Physics and the Art of Dance: Understanding Movement

Kenneth Laws, Martha Swope, Francia Russell0195144821, 9780195144826

Written by a physicist with professional dance training, Physics and the Art of Dance explains how dancers can achieve better, safer performances through an understanding of physics in motion. Using simple, non-technical terms, Kenneth Laws combines his knowledge of both physics and dance to describe how the laws of gravity, momentum, and energy affect dancing bodies. The book explores the natural laws that govern the subtleties of balance, the techniques of leaps and pirouettes, and the impressive lifts and turns executed by ballet partners. Finally, Laws offers insight into two current discussions in the dance world – the effect of body size on ballet technique, and the relationship between science and the art of dance.Beautiful, original stop-action photographs by Martha Swope, along with clear diagrams, illustrate the concepts described in the text. Plus, an intriguing “puzzler” at the beginning of each chapter provides an engaging entree into the topics presented. For those who want a more advanced understanding of the physics, extensive appendices are provided.This new book combines the best features of Laws’s widely acclaimed The Physics of Dance and Physics, Dance, and the Pas de Deux by Laws and Cynthia Harvey. Its expert application of the basic principles of physics to the art of dance will be an invaluable resource for dancers and dance instructors and will open a new level of appreciation for lovers of the form. It will also appeal to physicists who seek to include the arts in their scientific pursuits.

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Table of contents :
Contents……Page 18
FOREWORD……Page 6
1 Introduction……Page 24
The Role of Physical Analysis……Page 25
The Physics of Dance……Page 28
The Value of Analysis to Dancers……Page 31
The Value of Analysis to Observers……Page 33
Analysis for Teachers and Health Professionals……Page 35
Communication: Words, Images, and Photographs……Page 37
2 Balance……Page 40
Condition for Static Balance……Page 41
Regaining Balance……Page 45
Balance while Rotating……Page 50
A Final Look……Page 52
3 Motions without Turns……Page 55
Acceleration from Rest……Page 57
Motion in a Curved Path……Page 61
Stopping Horizontal Motion……Page 63
Vertical Jumps……Page 64
The Grand Jeté “Floating” Illusion……Page 68
The Effect of Turnout on Traveling Jumps……Page 70
Landings from Jumps……Page 72
Dance Floors: Elasticity and Friction……Page 77
A Final Leap……Page 80
4 Pirouettes……Page 84
Torque and Rotational Momentum in a Pirouette……Page 87
Controlling Rotational Velocity……Page 90
Characteristics of Pirouettes……Page 92
The Arabesque Turn……Page 93
The “Illusion Turn,”……Page 96
The Grande Piroutte……Page 97
Fouetté Turns……Page 99
Repeated Pirouettes……Page 102
A Final Turn……Page 103
5 Turns in the Air……Page 108
The Demi-fouetté……Page 109
The Tour Jeté (Grand Jeté en Tournant)……Page 112
The Saut de Basque……Page 115
The Turning Assemblé……Page 118
The Tour en l’Air……Page 119
A Final Leap……Page 121
6 The Pas de Deux……Page 123
The History and Appeal of the Pas de Deux……Page 125
Who’s Responsible for What?……Page 131
Physical Interactions between Partners……Page 133
Balance……Page 134
Accelerating Motions……Page 139
Final Poses……Page 140
To the Next Step……Page 142
7 The Mechanics of Partnered Turns……Page 146
Starting a Supported Pirouette……Page 147
Balance during a Supported Pirouette……Page 153
Stopping Rotation……Page 155
Other Supported Turns……Page 157
A Final Turn……Page 160
8 The Mechanics of Lifts……Page 163
The Straight Lift……Page 166
Other Front Lifts……Page 172
Overhead Lifts……Page 176
Other Lifts……Page 180
A Final Thrust……Page 183
9 The Effects of Body Size……Page 185
Height of a Vertical Jump……Page 187
Entrechats……Page 191
Body Size and Pirouettes……Page 193
Adagio Movements……Page 194
Body Size and Partnered Dance……Page 195
A Final Comparison……Page 196
10 A Step Into the Future……Page 199
APPENDIX A: Linear Mechanics and Newton’s Laws……Page 206
APPENDIX B: Rotational Mechanics……Page 213
APPENDIX C: Anatomical Data for Dancers……Page 218
APPENDIX D: Rotational Inertia for Some Body Configurations……Page 220
APPENDIX E: Acceleration Away from Balance……Page 225
APPENDIX F: Off-Balance Pirouettes……Page 228
APPENDIX G: Arabesque Turn Analysis……Page 231
APPENDIX H: Quantitative Analysis of the Grande Pirouette……Page 236
APPENDIX I: Quantitative Analysis of the Fouetté Turn……Page 240
APPENDIX J: Quantitative Analysis of the Supported Fouetté Turn……Page 242
APPENDIX K: Lean, Don’t Slip……Page 245
C……Page 250
F……Page 251
T……Page 252
W……Page 254
Physics Terms……Page 253
C……Page 255
P……Page 256
Z……Page 257