Dance And Mathematics: A Connection Between Mathematics And Mathematics

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Ever since I was merely five years old, I have always been in love with dance and mathematics. Math has always been my favorite subject in school, and my favorite time of the day has always been dance, where I can let my emotions out on the dance floor. Around high school, however, is when I determinately took notice that there is a possible connection between the work I perform in both of these areas. I realized that when I dance, I create shapes, patterns, angles and combinations, comparable to the ones I engender in mathematics.
This epiphany has led me to the desire to research further on the subject. I wanted to find out if there truly is a connection between the two fields, and if this connection could lead to the mathematical field …show more content…

Her paper, “Dance and mathematics: Engaging senses in learning,” shows that math concepts can be understood clearer if you experience them with your body, which is attained through using dance to teach these math concepts. Watson expresses ideas such as “using physical imagination to explore shapes from the inside [being] used for geometrical education with students” (17). This idea, along with others, brings out the fact that Watson has numerous specifics when it comes to evidence that dance is effective in creating an easier mathematics learning system for students, which proves that there is a definite connection between the two subjects. However, for my argument, I still do not have evidence that this relationship can be put in reverse. She does not touch upon the proposal that mathematical concepts can be used to aid in making dance education simpler, so I proceeded my research to find supplementary evidence of this …show more content…

I needed to find a source that provided me with evidence of multiple dance teachers’ methods in order to show that they were not using math, indicating that there are other ways of teaching dance that are even more useful than integrating mathematical concepts. I found a source in Library West that supplied this support in the book Talent Abounds: Profiles of Master Teachers and Peak Performers. The chapter entitled “Modern Dance Masters” provided me with the information I needed. The author, Robert F. Arnove, talked with five different dancers, all prominent in the field of modern dance. He discusses the dancers’ ideal techniques/qualities of teaching and learning in a dance setting, all of which he gained through his conversations with them. All of the dancers predominantly discussed the personality of the teachers and students, their creativity and imagination, and their enthusiasm, indicating that they do not perceive a use in involving mathematics within the process of dance education. These dancers were all prominent in the field of modern dance, starting out as thriving performers and turning into prosperous teachers with various student successes of their own. This ensures that their teaching styles were and still will be

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