Many people would not believe that art and science could collaborate. One of the most interesting components of dance is the science involved. It is necessary for dancers to under stand science and laws of physics to be the best technician possible. Learning the science of dance and movement can make a better dancer, coach, choreographer and teacher. Breaking down movement to the how and why of every movement and every muscle can take a dancer from a person that mimics movement to an artist that crafts movement. We know of one man that understands this philosophy. Kenneth Laws, a physics professor from the the University of Illinois and late-blooming ballet dancer has studied dance as an athlete, an artist and a scientist.
If given the chance many dancers could think of ways that science could be applied to there dance. Intuitively we know that dance follow the laws of physics and gravity. Most do not understand the connection between physics and ballet. It is neither taught. spoken about or pondered on. Before trying a grand jeté en tournant explaining how physics are applied may help a young dancer to to understand the concept and attempt it sooner and with a different perspective. Many of us were taught to believe that starting your turn in midair is the way to accomplish such things. Science says you begin twisting from the ground up, clasping your legs together at the apex of your leap while raising your arms above your head, you will do a rapid 180-degree turn. Science can be proven and replicated, guessing at a feeling can not.
Laws obsessed with the science of dance continued dancing until health issues required him stop three thirty years later. He still writes and lectures frequently about understanding ballet movements through physics, and he even taught ballet for a number of years as well. Through teaching ballet as a scientist he has given the dance world a few times and terms in which physics can be applied.
According to an article in 2008, Discover Magazine, says while teaching partnering "the pas de deux" he would try to slip in a little physics into the teaching and explanation of movement. He would explain, to the dancers that bringing their legs together will help them complete a grand jeté en tournant. Or while a female is standing on tiptoe on one leg in an arabesque bent at the waist, with her other leg extended horizontally behind her and her partner gives her a twist, she will do a rapid “pencil” turn if she straightens up and pulls her leg in. “We’re using a physical principle there,” Laws would tell the class. “What’s the principle?” One of the students would inevitably shout “Toooohhhrque!” Torque, Laws would explain, was not the point in this case. Sure, a boy who twists his partner’s hips is applying a torque, but after that she’s on her own, and her angular momentum stays about the same (although the friction of toe on floor will slowly wind her down). Her angular momentum is her rate of spin multiplied by her moment of inertia, which depends on how her mass is distributed around her spin axis. If her momentum remains the same but she reduces her inertia by pulling in her leg, she must spin faster. That’s physics. Some dancers get it some don't but it definitely is something to explore, explain and apply to the art and education of dance.
Laws obsessed with the science of dance continued dancing until health issues required him stop three thirty years later. He still writes and lectures frequently about understanding ballet movements through physics, and he even taught ballet for a number of years as well. Through teaching ballet as a scientist he has given the dance world a few times and terms in which physics can be applied.
According to an article in 2008, Discover Magazine, says while teaching partnering "the pas de deux" he would try to slip in a little physics into the teaching and explanation of movement. He would explain, to the dancers that bringing their legs together will help them complete a grand jeté en tournant. Or while a female is standing on tiptoe on one leg in an arabesque bent at the waist, with her other leg extended horizontally behind her and her partner gives her a twist, she will do a rapid “pencil” turn if she straightens up and pulls her leg in. “We’re using a physical principle there,” Laws would tell the class. “What’s the principle?” One of the students would inevitably shout “Toooohhhrque!” Torque, Laws would explain, was not the point in this case. Sure, a boy who twists his partner’s hips is applying a torque, but after that she’s on her own, and her angular momentum stays about the same (although the friction of toe on floor will slowly wind her down). Her angular momentum is her rate of spin multiplied by her moment of inertia, which depends on how her mass is distributed around her spin axis. If her momentum remains the same but she reduces her inertia by pulling in her leg, she must spin faster. That’s physics. Some dancers get it some don't but it definitely is something to explore, explain and apply to the art and education of dance.
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