Nov 6 Dancing Euclidean Proofs Reflection

This whole concept of using dancing to display Euclidean geometry proofs in multisensory ways does help us understand it in new ways. It is visual and unique. I’ve never seen math proofs done using dance before so watching it for the first time was interesting. There is harmony to it and seeing how the human body, as intricate and complex as it is, is able to do what a compass and straightedge can do - and much more! Watching the dances on screen created a zen atmosphere so it was quite relaxing. This integration could help the general audience appreciate the beauty of mathematics. I have seen folk dance being used in a computing science course when I took it at the UofA. The lessons were on sorting algorithms and there were some supplementary videos that showed us a row of dancers moving around like how objects would move around depending on which sorting algorithm was used. Here is the link to the playlist! Another thing that made me fathom was that a dot on a page is just as inaccurate of a way to physically represent a point as a dancer’s body. The dot on the page takes up some two dimensional space in reality, so it isn’t a totally accurate physical image of a point, just like how a sheet of paper isn’t really 2D, but is 3D even though the thickness of it is super thin. The dot and the body are both representations of the true abstract concept. Dancing allows one to connect with that abstract concept through embodying it with phyical movements. I think it is nice to have students up and moving around since students around high school sit for a long time in front of a computer screen to do homework, research, watch shows, or play games. Having these body motions allows students to remember certain concepts better and associate its value to oneself. Also there is no technology used during this process of dancing with Euclidean proofs, so this practice would have also been implemented historically too. However I do see that not every student is into dancing since they may not feel comfortable with it. Maybe for traditional reasons they can’t have a partner to create these proofs visually with the body (from the video there were two people “dancing out the proofs”). Other students might just not care or don’t enjoy it. I probably won’t do dancing fully, but maybe some physical actions moving arms and hands around (maybe a bit of the legs). I think unless they really don’t want to, they don’t do it, but I encourage those who can (who may just be somewhat indifferent or unamused by it) to move around and try it out.