sploid.gizmodo.com: The third act of Swan Lake is considered one of the most difficult in the balletic cannon, requiring a dancer to twirl around 32 consecutive times. How its accomplished is as much a feat of physics as it is athleticism.
Staying in momentum for a full 30 seconds takes a couple of small but important considerations on the part of the dancer. First and foremost is keeping a consistent center of gravity and straight turning axis—otherwise all that momentum will throw her off balance on onto the floor.
6 comments:
I’m always interested in the physics behind things, though in the case of this particular ballet move, the body control is more impressive than the physics. The dancer needs to be perfectly in control while spinning in order to create the forces needed for the fouettes. And my guess is that a skilled ballerina doesn’t think about the individual components, but eventually the whole thing is just an automatic process. I tend to be especially interested in the physics of things like gymnastics, ice skating, and dance because I find it fascinating that the human brain can make all of these fine tune adjustments while spinning through the air, even in situations where the physics involved is far more complicated than this. I am curious if the physics of ballet is typically taught or discussed in ballet classes. It seems like it might be helpful for students who are first learning, but it also could be unnecessary since they just need to learn what to physically do, not the science behind it.
Physics is so interesting. The fact that such little adjustments to the ballerina’s body can lead to so much extra momentum that they can keep spinning around and around. Each turn has to be evaluated by the dancer to see if they can make it around another time without flicking her foot out. On top of that, when they do flick their foot it has to be in time with the music and so they have to take in account the flick before and make it perfect enough to spin them around in time with the beat. It’s simply amazing. I have to agree with Julian in that I wonder if ballerinas ever get taught the physics behind the moves or if it’s better if they just learn the movements and not confuse themselves. I wonder if it would be more helpful to teach the instructors about the physics behind it because there are concrete ways to make the fouettes more perfect like the time of extension and keeping the arms in, that if you knew the physics it might be easier to teach, but not necessary for your pupil to understand the physics. But then again if you're at the point of teaching swan lake, you're probably good enough that you understand all the changes you make and don't need the physics.
Man, I was in Physics for exactly 3 days when I was back in high school, but I have a pretty deep appreciation for the study of it. I think that Physics is so interesting because it explains so much of what we see and experience in our every day lives and the fact that something like ballet can even be explained with the use of Physics is pretty cool! I was in ballet class for 2 weeks when I was 4 years old (by the volition of my mother), but I ended up hating it and screaming at every class. That would explain why I'm a horrible dancer now with no sense of my limbs. Anyway, the fact that anybody can perform fouettes without wanting to throw up immediately after is a concept that is beyond me. I've peeked into the actor studios while they've been doing ballet and its truly mesmerizing the amount of spins and the sheer amount of control needed to do ballet. I've never seen Swan Lake, but I know a bunch of girls who have dressed up as Swan Lake for Halloween. However, it's on my list of things to watch.
I've never thought to think of a ballet dancer's turns of being facilitated by physics, but it makes a lot of sense. The fact that an adjustment of one small motion can change so much in the fouette is really cool. I also never knew that there was a small pause in the turn because of how gracefully the dancers move to draw attention away from it. As well as showing a great analysis of the turn, this video really shows how much time and effort ballerinas have to put into their craft. In order to get the timing right on when to raise their arm or leg they must have had to practice for countless hours, and must have worn out endless pairs of ballet shoes. I wonder how much of the physics behind this the dancers are taught before trying to attempt this move. It would be really interesting to hear what their perspective on this video is, and whether or not the move is more calculated or organic for them.
I've watched my sisters pirhouette around the house for years, slipping and falling and breaking things when they don't make sure there is enough room for their legs. According to them, these consecutive turns are the hardest thing to master in ballet, and for good reason! Keeping your center of balance so steady for such an extended period of time, while flinging limbs around and staying on one foot seems impossible. But I'm glad someone has taken the time to explain how it works! I love the thought of a human body like a machine, and it's incredible that any of it can actually work at all- so many things can go wrong and its incredible that we can even do things normally (like breathing, and seeing, and having skin and hair). Add another level of complexity and things can go wrong all over the place- walking is hard! So it's amazing to me that someone is capable of using the human machine in such a precise and challenging way.
One of my best friends is a dancer; she does many types of dance, one of which is ballet. We weren’t in the same physics class in high school, but this touches on one day in physics that she told me about. While discussing kinematics the instructor used my friend, knowing she is a dancer, to demonstrate center of mass and center of gravity. He told her various ways to manipulate her body while having her stand on one foot. This article gives names and theories to concepts that ballerinas instinctively or intuitively understand. In other words, they don’t need to understand the physics in order to spin properly. In fact, it may be easier for them to understand physics because they understand how to spin and keep their balance. This also deals a lot with momentum and conservation of energy. I thought this was so well done that I shared it with my friend.
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