Carrying Out Workshop #1 and Workshop #2 and Reflections

The following week I carried out Workshop #1 and Workshop #2 with the Dance Ensemble. While I felt some discomfort by how quiet the room was as I carried out the first workshop, I was thankful and impressed by how deeply invested all the dancers were as they observed and worked through all five images that were then translated into movement. It is unusual for a dance studio to be silent and still, which is what much of my workshop consisted of, however, I think it is valuable and necessary as intelligent and proficient dancers to research and investigate movement and its source, just as they would for a research paper or a scientific experiment. This is a bit of a tangent, but I am primarily thinking of actors, directors, and artists who talk about the extensive research they are required to do prior to inhabiting their characters, their theatre production or their artwork. It seems to be more unusual for dancers to discuss preparing in the same manner, perhaps because it seems that their focus is on technique and image. But to understand the inspiration behind a movement can bring just as much, even more, to dance as can performing a dance with impeccable technique. 

Throughout the workshop, I was very much intent on observing how every dancer was working and paying attention to both their verbal and nonverbal feedback (i.e. what direction wasn’t quickly understood, what was, etc.). The first verbal response I was given occurred after I had given the dancers the fifth and final image to work with. Here, the dancers responded with an exasperated sigh and jokingly said “that’s so mean of you to give!” This last image is one seen in every biology, chemistry, and biochemistry textbook.

It is of DNA shown in its most basic representation – a sugar, base, and phosphate group uses hydrogen bonds to bind the nucleotide Adenine with Tyrosine, and Guanine with Cytosine. The first dancer to make such a reaction was a Biochem major. Having had to draw out this exact image on past tests and problem sets, I knew she had seen this image before, but was shocked at the response to how “mean” it was of me to make the dancers sketch this image (again, said in a lovingly irritated sort of way). Others then followed her response and likewise grumbled. In my opinion, this image seemed to be an easy one to sketch. An image made up of nothing more than pentagons and various diagonal lines seemed to me more straightforward to sketch than the first image, an intricately colorful and detailed mandala-like computerized image of crystallized DNA. Why did everyone respond in this way to the image that was recognizable? Is this due to past experience? Do we connect certain images to textbooks and exams and memorization and difficult schoolwork? Was this response a sort of “shut down”? Is this similar to a response we see and experience in classrooms when we, or others, don’t understand the material being taught? Instead of asking questions, or inquiring further, or taking the time to understand that which we don’t, we find it easier to sigh and shut down.

After the dancers performed their pieces, we gathered to discuss our results and the experience.

Response 1: One dancer spoke about her frustration in not knowing what the images were and this being the reason she found difficulty in coming up with movement. This was an interesting response because while her opinion was totally valid, her opinion was precisely what I am attempting to overcome. My intent is for individuals to be able to look at an image (in this case, within the scientific realm) that they might have never seen before, and after observing, moving, and responding to it gain a sense of familiarity and ease with it that otherwise they might not have obtained – and without being given any more outside information. Again, while her opinion is totally valid, and perhaps the basis for another workshop, it is for a different kind of experience. I wanted the dancers to be able to understand that everyone inherently knows things; this has been proven by the beauty of nature and discovered by humans since the beginning of time. In life, we are constantly presented with information that that is unfamiliar and that we don’t initially understand. But with observation and analysis, we can all naturally find truth and answers.

Response 2: Another dancer spoke about how she tried to describe things she already knew, thereby making the image non-scientific. Once she had accomplished this, she said that then she could bring the original idea back to the scientific and relate the concepts. In this way, she explained how the movement connected to the tangible, and how this could connect to the abstract and the intangibility of the scientific concept of DNA. As learners, we tend to simplify that which is complex, and this is most easily accomplished by relating what we don’t know to what we do know. If dance, in this way, can be a successful model for the complex and abstract, than this is a valid method of teaching and learning.

Response 3: This response, affirmed by others, had to do with Workshop #2 which consisted of creating a dance based on the definition of DNA. This was done in two groups of five or six dancers. Most of the dancers commented on recognizing how the solo work from Workshop #1 tested them more in their creativity and movement ideas than in Workshop #2. The group work was, to the dancers, more fun, good for brainstorming, and more helpful in that by working with other’s they found it beneficial to gain other’s take on the material. One dancer spoke how it was easier to participate in Workshop #2 as a group, and if it had been a solo, she wouldn’t have known where to begin. Again, while totally valid, upon reflection, I am glad that I had made the first workshop a solo experience, because it allowed them to focus on the information they were given in relation to themselves without others’ influence. Also, knowing that this workshop will be carried out with younger kids, having done this difficult exercise as an individual, would hopefully help when working as a group with a younger group of students.

Response 4: One dancer mentioned that she had a hard time relating to DNA, so she personally didn’t learn anything new. Others also reiterated how they didn’t receive any concrete new info, but did think about DNA is a new way and how to do so from the perspective of movement. Many agreed that while they knew of the characteristics of DNA from before, they thought this workshop would be a valuable way to introduce the topic of DNA to younger students and reiterate its properties.

Pedagogically, I did realize that if I repeated this workshop again with another group of dancers or students, I would need to clarify a few points. The biggest example of this was the sketch and label exercise. Celeste had demonstrated the exercise with me, and so, I understand perfectly what the exercise entailed. However, I did not do with the dancers. Instead, I simply reiterated what I had seen in Celeste’s office. I was hoping for more questions and clarifications in the labeling process, which the dancers would not have necessarily done. This did not inhibit the dancers from their ability to participate in any aspect of the workshop, but this realization did allow me to became aware, for future reference, when to provide the example and when to just go and do.

This workshop, having allowed the dancers to themselves create a composition of movement, also allowed for it to become apparent that like properties in nature, we all inherently know the rules/compositions of dance. The beauty of nature, in my opinion, goes hand in hand with art. And everyone has the creativity and the intelligence to understand both.

I hoped this workshop would allow the participants to become divergent thinkers, especially in an era when education is prioritizing convergent thinkers over divergent thinkers. We are in a time when we need to improve as explorers and as divergent thinkers and, hopefully, this workshop can give some individuals the opportunity to do so.