All World Dance: News for Lovers of Dance

Winning Videos from 2011 Dance Your Ph.D. Contest

Microstructure-Property relationships in Ti2448 components produced by Selective Laser Melting: A Love Story [Source: Joel Miller]

The winners of the 2011 Dance Your Ph.D. contest were announced back in late October but I just found out about it and I couldn't resist posting:

"Science's fourth annual "Dance Your Ph.D." contest [is] a competition that recognizes the best dance interpretations of scientific doctoral work...The rules of the contest were simple: Each dance had to be based on a scientist's Ph.D. research, and that scientist had to be part of the dance."

A study of social interactivity using pigeon courtship [Source: Emma Ware]

This year's contest had 53 entries from all over the world, too many to post here but definitely worth a look.  The videos on this post are the four finalists with the grand prize winner, Joel Miller, at the top.

Smell mediated response to relatedness of potential mates [Source: Cedric Kai Wei Tan]

I think this is such a great idea and I'm glad to see Science giving it a highly visible platform.  I only found out about it recently via dancer friends sharing the news on Facebook.

The Holy Grail to X-ray crystal structure of human protein phosphatase [Source: FoSheng Hsu]

Looking back at my own Ph.D. experience at Ohio State University, I remember that people in my interdisciplinary Cultural Studies program who were involved in dance and movement studies would often raise the question, "Why can't we dance our dissertations?"

While some would occasionally do alternative presentations in addition to a written dissertation and oral defense, I find it kind of amusing that it was a scientist and science writer who actually popularized the idea of dancing your Ph.D. with a series of videos from doctoral candidates in the sciences!

Big ups to John Bohannon and all the participants!

Official Site: Dance Your Ph.D.

Related All World Dance Coverage:
TEDx Brussels: John Bohannon & Black Label Movement in Dance Your Ph.D.

TEDx Brussels: John Bohannon & Black Label Movement in Dance Your Ph.D.

John Bohannon & Black Label Movement - Dance Your PhD
[Source: TEDxTALKS]

John Bohannon, creator of the Dance Your Ph.D. Contest, presents at TEDxBrussells. From YouTube:

Music: Greg Brosofske

Dancers: Jessica Elhert, Bryan Godbout, Stephanie Laager, Edward Bruno Oroyan Nelle Hens, Camille Prieux, Mariel Blaise, Gabson Nenaks, David Zagari & Marcio Canabarro

Black Label Movement - Zero Gravity Dance [Source: TEDxTALKS]

Black Label Movement, a dance company from Minneapolis, Minnesota, also performed separately. From YouTube:

"A Speculation in Movement on the Unique Capabilities of Earthbound Dancers to Navigate Zero Gravity Environments"

Music: Greg Brosofske

Physics Advisor: Stephen Steiner

Dancernauts: Jessica Ehlert & Edward Bruno Oroyan

Zero Gravity Puppeteers: John Bohannon, Bryan Godbout, Stephanie Laager, Nelle Hens, Camille Prieux, Mariel Blaise, Gabson Nenaks, David Zagari & Marcio Canabarro

Related All World Dance Coverage:
Winning Videos from 2011 Dance Your Ph.D. Contest

Parkour Training Videos: Path of Least Resistance

The Path Of Least Resistance - Parkour [Source: Obsidian1138]

Parkour, also known as freerunning with origins in France, is one of the coolest movement disciplines to come along in quite a while. Not a dance form but something that most dancers should be able to appreciate, especially given the emergence of more athletic forms of dance.

Strength Training And Conditioning For Parkour 2 [Source: Obsidian1138]

Both of these videos are a lot of fun and good intros to the discipline. According to Laughing Squid, they were produced by a group of folks associated with Northern Parkour in England.

More such videos are available at Obsidian1138's YouTube channel.

Talenthouse Competition to Design for English National Ballet's My First Sleeping Beauty

My First Ballet [Source: ENB]

English National Ballet will begin its My First Ballet series, featuring performances for kids by students from the English National Ballet School, with My First Sleeping Beauty in April 2012. ENB is offering an opportunity for visual artists to "design the visual identity" for the ballet with the possibility of providing designs for future ballets in the series.

