Dancing Euclidean Proofs

     The first thing that made me stop and think was this video concept in general. I think it was a really cool way to demonstrate proofs, one that I haven't thought about before. It's neat because when talking about geometry, I find myself gesturing and making shapes with my hands often, but never with my entire body. The other thing that made me stop and think was after my initial appreciation of the art form, I wondered if I had just seen the video without having worked through the proofs in class first, if I would have understood it just from the choreography. The first two dances, we worked on in class and through doing them, I understood what was happening and could follow along with the dance as I recalled my own thought process as I worked through. The third one was new to me, and on my first and second watch, it was hard to follow. For me, doing the proof first enriched the experience of the video and I could immerse myself with the choreography. I wonder if others share these thoughts, or if the experience was vividly different from individual to individual like any art form would be.

    Overall, I enjoyed dancing the Euclidean proof. I feel like our cohort is pretty close with each other so I was comfortable doing something outside my comfort zone. I loved how even though each group was doing the same proof, the dance interpretations all ended up different. It definitely made it so I remember the steps of the proof much more clearly since I was there in the moment *doing* the proof. The experience was very physical and when you take time to think of what action you will do to represent the next step, you become much more involved in the experience. I think if this were to be implemented in a secondary math class, a lot of the positives I mentioned would apply. It would be something new for the students and it would make the moment much more memorable. However, because it's so new and students may not feel as comfortable with each other or with sharing a dance if it's outside their comfort zone, there may be some challenges there.

Comments

  1. Amanda FritzlanDecember 19, 2022 at 4:38 PM

    It is so interesting that gesturing with our hands is seen as pretty normal, but not with our whole bodies. You make a great point about how doing the proofs, on the board or through dance, helps to understand and the dance performance. It almost like an empathic response. I really appreciate that your cohort took the risk to dive right into the embodying a Euclidean proof activity.

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