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Physics, Art, Dancing and Ken Laws - Principle of Physics
by Jeanette Cain
Although earliest humans are not usually connected with knowledge of physics, they are connected with cave paintings, which show people dancing. Dancing is the oldest of the arts, but dancing is also based on the principles of physics.
Ballet reached its peak under Louis XIV of France, but being present as early as the late Middle Ages. Louis XIV spent large amounts of money on dancing as an art and began the Royal Academy of Dance and Music. Did Louis XIV understand the principles of physics behind the great ballet dancers of his time? Any answer would be speculation at this point. Did the great ballet dancers understand the principles of physics in their moves? Most probably they were unconcerned with the technical aspect, but if they were to be successful, they would master the principles of physics.
The correct turning of the body depends on a twisting force, called torque in physics. These observations were taken seriously by Ken Laws, professor of physics at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, who has written two books on the subject.
Laws became interested in ballet when his daughter wanted to learn, as well as her brother. Laws, who was forty at the time, signed his children and himself up for ballet classes at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Laws' son stopped about a year and a half later and his daughter stopped about seven years later, but the professor of physics stayed. He claimed that he was "hooked for good." (Kunzig)
He was frustrated with the teacher's instructions from the beginning. That is when he began applying his knowledge of the principles of physics to balletic motion, including jete and fouettes, eventually leading to a career as a ballet teacher.
Laws believes that the principles of physics will help a dancer understand what allows completion of a grand jete en tournant, or when standing on tiptoe with one leg in arabesque, her partner can give her a twist and cause her to do a rapid "pencil" turn. (Kunzig) He will ask his students what physical principle of physics is applied. Answer? The dancer who twists his partner's hips applies torque, but angular momentum is the rate of spin multiplied by the moment of inertia. This is dependent on how the dancer's mass is arranged around her spin axis. When momentum remains the same, but inertia is reduced by pulling in the legs, the dancer must spin faster and that is called physics. One of the most important physical principles in ballet is angular momentum conservation.
The gazelle-like leap, or grand jete, is like turning a dancer into a ballistic missile when the dancer leaves the floor. The dancer's center of gravity will follow a fixed parabola, which cannot be changed. The dancer can move parts of her/his body by making her/his legs act like scissors toward the top of the arc and closing them on descent. For one moment, this "hang time", allows the head and torso to move horizontally. This is the moment that captures the attention of an audience.
The illusion of perpetual motion, a fouette turn, is based on the dancer storing momentum from the leg that whips non-stop through the air. A dancer regains momentum by descending off point and pushing again with the entire supporting foot. The dancer saves momentum from one turn to the next by keeping the opposite leg moving. The leg that is thrust straight out, away from the spin axis, stores the momentum. Transferring momentum back to the body requires a dancer to tuck the leg back. All these steps and physical movements make the ballet seem fluid and physically beautiful.
A successful dancer spend hours upon hours practicing the basic movements and exercises associated with ballet. Dancers are never truly finished learning and training, since successful dancers are known to achieve great wealth and fame. Ken Laws may not be famous or wealthy, but he is bringing the science of physics to new heights within the realm of ballet. Dancers may now discover the secrets to successful twists and turns, such as the grand jete.
People during the time of cave paintings may not have understood that what they believed to be beautiful is allowed by the science of physics, but those of us today do realize the concepts. Maybe it is time we all took a new look at the art of physics through the beauty of ballet. One of England's greatest Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill, was born in a ladies' room during a dance. Dancing, arts, and physics have one thing in common-beauty. Ken Laws recognizes these interactions and has made the best of all three.
Works Cited
1. Editors. The World Book Encyclopedia: Volumes B, D, H, and P. World Book-Childcraft, Inc.: Chicago. 1990
2. Kunzig, Robert. Discover: "The Physics of...Ballet." Discover Magazine: New York. November 1999.
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