The winner will receive $2000 and lots of exposure. Three runners up will receive $300 each and additional exposure as well.

The competition is now open and runs through August 31st. Please see the official Talenthouse site for more.

I have to say, ENB does some of the more creative initiatives for expanding their audience by reaching out beyond the traditional confines of the world of concert dance. And that goes for both the My First Ballet series as well as this competition. I'm particularly impressed to see such initiatives coming from such an established institution when many cutting edge artists seem to have confined themselves to the high art ghetto.

Official Site: English National Ballet

Related All World Dance Coverage:
English National Ballet Restages Strictly Gershwin
English National Ballet's Summer Party to Include Designer Tutu Auction
(Plus Shoes & Tiaras!)
English National Ballet Dancers Help Sufferers of Parkinson's Disease

Miami Salsa Congress Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Miami Salsa Congress 10th Anniversary [Source: Miami Salsa Congress]

The Miami Salsa Congress is celebrating its 10th Anniversary August 3 through 7 in Miami Beach, Florida:

"Over 4,000 event fans are expected to travel from around the world to experience what has become 'The Ultimate Summer Dance Event' featuring the biggest names in Salsa. The event includes 3 nights of performances by local and international dance companies, 30 dance workshops with world-class dance instructors, music by the industry's top DJs."

"Event participants can also enjoy 4 live concerts with award winning Latin orchestras, a FREE Salsa Boot-Camp for beginners, and 5 days of non-stop Salsa dancing with pool-side parties, and South Beach style after-parties until 6AM."

Definitely a huge event with an impressive list of Instructors, Performers and Concerts.

Official Site: Miami Salsa Congress

Related All World Dance Coverage:
Bronx SalsaFest is Now in Progress!

Game Design Students Create En Scene! Movement Video Game

En Scene! 3D Gesture Control Game [Source: SoftKinetic]

Students at Supinfogame, a game design school in Valencienne, France, discuss En Scene!, a movement game they created that brings together performance and visual arts in a video game:

"Built using iisu & SoftKinetic's DepthSense 3D camera, the game allows you to embody an on-screen avatar and give them your own voice as you deliver performances and direct your on-screen play within an exclusive online community....This non-commercial game is supported on PC, set-top box & games consoles and allows up to 12 players."

Official Site: En Scene!

American Bboy Crew HaviKoro Teach Jordanian Youth the Art of Breakdance

HaviKoro in Jordan [Source: Ammon News]

HaviKoro crew members Nate Cano and Rick Camargo from Houston, Texas are currently in Jordan teaching breakdance classes and working with experienced bboys leading up to a free concert at Aqaba's Revolution Square on Friday, July 15 at 7 p.m.

Their visit is being hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Jordan in partnership with the Princess Basma Youth Resource Center and Tempo Dance Studio. HaviKoro is teaching classes in both Amman and Aqaba and, though they've visited Jordan before, this is their first time in Aqaba.

HaviKoro Crew [Source: US Embassy New Delhi]

The US Embassy in New Delhi posted the above video of HaviKoro on their YouTube channel. They were doing a performance in Chandigarh earlier this year and shared this info about the crew:

"HaviKoro is a group of street dancers that are natural comedians, actors, writers, entertainers, poets, rappers, designers, and music producers. Based in Houston, Texas, the crew formed in 1999."

"Individually, their performance experience dates back to the early 1990's where they grew up dancing on the streets of Houston. They have performed in schools, churches, theaters, competition events, nightclubs, prisons, juvenile correctional facilities, drug/rehab treatment centers, and other venues all across the United States."

"In 2005, they partnered with Houston's Association of American Voices to perform in dozens of foreign countries ranging from Azerbaijan and Vietnam to Haiti and Argentina, as U.S. 'Hiplomats' representing the unique contribution of Hip Hop to American culture."

