always focus on skills that you can take forward into your career. When moving into 3rdand 4thyear and applying for traineeships, it becomes clear how important this is.
We asked Claire about her career journey so far, 'I am very proud to have qualified as a solicitor and worked for a number of years within the legal profession as a commercial lawyer. In 2006 I decided to alter the trajectory of my career and moved from practice to academia. I now have the privilege of teaching the next generation of lawyers.'
We also asked her what being a 'woman in law' means to her, 'throughout my career I have had the pleasure of working with a number of inspirational women who have provided me with both support and opportunity for development through their mentoring. As a woman in law I think it is important to pay this forward for the next generation of women'.
If you have any suggestions for who should be our next 'Women in Law Wednesday', please let us know @gculawclinic on Twitter and Instagram.
Free Sanitary Products - the Landmark Ruling on Period Poverty
Women in Law Project Week 3 - Gwyneth Bebb
Female Lawyers and University - does higher education match reality?
GCU's Women in Law Project Continues..
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Palmarès
Giochi olimpici
Barcellona 1992: argento nei pesi piuma.

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Why did this particular moment merit the lofty recognition of a blog post?
For no other reason than it made me laugh, and I hope it makes you laugh too.
If you follow me on social media, you are probably aware of the ridiculously frustrating day I had yesterday. It started out with me flooding the kitchen, which caused me to forget to make Leif a lunch for school, which was then followed up by a loaf of bread not properly placed in the bread maker. So when Harriet and I returned home from playgroup, looking forward to some yummy homemade bread to go with the equally delicious soup I had made the night before for our lunch, we discovered that the bread had cooked but the ingredients did not mix, which meant we had some cooked milk and flour congealed at the bottom of a bread pan with the yeast and salt still lying on the top. Not so yummy. Which was all fine and dandy since there was no soup left anyways. Cough . . cough . . . BOYS!
No big deal, though, because we can make nachos, BUT, the boys had also got into the new bag of Tostitos the night before and left them downstairs on the couch, where Scout being the opportunistic puppy that he is and always on the lookout for people snacks, scarfed down the remainder of the bag and was now lying on my couch with a guilty, but very satisfied look on his face even though you could tell he was paying the price for his gluttony. Ugh. Refusing to admit defeat and run headfirst into the ever comforting arms of McDonald's, who I adore but know is so very bad for me but sometimes is required in times of emotional distress, I opened the freezer to see if there was anything I could whip up for lunch and the brand new bag of frozen blueberries, which had been opened and not properly closed by you guessed it . . . The Boys . . . leapt out at me and poured all over the floor, where Kingston, who had not been fed yet because of the early morning flood . . . sorry pup . . . and who missed out on the Tostito binge earlier, eagerly ran around the kitchen trying to beat Harriet to the frozen, purple treats that seemed to be raining down upon them from the heavens like manna.
Thankfully, the day did eventually got better and, by 11pm, I was finally able to drag my worn-out, way-too-old-for-all-this-craziness body to bed and crash.
Oh, and can I just mention here that I am on week 2 of being the lone parent of this operation because Mr. Level-Headed is out conquering the North one spreadsheet at a time. Just saying. We all have our super powers: his happens to be numbers and mine is attracting shenanigans.
at which point I wish I had heard the Universe giggling and teehee-ing because I might have decided to go back to bed.
Girl, you are truly a wonder woman.
No big deal: we have lots of time!
When she was finished, I went in to help Harriet clean up. I took the potty and dumped the goods into the toilet. Thanks to all those blueberries the previous afternoon, it was still a bit messy, so I filled the potty with water from the sink, and as I traveled back to the toilet to dispose of it, Harriet popped up off the floor at that very moment and hit my hand holding the potty filled with poop soup, sending the contents flying . . . all over her head, all over my pants and all over the wall.
Seriously. I do not make this stuff up.
The whole incident happened very quickly, and even as I write this it occurs to me that I still need to clean up the bathroom . . .ooops.
After the quickest shower of her life, my poor baby stood in my bedroom, looking like a traumatized, drowned rat, sobbing over the horror of the entire situation and completely distressed that her dinosaur shirt was now ruined. As she stood there, in a thread-bare towel that is usually reserved as a rag because all the other towels were used up yesterday in the flood and are lying in a huge, albeit clean, pile on the laundry room floor, I burst out laughing. Not because she was funny to look at but, to be honest, she was rather pathetic looking at the moment, but because I love her so much, and I absolutely love this ridiculous life of mine so much, and I had to laugh because there is far too much to cry about and laughing felt like a small victory. Once I started laughing, she started laughing and was then eager to share the story with her preschool teacher at drop-off. Phew!
Look! I did it! I won this one.
And then the rest of the time, I am left tripping and sliding my way back down this bloody hill, preferably on my bum but oftentimes my face. So these small and rather insignificant but truly miserable moments, like splashing poop soup all over yourself, your infant daughter and the bathroom, are powerful because, yes, they further remind us just how frustrating and difficult life is and how unscrupulously the odds are stacked against our favour, but they also have the ability to snap us out of the rote routines we can mindlessly end up following just to get things done day after day, and they have the power to surprise us, to wake us up, to humble us and to stir within us feelings of love, appreciation, hope and even laughter.
Maybe a wake-up call was exactly what I needed today.


Reigning Laser gold medallist Paul Goodison showed real grit today to overcome debilitating back pain and claw himself up to sixth in the standings.
The 34-year-old from Weymouth picked up the injury in just the second race of the London 2012 regatta, leading to some unusually poor finishes.
Goodison did manage a second in yesterday's last race but came off the water in tears, admitting his regatta was in jeopardy.
However, the Yorkshireman responded well to treatment overnight and lined up with the rest of the fleet in Weymouth Bay this afternoon.
Goodison performed excellently in the first race and finished fourth, before later picking up a ninth to leave him sixth in the overall standings ahead of tomorrow's rest day.
The sailor's courageous performance capped a great day for the British sailing team, who saw Stevie Morrison and Southampton-born Ben Rhodes move to overall fifth in the 49er standings.
The Exmouth duo posted a fourth and second in Portland Harbour, although Australia's Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen continued to lead the way after a second and a first today.
Weymouth's Nick Dempsey moved up to third overall in the men's RS:X standings after following a fifth in his first race with a 'bullet' - sailing terminology for a victory.
The windsurfer got the better of Greece's Byron Kokalanis on a photo-finish victory, although a close finish went the other way for another Brit.
Ali Young ended second, just behind Belgium's Evi Van Acker, in the first Laser Radial race, before going on to post an 11th place finish in race six.
That result, though, is automatically discarded as it is her worst of the regatta so far, meaning she is fourth overall heading into tomorrow's rest day.
