Physics and the Art of Dance: Understanding Movement

By Kenneth Laws

Book Overview

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 entr e 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195149165
• ISBN13: 9780195149166
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.8" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely incredible!

This book is INCREDIBLE! I have several years of different kinds of dance and dance-related background (social dancing - swing, tango, etc.; yoga, pilates, ballet, ...) I also have a strong background in mathematics, physics, computer science (will have a Ph.D. in a few months) and related disciplines. If you have some college-level physics background, or even a solid understanding of high-school physics, chances are that you can work out many of the things in this book on your own. But it takes time, and you may not have the enthusiasm. (In fact, after reading this book you may get the enthusiasm to actually work out a few things.) On the other hand, if you have this kind of background, then reading this book is simple, very enjoyable, and also a great learning experience. You do not have to understand everything. If you understand one idea from each chapter - that is more than enough to read this book. (For example, if the only things you understand from the chapter on pirouettes is that it makes sense to push into the floor with both legs in opposite directions. Another idea you may get from another chapter is - why your body wants to lean in the direction you are starting to fall to actually save you from falling.) This is great for learning dance on top of your scientific background. In minutes you pick up things that would take months to discover. You start applying them immediately. Very quickly (if you devote some time to thinking over this book) it creates a framework in your mind. You come to a dance class, and you understand so much more, because many of the things can be easily explained in the framework of this book. In other words, the book gives you a quick foundation to build on top, if you have intellect and years of education, rather than years of dance background (then you already do have a foundation). Besides, this book gives you a better understanding of physics. Especially if you are more of a dancer than a thinker, then, I would assume (not sure though) you can get a lot of physics out of it. That is, you can use the book the other way round. You know how something feels, and then you can relate to the physical explanation. I am not, however, sure that this book would be of equal benefit to those who don't know much physics. Generally speaking, I would highly recommend to every dancer to actually learn some physics. Especially if you are in college, take a course in basic Newtonian mechanics. (This can make even more sense for a dancer, than learning anatomy or music.) The author of the book stresses it a lot, many dancers without a science background do many things that are counterproductive. It takes just a little scientific thinking to recognize these mistakes and stop wasting time. Just like it is useful to know how your body works to e.g. strech safely and efficiently, it is also useful to know how nature works to dance better. If you ask "What does it feel like, when you know more physics, how does it help to

A review of Physics and the Art of Dance

This book made a great gift for our daughter who is a member of her college dance company. We gave it to her following completion of her first college year. She loves the book and it has become part of her reference library.

Sara Michelle

I am a teenaged ballet student. I LOVED THIS BOOK. It helped me in my study of ballet in so many ways: understanding, balancing, executing movements, creating the illusions, improving my technique, and on and on. I love how the book is written, because it is easy to understand even if you are not a Physicist (but it also has Scientific material and some pages with the math and physics illustrated in equations, etc., as well). The chapters engage you with a question or puzzle that you have to solve. This makes you want to hurry up to get to the end of each chapter to see if your guesses were correct. You will learn how to create the illusion of floating in your grand jetes. You will learn how dancers suspend their movement that receives a 'gasp' from the audience that happens whenever something is held beyond what seems possible or expected. It is a book I needed in order to get beyond my limits as a dancer.

As Much Science As The Dancer Ever Should Need.

The question of how a knowledge of the science behind the movement of the human body helps students of dance learn to dance better is always discussed. Like the author, I too am both a physicist and a ballet dancer. I have found that the most important thing to learn in ballet is the imagery that works for you, and sometimes science can actually get in the way. Take walking for example: if we had to analyze ever movement in walking we would never be able to move. I should also point out that science still does not thoroughly understand walking, let alone dancing! Still, it is helpful in some places to understand, at least a little, what is happening in a movement or static pose. This book does a surprisingly fine job of covering most of the pertinent topics and some topics you would not have thought of asking about. I liked the fact that the author does not over simplify some topics, which is often done in elementary explanations. Science usually tries to abstract and simplify in order to explain phenomena, but this can lead to problems. Take, for example, the case of static balance on a point. If you approximate the human body as a rigid body, it is impossible to explain stable equilibrium on a point. Rigid bodies can only achieve unstable equilibrium over a point. But human beings are not rigid! In ballet, we can achieve stable balance over a point for an indefinite period of time(it is very difficult and rarely seen in performance but often in ballet class). This book actually mentions this and explains how it is done. It even includes a discussion of how much a cushioned floor will reduce shock to the dancer's joints. Many illustrations and photos are also included. This is the best book available on this subject, and for those who want to explore this topic further, this is the best place to start.