Official Site: HaviKoro

Royal Danish Ballet Uses Pilates to Help Wounded Soldiers Recover

Dancer Josee Bowman and Pilates trainer Jessie Lee, both of the Royal Danish Ballet, have been using the Pilates Method to aid Danish soldiers injured in Afghanistan to rehabilitate. They used a specific approach to Pilates called Polytrauma Pilates that was developed by Elizaeth Larkam.

Though both soldiers and medical personnel were initially sceptical, given their lack of understanding of Pilates and related disciplines, they eventually came around:

"At Rigshospitalet, the soldiers receive four hours of physical therapy a day. After their wounds have healed, the rehabilitation process begins by retraining the thigh and gluteal muscles, improving hip flexibility, and making and fitting appropriate prosthetics. While the hospital rehab focuses on the crucial first steps, Pilates looks to improve the quality of movement, says Dr. [Finn] Warburg, who notes that depending on the severity of injuries, rehab can last anywhere from several months to a year."

"When the soldiers added the weekly, two-hour Pilates sessions to their routine, Dr. Warburg saw fast improvements in their overall strength, as well in their posture, stability and gait."

Of course, Dr. Warburg felt it necessary to maintain a critical stance:

"With such a small sample of patients, we can't say there are scientifically proven benefits to Pilates training. What we can say is that what we see, our impressions, are that it helps significantly. It speeds up the process—and it puts a smile back on their lips, let's not undervalue that."

While such disciplines as Pilates do need more scientific research, it's unfortunate that Dr. Warburg, like many medical professionals here in the U.S., is apparently unaware of the research done on Pilates, such as that described in this research roundup from 2006.

In any case, big ups to those involved with creating and running this program. It's a good look for the Royal Danish Ballet and for Pilates practitioners as well.

Wikipedia: Pilates

Related All World Dance Coverage:
English National Ballet Dancers Help Sufferers of Parkinson's Disease

Dance Moms: Another Reality TV Trainwreck?

Dance Moms Trailer [Source: myLifetime]

I was checking out TenduTV's twitter stream and was alerted to the uproar over Dance Moms, a new reality tv show from Lifetime. Some people seem excited, some seem upset. I hate reality tv so I won't be watching it but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on public response.

If we take the Dance Moms trailer at face value, the show is clearly focused on abusive dance settings justified by the deep desire to win contests. What will be interesting, based on some of the images I'm seeing for the show, is whether or not there will be any kind of serious discussion of the sexualization of youth, particularly of young girls.

If you caught any of the discussion related to the video of 7 year olds dancing to Beyonce's Single Ladies, my understanding is that folks that were appalled by the video didn't necessarily understand how widespread this kind of thing is at this point.

My guess is there will be a brief uproar over Dance Moms and then everybody will go back to business as usual, just as happened with child pageant uproars in the past.

At the end of the day, this kind of programming is about bread and circuses. Dialogue will be limited to people talking past each other and the registers of Lifetime and the media that covers the show, including this blog, will be rewarded.

Dance Moms premieres July 13 on Lifetime.

Dance/USA 2011 Annual Conference in Chicago

This year's annual conference of Dance/USA, the service organization for professional dancers, runs from July 13 to 16. This year's keynote speaker is writer Pico Iyer who stated:

"Dance has a greater potential importance in our lives now, I believe, than it had 30 years ago...These days we can see 'Swan Lake' performed by Chinese dancers, or Japanese court dance...set to trance dance music. We can see Balinese masks brought into the classical repertoire, or some of the movements of Butoh invigorating hip-hop. These new fusions speak to a new global identity for dance that is surely part of its exhilarating future."

Events and offerings range from sessions on business issues to one-on-one professional consultations to performances by Chicago dance companies.

Current Dance/USA Executive Director Amy Fitterer says of her agenda:

"We're an incredibly diverse industry...from the ballet companies to the contemporary and the modern and the tap and the jazz and the culturally specific and the hip-hop and the break dancing and the rock-climbing ballet, to the commercial world, with the Broadway dancers and the backup dancers for major musical artists and to dance on television. I'm interested in finding a way to bring some common ground to this very, very vibrant world."

I can support that!

For more information, please see Dance/USA's official website.