The Physics Of Dance Essay

De’Untre’ Griggs
Mr. Hooks
30 September 2014
Physics/4
The Physics Of Dance Essay Physics and dance represent remarkably complementary approaches to human body movement. Those involved with dance and science can easily find the many aspects of science incorporated into the beauty of dance. With its graceful moves, jumps, turns, and kicks, dance is a representation of physics at its best and most elegant. Two dance moves in particular come to mind when I think of physics and its effects on dance. They are the grand jeté & projectile motion, and the glissade and friction. Grand jeté literally means big jump. It is a long horizontal jump, starting from one leg and landing on the other. It also appears as a split in the air. The goal of this move is to create an illusion to the audience that the dancer is floating through the air and also to maximize horizontal and vertical distance. A projectile is an object whose only force acting on it is gravity. Here the object is the dancer’s body.The height of a jump depends on the force and speed exerted. The more mass, or strength, the dancer has in his legs, the more power he is able to apply to the jump. To get enough force to jump off the ground a dancer is required to bend their knees, in a position called a plié. Once the dancer jumps from the floor, the center of gravity will follow a trajectory in the shape of a parabola determined by the initial conditions starting on the ground. The trajectory will follow the path of a normal projectile.This leap is achieved by overcoming gravitational pull and creating the illusion of a raised center of gravity.When combined with great timing one can create a perfect leap. A dancer must time his jump to raise the center of gravity at the peak of the parabola and will create the vision of gliding through space. The glissade is literally, a glide. It is a traveling step where the front foot moves out to a point, both legs briefly straighten as weight is shifted onto the pointed foot, and the other foot moves in to meet the first. Friction is very important in carrying out this move, since it involves sliding across the floor. Too much friction will prevent the movement, while not enough not enough can be disastrous, causing the feet to slip. Only a certain type of surface can be used for this elegant move to be consummated. This is because each type of surface has its own coefficient of friction. The coefficient of friction multiplied by the vertical force perpendicular to the floor will give the force of friction, which acts against the motion of the dancer. The portable dance floor coverings used

on stage and studio floors have all the frictional properties needed by a dancer: enough friction to stick when sticking is needed and little enough friction to allow for glides.
When these floor coverings are not available many dancers rub their ballet shoes in a substance called Rosin. Rosin has a high coefficient of kinetic friction but a smaller dynamic coefficient. This means that if the foot is still on the floor a large horizontal frictional force is possible, but if the foot is moving that force is much smaller. This difference is very useful for a dancer performing glissades, which needs this horizontal force only when the foot is not moving against the floor. Physics has always been a hidden aspect of dance and incorporated into just about every move. Jumping moves like the grand jeté is an example of projectile motion affected by: force,speed,and gravity; while sliding moves like the glissade are affected by friction.A truly skilled dancer knows and understands the effects of these forces on their moves and how they can be used to enhance their performance results.

Works Cited
● Harvey, Kindra. "Physics of Dance Movements." LIVESTRONG.COM.
LIVESTRONG.COM, 27 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.
● Laws, Kenneth. The Physics of Dance. New York: Schirmer, 1984. Print.
● Laws, Kenneth, Rebecca Nettl­Fiol, and Sean Sullivan. "The Physics of Dance." The
Physics of Dance. June­July 2000. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.

Cited: ● Harvey, Kindra. "Physics of Dance Movements." LIVESTRONG.COM.  LIVESTRONG.COM, 27 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Sept. 2014. ● Laws, Kenneth. The Physics of Dance. New York: Schirmer, 1984. Print. ● Laws, Kenneth, Rebecca Nettl­Fiol, and Sean Sullivan. "The Physics of Dance." The  Physics of Dance. June­July 2000. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.