Elsewhere, Beijing bronze medallist Bryony Shaw lies sixth in the women's RS:X standings after a fourth and ninth today.
The day was rounded off by the Lucy Macgregor-skippered women's match racing team - who're all from Poole - who could not follow up victories yesterday with similar success as they lost to New Zealand and then Russia in the round robin stage.


Dancing emphasizes the motor expression of emotional experiences. The bodily expression of emotions can modulate the subjective experience of emotions, as when adopting emotion-specific postures and faces. Thus, dancing potentially offers a ground for emotional coping through emotional enhancement and regulation. Here we investigated the emotional responses to music in individuals without any prior dance training while they either freely danced or refrained from movement. Participants were also tested while imitating their own dance movements but in the absence of music as a control condition. Emotional ratings and cardio-respiratory measures were collected following each condition. Dance movements were recorded using motion capture. We found that emotional valence was increased specifically during spontaneous dance of groovy excerpts, compared to both still listening and motor imitation. Furthermore, parasympathetic-related heart rate variability (HRV) increased during dance compared to motor imitation. Nevertheless, subjective and physiological arousal increased during movement production, regardless of whether participants were dancing or imitating. Significant correlations were found between inter-individual differences in the emotions experienced during dance and whole-body acceleration profiles. The combination of movement and music during dance results in a distinct state characterized by acutely heightened pleasure, which is of potential interest for the use of dance in therapeutic settings.
Movements are intimately linked to emotional experiences (Figure 1, green arrow). Movement is the vehicle to express emotions to others, by means of facial, vocal and limb displays. The relationship between emotions and movements is bidirectional: facial and limb movements may prime, bias or enhance certain emotional experiences (Niedenthal, 2007). In this study, we investigate whether the presence of movement while listening to music may modulate the emotional response to music (Figure 1, red arrow).
Figure 1. Relationship between movements, music and emotions. The green arrow indicates the bidirectional relationship between emotions and movements (Darwin, 1872; Ekman et al., 1969; Izard, 1971; Meijer, 1989; Stepper and Strack, 1993; Dittrich et al., 1996; Wallbott, 1998; Montepare et al., 1999; Pollick et al., 2001; Sawada et al., 2003; Atkinson et al., 2004, 2007; Niedenthal, 2007; Roether et al., 2009; Carney et al., 2010; Havas et al., 2010; Dael et al., 2012; Havas and Matheson, 2013; Arminjon et al., 2015; de Gelder et al., 2015). The cyan arrow indicates the bidirectional relationship between emotions and music (Shatin, 1970; Fisher and Greenberg, 1972; McFarland, 1985; Nyklíček et al., 1997; Peretz et al., 1998; Blood and Zatorre, 2001; Gomez and Danuser, 2004; Bigand et al., 2005; Baumgartner et al., 2006; Zentner et al., 2008; Coutinho and Cangelosi, 2011; Saarikallio, 2011; Thoma et al., 2012; Koelsch, 2014; Juslin et al., 2015; Vuilleumier and Trost, 2015). The black arrow indicates the bidirectional relationship between movement and music (Clynes, 1977; Flohr and Brown, 1979; Needler and Baer, 1982; Sims, 1985; Davidson, 1993; Worden, 1998; Boone and Cunningham, 2001; Leman, 2007, 2010; Toiviainen et al., 2010; Janata et al., 2012; Burger et al., 2013, 2014; Maes and Leman, 2013; Van Dyck et al., 2013; Witek et al., 2014, 2017; Maes, 2016).
Music is widely regarded for its capacity to elicit emotions (Figure 1, cyan arrow). Emotion elicitation happens as a result of the appraisal of the music novelty and intrinsic pleasantness (Scherer, 2005), association with autobiographical memories (Jäncke, 2008) and empathy for the person, real or imagined, who is expressing through the music (Vines et al., 2011; Miu and Balteş, 2012; for a review, see Scherer and Coutinho, 2013). Various properties of music sounds have been linked to changes in emotional states. Mode, melodic contour and harmonic complexity have been shown to influence whether a piece of music is perceived as pleasant or unpleasant, whereas tempo, accentuation and rhythmic articulation play a key role in determining the degree of emotional arousal (Schubert, 2004; Gomez and Danuser, 2007). The rhythmic features of music may promote entrainment phenomena at the physiological as well as biomechanical level (Coutinho and Cangelosi, 2011), to the point of creating an urge to move in response to certain kinds of music (Janata et al., 2012). The relationship between music and emotions is bidirectional: being in a specific emotional state has been shown to lead individuals to seek out particular types of music, suggesting a use of music for emotional self-regulation (Saarikallio, 2011; Thoma et al., 2012).
Music has also a tight connection to movements (Figure 1, black arrow). Convergent auditory, autonomic and motor pathways in the reticular formation of the brainstem provide a foundation for associating sounds, motor and visceral responses, in a fast and reflex-oriented fashion (Cant and Benson, 2003). Bidirectional auditory-motor connections are also present in various regions of the brain, including the basal ganglia, the planum temporale and the dorso-ventral premotor cortex (Griffiths and Warren, 2002; Grahn and Brett, 2007; Lahav et al., 2007). The density of the connections between auditory and motor centers has made some argue that certain musical phenomena, such as rhythm, are better understood as intrinsically auditory-motor, rather than purely auditory (e.g., Zatorre et al., 2007). Furthermore, music may also involve a visual component, when watching the movements of a musician or a dancer. Watching a performer activates the observer's motor network, presumably because the human brain understands action partly through motor simulation (Calvo-Merino et al., 2004).
Various studies have shown how music influences movements. In these prior studies, participants without dance training were asked to dance freely to music (Burger et al., 2013; Saarikallio et al., 2013). The music was chosen for expressing or inducing different emotions, such as happiness, anger, sadness or tenderness. These different musical emotions were expressed by distinct dance moves. The movements were generally faster and showed greater spread-out posture of the hands when dancing to happy music compared to sad music (Saarikallio et al., 2013).
Prior studies have focused on the relationships between either movement and emotions, or music and movements, or music and emotions (Figure 1, dotted arrows). Surprisingly little is known about the mediation effects that one of these three elements may exert on the relationship between the other two. In the present study, we ask whether the presence or absence of movement modulates the emotional response to music. The existence of such a mediation effect is expected in light of the two-way connections between music, emotions and movements described above.
The only prior study (Vines et al., 2006, 2011) that has investigated the effect of movements on musical emotions, showed that the gestures of the performer influence the emotional experience of the audience. In that study, participants made continuous judgments of emotional tension while watching, listening to, or both watching and listening to pre-recorded music performances. The visual information pertaining to the performer's movement either increased or reduced emotional tension, depending on the specific passage in the music piece, even in the absence of sound (Vines et al., 2006, 2011; see also Thompson and Russo, 2007).
