Overview

Physics and the Art of Dance gives all who enjoy dance - whether as dancers, students, teachers, or fans - an opportunity to understand what happens when human bodies move in the remarkable ways we call dance. How, for instance, do dancers create the illusion of defying gravity? Or of starting to spin when in the air with no source of force to act on their bodies? You may observe some dancers using their arms in a way that allows some to jump higher than others. What is that technique, and why does it work? In this second edition, author Ken Laws - a physicist with years of professional dance training - teams with veteran dance instructor Arleen Sugano to provide new step-by-step experiments for dancers. ""What you see"" sections describe the way physical principles form the framework within which some movements exist. The complementary ""What you do"" sections allow dancers to experience how those physical analyses can provide them a more efficient means of learning how to carry out those movements. Throughout, the book shows how movements are first artistic expressions, and secondly movements of the body within the framework of easy-to-understand physical principles. Dancers and dance instructors will find in this book an efficient means of improving technical proficiency and growing professional and aesthetic development. For physics and science teachers, the book provides a new and compelling way to draw people into the world of science. And observers and fans of dance will marvel over the beautiful time-stop photography by renowned dance photographers Martha Swope and Gene Schiavone.

Full Product Details

Author:   KennethProfessor Emeritus Laws (, Dickson College) ,  Arleen Sugano
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Edition:   2nd Revised edition
Dimensions:   Width: 19.90cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 26.00cm
Weight:   0.572kg
ISBN:  

9780195341010

ISBN 10:   0195341015
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   06 November 2008
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Martha Swope Preface 1: Introduction 2: Balance 3: Motions Without Turns 4: Pirouettes 5: Turns in the Air 6: The Pas de Deux 7: The Mechanics of Partnered Turns 8: The Mechanics of Lifts 9: The Effects of Body Size 10: A Step into the Future Appendix A - Linear Mechanics and Newton's Laws Appendix B - Rotational Mechanics Appendix C - Anatomical Data for Dancers Appendix D - Rotational Inertia for Some Body Configurations Appendix E - Acceleration Away from Balance Appendix F - Off-Balance Pirouettes Appendix G - Arabesque Turn Analysis Appendix H - Quantitative Analysis of the Grande Pirouette Appendix I - Quantitative Analysis of the Fouetté Turn Appendix J - Quantitative Analysis of the Supported Fouetté Turn Appendix K - Lean, Don't Slip Appendix L - Biomechanical Forces in a Dancer's Body Glossary Index

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Author Information

Kenneth Laws is Professor Emeritus of Physics, Dickinson College, and author of The Physics of Dance (Schirmer, 1984), Physics, Dance, and the Pas de Deux (Schirmer, 1994), and Physics and the Art of Dance: Understanding Movement (OUP, 2002) Arleen Sugano is Independent Dance Instructor, former instructor of Dance, New York University, University of North Texas, Joffrey Ballet School, Rod Rodgers Dance Company, and Lula Washington Dance Company, amongst many others.

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