Jump Higher, Spin Faster: The Science of Dance

Reported July 2009

CARLISLE, Pa. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Shawn Johnson took home the gold in gymnastics and the coveted mirror ball trophy on Dancing With the Stars. But dancing requires more than just beauty and grace. There's science behind that fancy footwork.

From reality TV to dance class, dance is more than pirouettes and pleas.

"It's such a challenging art form, but when you get to a certain level it just feels right," ballet dancer Sara Murawski told Ivanhoe.

Murawski spends most of her days on her toes. Now, Ken Laws, Ph.D., a physicist at Dickinson College and former ballet dancer, is going to show her how physics can help her leap higher and spin longer.

"The traditional techniques are to do what a teacher tells you to do or to copy other people, and none of those are as effective as understanding why you do a movement in the particular way that you do," Dr. Laws explained.

In a whip turn, rotating the leg from front to side stores momentum in the leg and with the help of her partner's force, she can turn even faster.

“Now, we’ll do it the correct way with the leg going front to side,” Dr. Laws demonstrated.

For a grand jeté, a dancer lifts her legs into a split at the peak of the jump, creating the illusion that she is raising her center of gravity. It appears as if she is floating on air.

"If you time the rising of the legs and arms correctly, that impression of floating horizontally actually occurs," Dr. Laws described.

Dr. Laws has taken teaching the physics of ballet on the road, helping ballet dancers soar on the floor, and giving physics and dancers the credit they deserve.

He wrote the book on physics and dance, called Physics and the Art of Dance. Some schools have adopted his books into their class courses

The American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Physical Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Kenneth Laws
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA 17013
(717) 245-1599 office
laws@dickinson.edu

American Association of Physics Teachers
College Park, MD
(301) 209-3311
http://www.aapt.org

James Riordon, Media Relations
American Physical Society
College Park, MD
(301) 209-3238
http://www.aps.org
Riordon@aps.org

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Shawn Johnson took home the gold in gymnastics and the coveted mirror ball trophy on Dancing With the Stars. But dancing requires more than just beauty and grace.