Wk 5: When the 2016 Rio Olympics gave way to Mathematical conversation

"Reenacting mathematical concepts found in large-scale dance performance can provide both material and method for ensemble learning"
Wow...that is a long, packed title! Based, interestingly enough, on the Rio 2016 Olympic Opening Ceremony, this study talks about "foraging" through the internet for "found objects" in public media to use as the inspiration/basis for mathematical discussions. The authors refer to this as "re-use" of the material. 

If you watch the youtube clip, there is a chunk from 12:10 to 15:15 in which an ensemble is moving through a choreography with large foil squares. This becomes the basis for the study. The individuals participating in the performance work in a variety of combinations: "quartet" (4 people), "group" (groups of quartets), and "whole" (all performers together). The mathematics arises in the movements, which are similar to rotations, reflections, translations...symmetry is heavily depended upon. 

Using this clip, participants in the study watched the clip and were led into discussion and challenges around how to recreate and build upon the ideas. 

The first group was a group of 8th Grade girls. The girls watched and quickly became excited, claiming they knew "exactly what to do" in order to recreate the movements! They quickly realized that it would not be as simple as they had originally thought, and ended up needing to move into conversations that had new terms ('overs' and 'unders') and specific instructions about how to move and when. 
When asked, it was difficult for the girls to comment on the mathematics connected to these ideas. 

After this, STEM educators attempted the task. They began with a common goal: to create a "dancy", fluid performance. They were attentive to the patterns in movement and actions, and worked together to state and reflect upon new terms that allowed them to differentiate between the people, the positions of the people, and the parts of the 'prop' they were connected to. That being said, even with the focused attention to detail, the educators were surprised by their eventual success!

To close the study, a group of learning scientists were brought in to try to understand what the STEM group had done. Rather than jumping in to attempt the movements, they began by discussing the ideas behind, studying the recording of the educators, and freezing the frame at points when the educators made certain movements. Then, in their own reenactment, they took time at each of these points, determined to find a formal description that would lead to deep mathematical understanding. 

As I read through this study and watched the clip of the Olympics, I was captured by the coordination that was required. The choreographer had a complicated task! The symmetry and fluid movements caught my attention and I immediately found myself noticing patterns and shapes, and I was asking myself questions about how they knew where to move, and how things could have been different, had they changed the direction they were travelling in, or the timing of the movements they made. 

Connecting to this week's topic, this is a fascinating example of using movement to draw people into mathematics. While the initial purpose of the performance was not to look at mathematical movements, I love that this piece was "foraged" for a deeper purpose. It makes me wonder about how one can find more pieces to use. Could this be a project for students? Is there a way to connect the movements to tangible mathematics in the classroom, or is this an idea that is best left to curiosity and wonder? 

Very cool, nonetheless!