No study has investigated so far how the movements made by the audience influence their own emotional experience (Figure 1, red arrow). In other words, the listener's concurrent body movements have never been taken into account. Understanding whether and under which conditions moving to music may modulate one's emotional responses may be key to the effective design of psychotherapeutic interventions in which dance is used to sustain emotion regulation (Lesté and Rust, 1990), and to increase motivation in rehabilitation program aimed at restoring motor functions (Hashimoto et al., 2015).
Dance can be broadly defined as the movement of one or more bodies in a choreographed or improvised manner with or without accompanying sound (Bläsing et al., 2012). An enhancement of the emotional response to music during dance may occur by means of two complementary mechanisms. One involves an increased awareness of the emotions expressed by the music and experienced by the listener. Dancing requires attending to the musical stimulus, in order to achieve some degree of congruency or synchronization between the music and the movements. The dancer also needs to identify the emotion state that he or she wants to express, and choose the motor patterns to convey that emotion appropriately. As a result of this process, the emotional state may be brought to a higher level of conscious examination. Consistently with the idea that dance may demand for a certain degree of emotional awareness, it has been shown that individuals with greater dance experience were better at identifying some classes of emotions from facial expressions (Bonny et al., 2017). A second mechanism involves a direct enhancement of the emotional experience due to peripheral stimulation, independently of cognition. Dancing engages the motor system and generates multiple feedback loops, for example in terms of somatosensory, proprioceptive and vestibular stimulation, and physiological arousal. As a result of this increased engagement at multiple levels, the physiological responses underlying emotions are likely to be enhanced when dancing, as well as more likely to reach consciousness (Grandjean et al., 2008), compared to when one listens to music without engaging in a concurrent expressive motor activity. The enhancement of emotional responses when engaging one's body with the music is also consistent with the framework of embodied cognition (Leman, 2007). Within this framework, it has been suggest that "it is through the body that musical structure is experienced" (Leman, 2010, pp.46), suggesting that a greater engagement of one's body will facilitate the experience of the musical emotional content.
The first aim of this study is to investigate whether moving to music modulates music-evoked emotions. We predict that music-evoked emotions would be enhanced when participants generate spontaneous dance movements, as compared to music listening in the absence of movement. Second, we ask whether different facets of the emotional experience, such as valence and arousal, could be differently modulated by dance. We predict an increase of emotional valence, that is the degree of pleasure experienced, during dance, compared to listening in the absence of movements. Furthermore, as a result of the metabolic demands caused by the active production of body movements, we anticipate that dancing to music will be experienced as more arousing, compared to simply listening, particularly when dancing to fast and groovy music. Third, we asked whether the intensity of the emotional experience during dance would correlate with specific elements of the motion pattern. Such a relationship is expected in light of the previous studies, summarized above, which showed that different emotions are represented through distinct dance patterns. For example, music that is perceived as strongly arousing prompts greater acceleration of the head, hands and feet, compared to more relaxing music (Burger et al., 2013). Here, rather than investigating whether music pieces with different features result in different dance patterns, we asked whether people exhibiting different dance patterns would experience emotions in a different way, given the same music excerpts. We expected that individuals who exhibited stronger acceleration patterns would experience stronger emotions, compared to participants with comparatively weaker acceleration patterns.
Merely generating movement sequences, in the absence of music, may increase physiological arousal. In order to examine the role of movements per se on emotional experience, in the present study we compared dancing and listening to a third condition that involves the generation of motion patterns closely matched to those generated during dancing, but in the absence of music.
In sum, we collected emotion ratings, respiration, heart rate and motion capture from participants as they engaged in dancing to music vs. listening to music while remaining still. As additional control conditions, emotional responses from the same participants were also collected following rest and after copying the movements of a dot-display animated human figure, in the absence of music. Unknown to participants, this figure reproduced the exact motion patterns generated by the participants themselves during the dance they had performed shortly before. Overall, the study assessed the impact of the presence vs. absence of both music and movements, in the four possible combinations (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Experimental design. (A) Experimental tasks. (B) Example of sequence for the experimental tasks. (C) Details of the music excerpts.
We tested 40 participants without motor, cardiovascular or respiratory medical conditions. Participants (19 female) were recruited from the local universities through online boards, and were for the most part university students (age, M ± SD: 26.2 ± 4.9; weight: 64.5 ± 11.1 Kg; height: 170.1 ± 10.1 cm). In terms of education, five were completing high school, 19 had or were completing a bachelor degree, 13 had or were completing a master degree, three had or were completing a doctorate. Hand dominance was right for 38 participants and left for two participants. In terms of ethnicity, 25 were white, 11 were Asian, 3 were Hispanic and 1 was black. Participants reported having slept 7.6 ± 1.4 h on the night prior to the experiment. None of the participants reported dancing professionally, although 11 of them reported dancing as amateurs (average hours dancing/week: 0.7 ± 1.7). All participants had less than 3 years of formal dance training (average years of training: 0.2 ± 0.5). Two participants reported playing a musical instrument professionally, and 14 reported playing as amateurs (average hours playing/week: 1.5 ± 2.6; average years of training: 3.3 ± 4.5). This study was carried out in accordance with the ethics guidelines provided by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Univesité de Montréal (Certification number: CERAS-206-17-002-D) with written informed consent from all subjects, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Figure 2A depicts the design of the experiment, and an example of experimental sequence is shown in Figure 2B. Participants were tested in a single session lasting 2.5 h as follows: (a) standing/resting baseline with the explicit request of avoiding movements (no music and no movements), for 4 min and 15 s, which is the same duration as the music excerpts; (b) dancing to a groovy excerpt (see "Music Excerpts" section; both music and movements present); (c) listening to a non-groovy excerpt while standing and refraining from movements (music present but no movements); (d) copying the movement produced during (b) (movements present but no music); (e) dancing to a non-groovy excerpt; (f) listening to a groovy excerpt while standing and refraining from movements; and (g) copying the movement produced during (e). The order of the conditions b-g was pseudo-randomized across participants. None of the participants reported any fatigue at the end of the session.
