Physics and Dance
Published on 12. November 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-300-24837-1 (ISBN)
Description
A fascinating exploration of our reality through the eyes of a physicist and a dancer-and an engaging introduction to both disciplines
From stepping out of our beds each morning to admiring the stars at night, we live in a world of motion, energy, space, and time. How do we understand the phenomena that shape our experience? How do we make sense of our physical realities? Two guides-a former member of New York City Ballet, Emily Coates, and a CERN particle physicist, Sarah Demers-show us how their respective disciplines can help us to understand both the quotidian and the deepest questions about the universe. Requiring no previous knowledge of dance or physics, this introduction covers the fundamentals while revealing how a dialogue between art and science can enrich our appreciation of both. Readers will come away with a broad cultural knowledge of Newtonian to quantum mechanics and classical to contemporary dance. Including problem sets and choreographic exercises to solidify understanding, this book will be of interest to anyone curious about physics or dance.
From stepping out of our beds each morning to admiring the stars at night, we live in a world of motion, energy, space, and time. How do we understand the phenomena that shape our experience? How do we make sense of our physical realities? Two guides-a former member of New York City Ballet, Emily Coates, and a CERN particle physicist, Sarah Demers-show us how their respective disciplines can help us to understand both the quotidian and the deepest questions about the universe. Requiring no previous knowledge of dance or physics, this introduction covers the fundamentals while revealing how a dialogue between art and science can enrich our appreciation of both. Readers will come away with a broad cultural knowledge of Newtonian to quantum mechanics and classical to contemporary dance. Including problem sets and choreographic exercises to solidify understanding, this book will be of interest to anyone curious about physics or dance.
Reviews / Votes
"A unique study"-Nature"After reading this book, you will never again think of dance without the physics that enables it, and you will never again think of physics without the art that can express it."-Neil deGrasse Tyson
"Physics and Dance will be of interest to dancers, scientists, and a general public who wish to understand an ongoing relationship between the two."-Twyla Tharp
"This fascinating book blends physics depth and dance details with a seemingly impossible grace."-Daniel Whiteson, author of We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe
"Each [uses] her discipline to shed light on the other's. . . . While science tends to be viewed as more serious than dance, their approach revolves around collapsing hierarchies, giving equal weight to both."-Siobhan Burke, New York Times review of Emily Coates's 2017 performance Incarnations, based in part on their collaboration
"Dancer and choreographer Coates and physicist Demers have created a brilliant exercise that is both challenging and rewarding. As a dancer I had never thought of myself as a small mass in relation to a larger one, namely, planet Earth, at least not in those terms. Part of the fun for the reader lies in figuring out, from page to page, which voice is speaking; both are erudite, meticulous, and convincing."-Yvonne Rainer
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
62 b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-300-24837-1 (9780300248371)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Emily Coates is associate professor in the theater studies program at Yale University, where she created the dance studies curriculum. Sarah Demers is Horace D. Taft Associate Professor of Physics at Yale University. Their work has been featured in the World Science Festival and covered in the New York Times and the New Yorker.