Pratt DAHRC retains an ongoing research initiative involving design, dance, and, technology, founded upon the belief there is value in learning with your body, regardless of the subject matter at hand.
DAHRC Researcher Chanel Shi has recently completed her Master of Industrial Design degree with her thesis focusing on the Pattern Language of Dance. As part of her thesis exploration, the Sense Move workshop featuring the renowned dancer and choreographer Yin Mei and violinist Wang Xiaotong was held recently in NYC:
“SENSE MOVE” Workshop from chanel shi on Vimeo.
There are a number of empirical cases which exemplify the positive effects which the discipline and practice of dance bring to the benefit of other academic and professional disciplines.
One such example is the National Dance Institute, which teaches students the dance, in the belief that the experience helps them become better persons.
Jacques d’Amboise of National Dane Institute teaches YoungArts Masterclass:
The positive influence of the dance training is documented in the film He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin‘ from the beginning days of NDI.
Renowned English educator Sir Ken Robinson speaks at the TED on significance of dance for learning:
Harvard professor of education Howard Gardner speaks on Theory of Multiple Intelligence, citing the body movement as one of the crucial components of intelligence and the learning process:
Harvard biologist and journalist John Bohannon leads the Dance Your PhD initiative, where the recipient of the doctorate degrees have to dance out their thesis work, subject matters from wide-ranging fields of sciences and engineering, including physics, biology, chemistry, and even political and social sciences.
There are many artists who successfully bridge between the art of the dance, athletics, and other visual fields such as photography and computer graphics.
Dance Photography by Lois Greenfield has brought world-wide influences on technique and practice of photography as well as bringing about higher level of appreciation for dance:
Spontaneous Dance Photos Capture Moments Never Performed Onstage - HUFFINGTON POST
To implement and execute the ideas to attain the beauty which lies between visual arts and body movement, technology can be used to achieve the vision.
Olympian Dana Vollmer uses 3D movie technology to improve her swimming performance:
Experimenting with the motion captured data further empowered by the power of 3D animation software enables artists such as Memo Akten and Quayola shown in the work Forms:
There are several variations of the motion capture technology, with each kind offering advantages.
One kind is the inertial system, which does not require cameras and markers, but requires tethered cables.