Participants listened to pre-recorded instructions before each condition. These recorded instructions included as a background the relevant music excerpt, so that participants could prepare themselves to the mood and style of the music to come. For the dancing condition, participants were instructed to listen to the music, to concentrate on their emotional state and to let their body spontaneously move, as inspired by their feelings. Participants were allowed to move the way they wanted within an area delimited by tape on the floor (area size: 2.8 × 3.3 m). For the listening still condition, participants were instructed to listen to the music, concentrate on their emotional state and remain standing, relaxed and perfectly still. We emphasized to participants to keep their body relaxed, without creating muscle tension. The imitation condition was designed with the goal of matching the movements generated during the dance condition. We sought to eliminate the "dance" component by: (1) replacing the music with a non-musical auditory stimulation (a low-passed white noise sound); and (2) replacing the dance with the imitation of somebody else's movements. Participants were shown on a projection screen (size: 1.2 × 1.2 m) the dot-display motion capture recording of their own dance. Participants were not told that they would be watching their own performance; many reported that they recognized themselves. The video clip had been preliminarily centered, zoomed and rotated such that the animated figure was visible all the times and was facing the participant most of the time. Participants were instructed to imitate the movements of the animated figure.
The music excerpts, as well as the white noise, were edited so that each lasted exactly 4 min and 15 s. The sound was played by a couple of loudspeakers at a peak sound level of 85 dB. All conditions were followed by a 2-min recording of cardiorespiratory variables (see red arrows in Figure 2B), during which participants were asked to remain still in a relaxed standing posture. An exception to this was condition a), for which physiological recordings were collected before, rather than after, in order to acquire baseline physiological readings prior to any experimental manipulation. During testing for all conditions participants were left alone in the testing room, and the lights in the room were dimmed. This was done to help participants feel at ease and to encourage their freedom of expression, particularly during the dance. After the end of the cardiorespiratory recordings, participants provided ratings on their emotional experience (see green arrows in Figure 2B).
The 40 participants were randomly assigned to two groups of 20 participants each. Each participant danced to one groovy and to one non-groovy excerpt, and listened still to one different groovy and one non-groovy excerpt. The two groups were tested with different music excerpts. Participants in group A were tested with familiar groovy excerpts and unfamiliar non-groovy excerpts. Symmetrically, participants in group B were tested with unfamiliar groovy excerpts and familiar non-groovy excerpts (Figure 2C).
Eight music excerpts were selected for the purpose of this study, deriving from the combination of high/low groove × high/low familiarity × with/without lyrics. Not all music is the same in terms of the motion and emotions it evokes. Particularly relevant for the current investigation, the dimension of groove has been described in recent years to express the degree to which a certain piece of music urges the listener to generate movements (Janata et al., 2012; Witek et al., 2014). In this study we aimed to control for the potential effect of groove in mediating emotional responses during dance by including both high-groove and low-groove music excerpts. We also controlled for two potential confounds: familiarity and lyrics. Previous studies showed that both familiarity and the presence of lyrics can play a role in making the listeners emotionally engaged with music (Pereira et al., 2011; Loui et al., 2013). First, we selected two highly familiar excerpts that had been previously validated in the study by Janata et al. (2012) as having a very high degree of groove, one with and one without lyrics. Then, we sought to identify additional music excerpts with high vs. low degree of groove. Following the study of Janata et al. (2012), groove was defined to participants as: "The aspect of music that compels the body to move". We sought to include excerpts with high and low familiarity, as well as excerpts with and without lyrics. The further six excerpts were selected from an initial pool of 24 excerpts, half with and half without lyrics. We run a pilot on-line survey with 40 participants, which rated on 1–7 Likert scales each excerpt for groove and familiarity (none of the participants in the pilot study participated in the main study). We chose the six excerpts that, together with the two preliminarily selected from Janata et al. (2012), were most different in terms of groove (maximum difference between high-low groove), and most different in terms of familiarity (maximum difference between high-low familiarity). We also sought to minimize the difference in familiarity between the high and low groove excerpts, at both the high and low extremes of the familiarity spectrum. This was done to ensure that we included some excerpts with high groove that were familiar and some that were unfamiliar (and, similarly, some excerpts with low groove that were familiar and some that were unfamiliar). Symmetrically, we tried to minimize the difference in groove between the high and low familiarity excerpts at both the high and low extremes of the groove spectrum. This selection process yielded the pool of eight music excerpts shown in Figure 2C.
The selected music were found to effectively differentiate between high and low groove and, independently, high and low familiarity. The groovy excerpts were rated by the participants in the main study as having a significantly higher level of groove compared to the non-groovy ones (t(158) = 7.79, p < 0.001), without this bearing differences on the degree of familiarity (Figure 3A; t(158) = 1.23, p = 0.22). Symmetrically, the familiar excerpts were rated as significantly more familiar compared to the non-familiar ones (t(158) = 6.24, p < 0.001), without this bearing differences on the degree of perceived groove (Figure 3B; t(158) = 0.58, p = 0.56).
Figure 3. Groove and familiarity in the selected excerpts. The figure shows the ratings of (A) groove and (B) familiarity for the music excerpts (means ± standard error).
The primary outcome measure was the emotional rating following each condition. Emotional responses were collected by means of scores provided by the participants on computerized Likert scales. The emotional assessment was based on the dimensional representation of emotions (Russell, 1980), thus using ratings of Valence (1 = very unpleasant, 7 = very pleasant) and Arousal (1 = very relaxing, 7 = very arousing).
To further characterize participants' level of arousal, in addition to the self-report ratings we recorded physiological arousal in terms respiratory rate, heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV). These dimensions were chosen so as to reflect the state of the autonomic nervous system in response to music listening (Iwanaga et al., 2005). Physiological recordings were made using a wireless portable custom unit, built and designed in house, capable of recording respiratory rhythm, by means of inductive plethysmography using two elastic belts positioned around the abdomen and the chest, and electrocardiogram (ECG), from three standard thoracic leads, at a sampling frequency of 400 Hz (a detailed description of this custom equipment is provided in Codrons et al., 2014). The equipment for the cardiorespiratory recordings was applied to the participant before the beginning of the experiment, and it was worn throughout the experiment. The signals from the inductive plethysmographic belts were analyzed by an interactive program to identify for each breath the positive and negative respiratory peaks and from there the respiratory frequency. The R-R interval was utilized as an indicator for heart rate. First, we obtained the heart period sequence from the ECG. This was done by identifying the peak of the R wave of the ECG, and then constructing the series of the heart period by measuring the R-R interval. This sequence of R-R intervals was converted into a continuous signal at a frequency of 4 Hz by interpolation of the R-R intervals at each data point. The analysis of HRV was performed using the HRVAS toolbox in Matlab (Ramshur, 2010). Frequency-domain HRV was assessed by calculating the power spectrum density in the low frequency (LF, 0.03–0.15 Hz) and high frequency (HF, 0.15–0.6 Hz) bands. The LF band reflects the combined activity of both the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous systems, whereas the HF band is more influenced by parasympathetic modulations (Bernardi et al., 2011). The power within each band was obtained by integrating the power spectrum density between the band frequency limits. For the purpose of statistical analyses, we utilized the percentage of the LF and HF amplitude (LF%, HF%).
