Dancing Euclidean Proofs

Reading the discussion in the paper about the designing of the dances fascinated me because of the intuition of the authors to relate the steps of the geometric constructions of the propositions to the the sequential nature of choreography; quite logical inspiration produce such a short film. Additionally, the notion that "proofs unfold in time" similar to dance is intriguing, and makes me think of mathematics in a completely different way. Never had I pondered mathematics being used to choreograph a dance before, and now I think that perhaps dance is essentially mathematical in its nature.

I really enjoyed watching the simplicity behind Proposition 1 because I believe it can be embodied quite well by the human limbs in a way that is intuitive to visually perceive. At the end of Proposition 1 dance, the ease of which the arms match (the close approximation) is amazing in its analogy to an equilateral triangle.

When Manvir and I attempted to execute dancing Euclidean proofs on Proposition 6, we encountered some significant difficult because we did not use a prop/stick. Additionally, when we connected hands for the vertices of the triangle, the angles became quite absurd and not equated; resulting in an improper proof. Firstly, I wish that Sam Milner and Carolina could have watched and helped us, moreover, it would have been a cool experience to see them execute Proposition 6 as it still seems difficult to choreograph!

Comments

  1. Great commentary, Jovan! What a fascinating idea: that all dances may be essentially mathematical!

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