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Art and science

Art and science

Dancing to the ideas of Einstein

04 May 2005

A new dance piece that celebrates Einstein's greatest scientific achievements will be premièred on the London stage this month. Here the work's choreographer Mark Baldwin and its scientific consultant Ray Rivers explain how Constant Speed turns physics into dance

Mark Baldwin

Early in 2003 Rambert Dance Company was approached by Jerry Cowhig, managing director of Institute of Physics Publishing, to take part in the celebrations for Einstein Year. The Institute of Physics wanted to commission a new work that used Einstein’s theories as its inspiration. It was decided that I should choreograph the piece, which would mark my first creation as artistic director for Rambert following my appointment in December 2002.

I have to confess it was quite a daunting challenge at first. I knew little about physics theories when the project began, and had no idea how they could possibly relate to dance. However, I was delighted that the Institute had taken such a bold step and chosen to collaborate on a dance project. It was a perfect opportunity to cross the barriers of art and science.

As part of the project, Peter Main, the Institute’s director of education and science, put me in touch with the theoretical physicist Ray Rivers from Imperial College, London. His job was to educate me on the particular theories that I would be dealing with in the piece, namely special relativity, Brownian motion and the photoelectric effect.

One of the most important things that we agreed early on was that the new work should not be a science lesson for the audience. The essence of the collaboration has been the union of art and science to create a unique project for the Einstein celebrations. Therefore, our methods for staging the production were focused on finding points of inspiration within each of the concepts, which I could then transfer into choreographic principles.

For example, the theory of Brownian motion has been the main source of inspiration for the choreographic structure within the piece. The random movement of a pollen grain on the surface of water inspired my choice of movement. I have imagined that the dancers’ bodies will move around the stage in a similar way – as if driven by an unseen force. The result is an exciting series of unexpected movements, full of athletic and physical surprises. Other than the challenge of learning the science, I actually found the whole experience unexpectedly liberating, and was surprised at the compatibility of the two subjects. I was able to appreciate physics as a powerful discipline that explores and questions the world around us, inspiring the imagination. Dance thrives on this kind of inspiration to create movement, and so I found the abstract ideas an ideal partner for the work.

Constant Speed comprises many different creative elements, and the impact of costumes, lighting, design and live music are all integral parts of the work’s full effect. I will not get to see the final result until the day before the première, but I am delighted with how the piece has developed so far. It has been important for me to create a work with strong artistic integrity, as much as fulfilling the unique requirements of the project.

Working with Ray and the team at the Institute has been a great experience. As well as enlightening me about ideas I never knew existed, it has given me a new awareness of how far physics reaches into our daily lives. And what have I learned about scientists? That they too can be obsessive and charming…just like artists!

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