Participants' movements were recorded by means of optical infrared motion capture (Qualysis system) at a frame rate of 100 Hz. We recorded the three-dimensional position of 28 reflective markers attached to each participant, following the marker setup utilized in previous dance experiments and described in details by Burger et al. (2013), comprising (L = left; R = right; F = front; B = back): 1: LF head; 2: RF head; 3: LB head; 4: RB head; 5: L shoulder; 6: R shoulder; 7: breastbone; 8: spine (at the level of the third thoracic vertebrae); 9: LF hip; 10: RF hip; 11: LB hip; 12: RB hip; 13: L elbow; 14: R elbow; 15: L wrist radius; 16: L wrist ulna; 17: R wrist radius; 18: R wrist ulna; 19: L hand; 20: R hand; 21: L knee; 22: R knee; 23: L ankle; 24: R ankle; 25: L heel; 26: R heel; 27: L big toe; 28: R big toe. The analyses were performed using a modified version of the Motion Capture Toolbox (Toiviainen and Burger, 2011). Through a five-step procedure, we sought to compute a limited number of movement variables suggestive of global dance patterns.
First, we reduced the 28 physical markers to a set of 20 secondary markers (Burger et al., 2013), with the aim of reducing redundant information while retaining the essential body parts and joints.
Second, from the three-dimensional joint position data of each secondary marker, we computed several kinematic quantities that have been shown in previous research to discriminate between dance movements in different emotional states (Toiviainen et al., 2010; Burger et al., 2013). Specifically, we computed: the instantaneous velocity (i.e., the first derivative of the marker position), acceleration (i.e., the second derivative of the marker position) and jerk (i.e., the third derivative of the marker position), by means of numerical differentiation; the cumulative distance traveled by the marker; the bounding rectangle, defined as the smallest rectangular area that contains the projection of the trajectory of each marker on the horizontal plane (length of the analysis window: 195 frames); the instantaneous kinetic energy, by means of body-segment modeling (see Toiviainen et al., 2010); the instantaneous distance between the two hands.
Third, the instantaneous values of velocity, acceleration, jerk, kinetic energy and hand distance were averaged over time, for each song (Toiviainen et al., 2010). The time-averaged values for markers that were present on two sides of the body (e.g., right and left hand) were further averaged across the two sides. This resulted in a single score, for each of the kinematic dimensions, for each of the following body landmarks: toe, ankle, knee, sacrum, hip, mid-torso, neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand and head.
Fourth, the dimensionality of the data was reduced by employing Principal Component Analysis (PCA), as implemented in Matlab (version 2015b). The input to the PCA was a matrix containing 80 rows, corresponding to the scores for each participant in the two dance conditions (40 participants × 2 conditions) and 71 columns, corresponding to the kinematic and kinetic variables described above. The data were centered and then factorized using the singular value decomposition algorithm. The analysis was restricted to the first three principal components (PCs), which together explained 96.4% of the total variance. PC1 explained 86% of the variance, and had high positive loadings for features related to jerky and accelerated movements of the feet, ankles, knees, hands, wrists and elbow as well as positive loadings for the cumulative distance of the same body parts. PC1 was therefore interpreted as reflecting fast and widespread whole-body movements, involving a wide exploration of the space in the room (a table with loadings for each PC is provided as Supplementary Material). PC2 explained a further 6.2% of the variance, and had high positive loadings for jerky and accelerated movements of the hands and wrists, while showing negative loadings for the acceleration and jerk of most of the other body parts, the feet in particular. PC2 also presented highly positive loadings for the distance traveled by the hand and wrist markers, and to a lower extent also the other markers. PC2 was therefore interpreted as reflecting a dance pattern predominantly involving fast and expansive movements of the hands, with lower degree of involvement of the lower part of the body. PC3 explained a further 4.2% of the variance, and had high positive loadings for the jerk of upper body parts such as the hands, the wrists, torso, shoulders and head, and negative loads for the acceleration and jerk of the feet and ankles. PC3 also presented negative loadings for the distance traveled by all markers, except the hand. PC3 was therefore interpreted as reflecting a pattern of whole-body dancing "on the spot", characterized by complex movements of the upper body but minimal exploration of the space.
Finally, we computed a measure of overall movement complexity and a measure of overall movement fluidity, as implemented in the Motion Capture Toolbox (Toiviainen and Burger, 2011). Briefly, the measure of movement complexity is based on the proportion of variance explained by the first five PCs of a PCA run on the whole-body positional data (all joints) from an individual's motion capture recordings. A low proportion of explained variance implies that the underlying movement is complex, as a high number of PCs is needed to explain the movement sufficiently (see Burger et al., 2013 for further details). Overall movement fluidity was computed as the ratio of velocity to acceleration, from all the available joints. The combination of high velocity and low acceleration reflects fluid movement, whereas the combination of low velocity and high acceleration reflects non-fluid movement.
All the statistical analyses were run using SPSS (version 23). A bivariate two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was run to assess the difference in the emotional response between the various conditions. The dependent variables were the ratings of Valence and Arousal. The independent variables were Movement (2 levels: movement vs. no movement) and Music (2 levels: music vs. no music). Two separate analyses were performed, one for the groovy and one for the non-groovy excerpts. Familiarity and lyrics were not modeled statistically as they did not relate to the hypotheses of the study. The fact that the study design balanced the presence of familiar, unfamiliar, sung and instrumental excerpts reduces the bias that these factors could have on the interpretation of the results. Post hoc comparisons were Bonferroni-corrected to take into account the fact that a total of 16 hypotheses were tested (2 movement conditions × 2 music conditions × 2 groove conditions × 2 dependent variables). The alpha level for statistical significance in the post hoc tests was therefore set as 0.05/16 = 0.003.
A similar multivariate repeated-measures analysis of variance was run to assess the differences in respiratory rate, heart rate, LF-HRV and HF-HRV between the various experimental conditions. Post hoc comparisons were Bonferroni-corrected to take into account the fact that a total of 32 hypotheses were tested (2 movement conditions × 2 music conditions × 2 groove conditions × 4 dependent variables), thus using an alpha level of 0.05/32 = 0.0016.
The relationship between kinematic/kinetic features and the emotion ratings collected following the dance condition was assessed by means of stepwise regression analyses. The independent variables were the five motion capture variables (PC1, PC2, PC3, movement complexity, fluidity). The dependent variable was the rating for valence and, in a separate analysis, the rating of arousal. Groovy and non-groovy excerpts were analyzed together, such that each participant contributed two data points, one for the groovy dance and one for the non-groovy dance. The adjusted R2 from the stepwise regression analyses was used as an estimate of the variance explained for each of the dependent variable. The correlations between all dependent measures (emotion ratings, physiological arousal and kinematic) are provided as Supplementary Material.
