Dance / South West Dance Theatre
Dance meets maths and physics in a special performance as part of the APERIODIC festival
Running as part of the two-week APERIODIC festival, which celebrates aperiodicity (the maths of not-quite-repeating patterns) through an artistic lens, South West Dance Theatre is presenting a free performance, and workshop, at the Trinity Centre on July 11.
Aperiodic – by way of ballet, breakdancing and the Hofstadter butterfly will introduce audiences to the beauty of aperiodic patterns; a phenomenon that has entranced mathematicians for centuries, and seen “in the tiling on ancient Muslim temples and the crystalline structures of a meteorite”.
The piece has been constructed in collaboration with maths and physics researchers at the University of Bristol, and made possible by UKRI/EPSRC funding.
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Breakdancer Katarzyna Niznik strikes a waterside pose
For SW Dance Theatre co-founder Anna Davis, who also has a PhD in physics, the project was a welcome chance to bring together joint passions which align more than many might think.
“Take for example some fancy ballet pirouette or grand allegro jump,” she contends.
“I would often aim to simplify the movement that achieves it by taking the arms or legs through the shortest route with the neatest alignment, and so on, so that there’s less room for it to go wrong while aesthetically it’s also more attractive. I think the same could be said for a complex mathematical proof.”
This isn’t the first time the company have explored scientific and mathematical concepts through dance. Created for the UNESCO Year of Light, Quantum Touch was a series of video pieces on the physics of light, made in collaboration with Laurene Pilastre (then) at the Royal College of Art and James Millen, Quantum Director at King’s College London. A further piece, Wave-Particle Ballet-Breaking Duality was made to mark World Quantum Day.
Henna Koivusalo is a senior lecturer in the School of Mathematics at the University of Bristol, and one of the organisers of APERIODIC. “When us mathematicians solve problems, the solutions don’t always come to us first as formulas and numbers,” she reflects.
“Often the way we imagine the solution is a picture first, or a phrase, or a movement. APERIODIC is all about celebrating these patterns hidden in mathematics.
Breakdancer Seba Morales Castillo in performance
“We feel very lucky to be collaborating with South West Dance Theatre in the creative process of turning maths into dance, and we hope that that these novel expressions will allow everyone to appreciate the beauty of maths.”
After a brief introductory talk by Sean Dewar, a research fellow from the School of Mathematics at the University of Bristol, Davis will be joined in performance by contemporary dance artist Katarzyna Niznik, as well as breakdancers Silvia Orazzo and Seba Morales Castillo.
The pre-performance workshop – trialled at the inaugural DIASPORA! festival, is suitable for all ages, and will blend ballet, breakdance, maths and physics.
Aperiodic – by way of ballet, breakdancing and the Hofstadter butterfly is at The Trinity Centre on July 11, at 5.30-6.30pm for the workshop, and 7-8pm for the performance. Both events are free, but booking is recommended via www.headfirstbristol.co.uk.
APERIODIC runs from July 1-14 in multiple venues across Bristol. For further details and the full programme, visit The Grimm Network.
Follow South West Dance Theatre at www.southwestdancetheatre.co.uk.
All photos: South West Dance Theatre (main photo: Silvia Orazzo)
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