Researchers at Rutgers University have partnered with a New Jersey-based ballet company in a study related to movement and autism.

Two dancers in Roxey Ballet have each been outfitted with 17 sensors while rehearsing. The sensors register biorhythms as the dancers bend, twist, glide and jump across the floor.

"We'll be able to see how his whole body operates and synchronizes and forms synergies," says Rutgers professor Elizabeth Torres.

Torres says understanding nonverbal communication between individuals is an area of particular interest in autism research. She believes the findings of this study could ultimately help teachers and loved ones of those with autism better communicate with them.

"In autism, the motor code, the body code, was altered in fundamental ways. All the biorhythms of the body and the heart and the brain were delayed, were noisy, were random," Torres says.

Roxey Ballet is rehearsing its newest production, "Journey Back to the ‘80s," a ballet built around pop music of the 1980s. It will be performed in New Hope, Pennsylvania April 14 through 16 at Mill Ballet School.