Figure 4 shows the mean ratings for self-reported emotional valence and arousal in the baseline, dance, imitation and listening still conditions. When dancing to groovy music, emotional valence was higher during dance compared to all the other conditions (main effect of Music: F(1,38) = 3.9, p = 0.053, n.s.; main effect of Movement: F(1,38) = 28.5, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.43, power = 0.99; Music by Movement interaction: F(1,38) = 10.9, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.22, power = 0.97). Post hoc comparisons showed that when groovy music was present, participants experienced a higher degree of pleasure if they were engaging in movement, compared to listening still (p < 0.001; p-values for post hoc tests are corrected for multiple comparisons). On the other hand, when participants were making movements, the degree of pleasure was higher if music was present, compared to copying the dance moves in the absence of music (p = 0.041). Listening to groovy music in the absence of movement was not regarded as more pleasurable than baseline (p > 0.9). Similarly, making groovy-inspired moves in the absence of music was not rated as having higher emotional valence compared to baseline (p > 0.9). The pattern was different in the case of non-groovy music. In this case, the degree of pleasure evoked by music was similar when dancing and listening still. Listening to non-groovy music was regarded as more pleasant compared to the conditions without music, regardless for the presence or absence of movement (main effect of Music: F(1,39) = 52.4, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.57, power = 0.99, post hoc test: p < 0.001; main effect of Movement: F(1,39) = 0.78 p = 0.38, n.s.; Music by Movement interaction: F(1,39) = 1.4, p = 0.25, n.s.).
Figure 4. Emotion ratings. The figure shows the emotion ratings for the two emotional dimensions examined, across the four experimental conditions (Baseline, Dance, Copy, Still). Ratings for the groovy excerpts are shown with red markers, and ratings for the non-groovy excerpts are shown with blue markers. Error bars represent means ± standard error. Along the horizontal axis, below the name of the experimental conditions, the model presented in Figure 1 is shown, with colored arrows indicating the component of the model presumably activated in each condition.
Groovy music significantly increased the subjective ratings of arousal, regardless of whether participants were making movements or not (main effect of Music: F(1,38) = 24.9, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.40, power = 0.99, post hoc test: p < 0.001; Music by Movement interaction: F(1,38) = 1.7, p = 0.21, n.s.). Engaging in movements inspired by groovy music also resulted in an increase of subjective arousal, regardless of whether the music was actually present (main effect of Movement: F(1,38) = 40.9, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.52, power = 0.99, post hoc test: p < 0.001). Contrarily to the groovy excerpt, non-groovy music had the effect of decreasing arousal, compared to the conditions where music was absent (main effect of Music: F(1,39) = 10.4, p = 0.003, ηp2 = 0.21, power = 0.88, post hoc test: p = 0.041). The relaxing effect of non-groovy music was observed regardless for the presence or absence of concurrent movements (Music by Movement interaction: F(1,39) = 1.4, p = 0.24, n.s.). Movements based on non-groovy music did not produce significant changes in the level of arousal (main effect of Movement: F(1,39) = 5.2, p = 0.029, ηp2 = 0.12, power = 0.6, post hoc test: p = 0.46, n.s.).
To quantify participants' level of arousal beyond subjective ratings, we assessed physiological arousal in terms respiratory rate, heart rate and HRV.
Figure 5 shows the values for respiratory rate and heart rate in the various conditions. Making movements inspired by groovy music increased heart rate and respiratory rate, regardless for the presence or absence of music (heart rate, main effect of Music: F(1,33) = 2.3, p = 0.14, n.s.; main effect of Movement: F(1,33) = 18.8, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.36, power = 0.99, post hoc test: p = 0.004; Music by Movement interaction: F(1,33) = 1.9, p = 0.17, n.s.; respiratory rate, main effect of Music: F(1,33) = 2.4, p = 0.13, n.s.; main effect of Movement: F(1,33) = 51.3, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.61, power = 0.99, post hoc test: p < 0.001; Music by Movement interaction: F(1,33) = 0.2, p = 0.64, n.s.).
Figure 5. Physiological arousal. All conventions as in Figure 4. The R-R interval indicates the time elapsed between successive heart beats, with higher R-R intervals indicating slower heart rate.
However, the pattern of physiological responses when making movements with or without music was not identical. As shown in Figure 6, when dancing to groovy music, the parasympathetic-related modulation of heart rate was significantly higher compared to when similar movements were produced in the absence of music (HF HRV, Music by Movement interaction: F(1,33) = 5.6, p = 0.024, ηp2 = 0.15, power = 0.81, post hoc test: p = 0.016). Importantly, the increase in HF HRV during dance compared to imitation was not confounded by concurrent changes in respiratory rate, as the difference in breathing rate between these two conditions was not statistically significant (p > 0.9). No other changes in HF or LF HRV were found following the experimental manipulations (all p > 0.05).
Figure 6. Heart rate variability. All conventions as in Figure 4. HRV, Heart Rate Variability. HRV is expressed as the percentage of the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) amplitude.
An increase of physiological arousal was observed when making movements inspired by non-groovy music, regardless of whether music was present or not (respiratory rate, main effect of Movement: F(1,35) = 16.6, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.32, power = 0.98, post hoc test: p = 0.008). No other changes in physiological arousal were observed for the manipulations related to non-groovy excerpts (all p < 0.05).
A small (~4%) portion of the variance in the ratings of emotional valence was explained by overall movement complexity, with more complex movements being associated with more positive valence (t = 2.1, p = 0.037, Beta = 0.23, Adj R2 = 0.043). On the other hand, 60% of the variance in the ratings of emotional arousal was explained by a model including PC1, PC3, movement complexity and fluidity (Adj R2 = 0.60). The more participants engaged in fast and widespread whole body movements involving an exploration of the space, as reflected in higher scores of PC1, the more they experienced a sense of arousal (PC1: t = 3.6, p = 0.001, Beta = 0.48). The other three predictors had an opposite effect, showing that arousal was lower when movements were more complex (t = −2.6, p = 0.13, Beta = −0.20), more fluid (t = −2.8, p = 0.006, Beta = −0.37) and when dancing "on the spot" without moving around (PC3, t = −2.3, p = 0.026, Beta = −0.18).
In this study we recorded the emotional responses of individuals without dance training as they engaged in listening to music, with or without concurrent free dance moves. We showed that dancing to groovy music produced a state of heightened pleasure and arousal. Strikingly, listening to groovy music in the absence of motion was experienced as arousing but not pleasurable, suggesting that a certain degree of embodiment may be necessary to fully enjoy this kind of music. Mechanically imitating the groovy-dance moves, in the absence of music, maintained a state of arousal similar to that observed during dance, but without its associated enhanced pleasure. The findings suggest that dance may amplify the emotional response to a music stimuli beyond what is observed when listening or movement occur in isolation.
