Artists That Use Math

Visual artists aren't the only ones who use math, dancers do to! Well, I didn't really know this until I researched it more but we use it more than I thought. Most obviously, dancers use math to count beats and timing just like musicians do. We also use math in the form of physics when lifting and jumping, calculating and estimating mentally the space needed to ultimately make sure we land safely. Formations are super important in dance to make the peice aesthetically pleasing. Geometric patterns are used and movements and lines must be sort of calculated to determine the right angles at which to stand and move. I didn't think that all of that was very interesting or all that new so while researching more I found a particular type of dance called "Challenge Square Dancing". This was very new to me and I learned that challenge square dances learn and memorize 100 or more formations and steps referred to as "calls". In competitions or challenges, the is a person who is the "caller" and he or she calls formations and steps and the dancers respond by doing the movement. The requires thinking on the callers part because not all call mesh perfectly s o it is their job to think of how to move the people safely and smoothly. At North Central College in Naperville there is a class offered called the Mathematic of Square Dancing where challenge square dancing is taught. Most students are science, math, and computer majors and a math teacher said that this form of dance is " math in motion"much like "solving a Rubix Cube." Some traditionalist square dancers disagree with this new branch saying that it takes the sociability out and focusing more on choreography and puzzle solving.

Slightly unrelated but not really, I found a video in which girls use dance to demonstrate Ekadhikena Purvena, a principle of Vedic Math. Vedic Math is a method that is a simpler way of learning mathematics. Ekadhikena Purvena means "by one more than the previous one." I looked up this method and then this principle and found it very interesting. Ekadhikena Purvena is for numbers ending in 5 only. For example:

25² = (2*3) add 25 to end
you get : 625

*Because 2 times 3 is 6 you put 25 on the end and get your answer.

*"Plus one" comes from the 2 (first number) plus 1 = 3 and you multiply the two together

However, if the number does not end with 5, the same principle applies if the last digit of the two numbers being multiplied adds up to 10. This is demonstrated in the video. For example:

37*33= (3*4) (7*3) = 12, 21 = 1221

*The first multiplication is found with +1 and the second is the two last numbers mulitplied together

Math is found in dance but in a very broad form. My research took me onto a slightly different path but the Bollywood dancers really helped me understand a particular principle of Vedic math. All artists use math, we just have to find out how! :)