Physics and Dance

Author: Clarissa Millen

One experience that has really inspired me in ArtistCorps this semester was working with my arts integration team on a lesson about the physics of dance. Being a dancer, it was really interesting to look at the technique from a scientific point of view. Some of the concepts my team focused on are topics that we still talk about in my preprofessional college dance classes. It’s exciting to be able to share exactly what I do every day with school-age kids. It is even more exciting that these young learners are being exposed to concepts that young adults like me are still learning about.

I worked with my friend and classmate, Chris Crawford, to demonstrate some ballet movements for a video. I asked him because I thought the kids would enjoy his incredible technique and amazing leaps and turns. After filming, I was able to clearly demonstrate the concepts of physics using the footage and my voice over. The lesson was visual, fun, dense, yet easy to understand. I love how it turned out and I can't wait to share how cool dance can be with these children, through the lens of science.