According to the embodied cognition framework (Niedenthal et al., 2005; Leman, 2007), the activation of motor patterns that are typically associated with various emotional feelings would contribute to reactivate the broader neural pathways responsible for these emotions. Thus, the emotions triggered when dancing would be more intense, compared to when one listens in stillness, because a more complete emotional representation is reactivated. The music stimuli in our experiment provided a content, a context and a trigger for participants to experience some emotions and to express these through their movements. This presumably explains why movement alone, in the imitation condition, was not sufficient to generate the full pattern of emotional responses. The imitation of movements in the absence of music would not afford an occasion for embodying and experiencing emotions. Instead, imitating movements appeared more akin to a form of physical exercise, relatively neutral in terms of emotional valence, although stimulating in terms of arousal.
The effects of movements and postures on valence and arousal can also be direct, independently of cognitive factors. In a classic study, Stepper and Strack (1993) showed that adopting an upright or slumped posture increased and decreased, respectively, the feeling of pride when receiving the news of an accomplishment (see also Duclos and Laird, 2001; Koch, 2014). Numerous other studies have shown that adopting or inhibiting certain facial expressions changes the way emotional information is processed or remembered (Havas et al., 2010; Havas and Matheson, 2013; Arminjon et al., 2015). Posture-dependent changes in affective state can be found not only in self-reported ratings of emotional intensity, but also in physiological markers such as testosterone increase and cortisol decrease when adopting power poses (Carney et al., 2010). A direct influence of movements on affective response can emerge even in the absence of overt motor execution. Motor imagery or motor observation of actions expressing emotions such as happiness, sadness or fear has been shown to enhance the corresponding affective state in the observer (Shafir et al., 2013). Furthermore, the observation of emotional movements can activate the brain areas involved in emotion processing (Hadjikhani et al., 2009; Kret et al., 2011). This kind of direct effects of physical postures on emotions is likely to contribute to the emotional enhancement described here. In fact, the full-body moves inspired by the dance typically entail a variety of postures associated with emotions such as joy, power and elation.
A further explanation for the emotional enhancement observed during dance calls upon the idea that dancing may enable a fuller appreciation of music, by aiding an embodied perception and more intuitive understanding of the music (Leman, 2010). For instance, body movements can disambiguate meter interpretation of music (Phillips-Silver and Trainor, 2005, 2007). Several structural features of groovy music suggest that its structure stimulates human movements. For example, the relatively fast tempo matches the natural oscillatory frequencies of locomotion and arm-swing (Trainor, 2007), the clear pulse facilitates the entrainment of biomechanical oscillators (Zentner and Eerola, 2010) and the energy in the upbeat provided by syncopation may aid the generation of movements directed against gravity, thus encouraging the continuation of the motion pattern (Fitch, 2016). Underlying this idea is the view that entrainment to the rhythm is a fundamental mechanism for generating emotions in music (Juslin, 2013).
If movements contribute to the emotional experience of music, one should observe correlations between the movements made and the emotions felt. The findings show that motion patterns characterized by a high degree of acceleration and jerk accounted for up to 60% of the variance in the ratings of arousal felt by participants. Although this study does not allow to establish a cause-effect directionality, this finding suggests the existence of a strong relationship between the movements generated when dancing and the feelings of arousal experienced. The pattern described here closely resembles previous findings that showed a positive correlation between hand/feet acceleration and ratings of arousal perceived in the music, as well as a negative correlation between movement fluidity and perceived arousal (Burger et al., 2013). The relationship between movement and felt emotions was more subtle in the case of emotional valence, with kinematic features explaining only a small amount of variance in the valence ratings. With reference to the cognitive and direct routes for emotional enhancement described earlier, we speculate that the increase in arousal could be primarily mediated by direct, body-based mechanisms, grounded in the physiology of the autonomic nervous system, and therefore highly consistent across different participants. Conversely, the increase in emotional valence could be more strongly influenced by cognitive processes such as the degree of emotional awareness, and thus would be more idiosyncratic and depend less on the specific motion patterns produced. Evidence in support of the idea that two different mechanisms may underlie the increase in valence and arousal is provided by the fact that movement complexity was found to influence valence and arousal in opposite ways, with more complex dance patterns being experienced as more pleasant but less arousing.
The changes in emotional responses we observed here can be framed as a case of up-regulation of positive emotions as a result of engaging in dancing (Shafir, 2016). This is seen as an increase in emotional valence during dancing, compared to imitation or listening in stillness, confirmed by the positive correlation between kinematic movement and valence ratings. Emotion regulation is broadly defined as the set of processes whereby people influence the nature, the intensity, the time course and the subjective meaning of their emotions (Gross, 1998). Skilled emotion regulation is believed to significantly impact well-being, including physical health (Sapolsky, 2007), mental health (Gross and Muñoz, 1995), relationship satisfaction (Murray, 2005) and work performance (Diefendorff et al., 2000). As previously described, specific movement patterns, postures and breathing patterns are associated with specific emotions. Engaging in these motor behaviors can enhance the associated emotion, thus offering a chance to upregulate the desired emotions. Emotion regulation during dance may also occur as a result of the physical exercise component. Exercise can reduce depressive and anxious symptoms in both clinical and non-clinical populations (Asmundson et al., 2013; Josefsson et al., 2014). These effects are mediated by both psychological mechanisms, such as increased self-efficacy and distraction from the stressors (Morgan, 1985; Rimer et al., 2012), and physiological mechanisms, such as the release of endogenous opioids in frontolimbic brain circuits following physical exercise (Boecker et al., 2008; see Shafir, 2015 for a review). Similarly, the observation here of an increase in HF HRV during the groovy-dance condition compared to the imitation condition may reflect up-regulation of positive emotions. HRV in the HF range is due to parasympathetic modulation via the vagal nerve, which helps to maintain the dynamic autonomic regulation important for cardiovascular health (Thayer et al., 2012), and successful emotion regulation (Ingjaldsson et al., 2003; Butler et al., 2006). It is noteworthy that this effect was specifically observed when contrasting the dance and the imitation conditions, despite these conditions similarly involved the generation of movements. This finding further corroborates the idea that the combination of music and movement during dance provides an occasion to experience and express positive emotions, resulting in increased pleasure and associated parasympathetic activity.
A limitation to be aware of in the present study pertains to the nature of the imitation condition. In contrast to the dancing, which was done spontaneously and without thinking, copying requires a cognitive effort, which may have on its own reduced the emotional response. The fact that the degree of self-recognition during the imitation was not controlled represents another limitation of this condition. In fact, recognizing one's moves may have itself generated emotional responses, introducing a source of uncontrolled variability in the ratings of arousal and valence.
In conclusion, we have shown that the emotional response to music is influenced by the concurrent execution of body dance movements. Dancing to groovy music results in substantially increased feelings of pleasure, compared to listening in the absence of motion, even in individuals without previous dance training. These findings also provide an empirical rationale for the use of dance in numerous health-related applications. Dance may offer a safe and engaging context for the development of emotional regulation processes, which represent an important component of most approaches to psychological well being. Dance may also be effectively used in physical rehabilitation, as the up-regulation of positive emotions observed during dance may support motivation and adherence to the practice regimens.
NFB and IP designed the experiment; NFB designed data collection and analysis tools; NFB and AB-P collected the data, analyzed the data; NFB, AB-P and IP drafted and revised the article.
We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Prof. Luciano Bernardi (University of Helsinki, Finland) and Eng. Michele Neri (Ambiter, Parma, Italy) in providing the equipment and software used for the cardiorespiratory data acquisition, Solomon Krueger for insightful conversations in the design stage of the study, Marielle Saucier and Eva Nadon for helping in selecting the music excerpts, Birgitta Burger for helping in using the MoCap toolbox. The work was supported by grants from the program of Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program to IP.
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Sapolsky, R. M. (2007). "Stress, stress-related disease, and emotional regulation," in Handbook of Emotion Regulation, ed. J. J. Gross (New York, NY: The Guilford Press), 606–615.
Scherer, K. R., and Coutinho, E. (2013). "How music creates emotion: a multifactorial process approach," in The Emotional Power of Music Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Musical Arousal, Expression, and Social Control, eds T. Cochrane, B. Fantini and K. R. Scherer (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press), 121–146.
Shafir, T. (2015). "Body-based strategies for emotion regulation," in Handbook on Emotion Regulation: Processes, Cognitive Effects and Social Consequences, ed. M. L. Bryant (New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.), 231–249.
Sims, W. L. (1985). Young children's creative movement to music: categories of movement, rhythmic characteristics, and reactions to changes. Contrib. Music Educ. 12, 42–50.
Copyright © 2017 Bernardi, Bellemare-Pepin and Peretz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


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Google rolls out Smart Reply to the Gmail app on Android and iOS
By Adam Ismail May 17, 2017
Google's Smart Reply feature, which automatically suggests intelligent responses to incoming messages, has been kicking around in the company's Inbox email app, as well as Allo and Android Wear, for some time now. At last, it is finally making its way to Gmail on Android and iOS.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the arrival of Smart Reply during the keynote speech at its annual I/O conference. The technology scans the content of messages in your inbox, then uses machine learning to call up three automated responses based on your writing habits. As such, the more you use it, the better it gets at knowing what options to present to you. Smart Reply pays attention to the selections you make, as well as the ones you ignore, for a dynamic experience.
It's not necessarily just for short, quick responses, either. Tapping on an option places your cursor at the end of the sentence, so you can further elaborate if necessary. Think of it as a jumping off point, rather than a canned auto-reply.
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According to Google, 12 percent of responses sent from Inbox are Smart Replies. While Allo and Android Wear also support the feature, all three products are still essentially niche products that don't serve the wide majority of Google's customers. With Smart Reply arriving on Gmail, that will all change. After two years of training and tweaking, Google has finally deemed it ready to unleash on the masses.
Smart Reply should roll out to Gmail users over the coming weeks. Initially, only English will be supported, though Spanish will be added shortly after. Initially, the feature will debut only in the mobile app, but don't consider a web release out of the question — according to a Google spokesperson via VentureBeat, the company is "heavily considering" it as a future feature.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


1137 ogledov 15. November 2018.
https://initiativeq.com/invite/B8-g_tfTm Initiative Q is an attempt by ex-PayPal guys to create a new payment system instead of credit cards that were designed in the 1950s. The system uses its own currency, the Q, and to get people to start using… ...prikaži več the system once it's ready they are allocating Qs for free to people that sign up now (the amount drops as more people join - so better to join early). Signing up is free and they only ask for your name and an email address.


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While Southern Company (SO) intends to absorb its share of the growing cost of the Vogtle project, the other three minority owners are yet to declare their decision.
The dark cloud of uncertainty hovering over The Southern Company's SO Vogtle project does not seem to dissolve. Even after the approval of the project by Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) in December 2017, the power plant has again been hit by a fresh controversy, which can even result in the scrapping of the project. Presently, the fate of the Vogtle Projects rests on the minority holders. That is to say, if they are willing to absorb the ballooning costs of the project, only then the project will likely survive.
Moody's Investors Service believes that Southern Company's decision to continue with the project will increase its credit risk. The rating agency believes that the project, which has been missing milestone dates and suffering from poor productivity rates, is likely to suffer from more delays and ballooning costs. The decision will certainly hurt the financials of the company.
Oglethorpe stated that if it accepts to absorb its share of cost increase, it would result in the exhaustion of its contingency fund. Reportedly, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities are likely to face bond rating downgrades if they absorb the rising costs. Recently, a Jacksonville utility company requested MEAG Power to exit the project with some penalty as opposed to sticking on to it and increasing its credit risk prolife. Hence, the survival of the Vogtle project has gotten all the more complicated with the latest cost overruns.
Notably, as stated by Southern Company's CEO, the project would need at least 90% of votes for its survival. We have to wait till Sep 30, 2018 to know the fate of this controversial Vogtle project.
Southern Company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors interested in the same industry can consider a better-ranked stock such as Atlantic Power Corporation AT, which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Atlantic Power's 2018 earnings are expected to grow 211.11% year over year.


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Dunay Jewels Get Auction Approval
Inventory for the venerable jeweler Henry Dunay will be auctioned on Dec. 16.
By Marc Karimzadeh on November 30, 2009
Henry Dunay Designs Inc., one of fine jewelry's venerable names, is going to auction.
The company, founded by its namesake more than 50 years ago, won court approval on Wednesday to auction Dunay's jewelry inventory at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
Henry Dunay sold his pieces, which start at about $4,000 and reach as much as $500,000, to Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and independent retailers around the world.
The auction is set for Dec. 16.
The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June, a symbol of how hard the recession had hurt the sector.
The auction will be at the offices of Jay Silverberg, Dunay's lawyer at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. Dunay declined to disclose the inventory's value. Court records for the case were not immediately available.
Once the auction process is complete, Henry Dunay Designs Inc. will effectively shut down. Dunay, however, plans to continue creating jewelry.
"The business will close and I will start smaller," Dunay told WWD. "We will work on certain things and do special orders."