Found 1 project
Performing Arts Presentation 2
12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
- Presenter
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- Ashlyn Morgan, Senior, Neuroscience, Dance UW Honors Program
- Mentor
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- Hannah Wiley, Dance
- Session
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Performing Arts Session
- Meany Hall Studio Theatre
- 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
While taking multiple general science courses and dance courses as a double-degree student, I have devised creative ways to balance my studying and dance training. One involved creating dance choreography to memorize organic chemistry reactions, which inspired me to choreograph a dance piece named after the motor cortex “Homunculus” for Aura Dance Company’s (RSO) annual spring show in 2023. This sparked my interest in organizing a project to teach this learning structure that may be useful to others. With help from Professor Hannah Wiley and MFA candidate Beth Twigs, I designed dance workshops for my peers to learn more about neuroscience and dance. NeuroDance is a multidimensional project to educate students about neuroscience through dance-making tools. The project involved organizing workshops where participants learned movements inspired by molecular neuroscience, neuroanatomy, and skeletal anatomy. Participants modeled ions, neurons, and planes of movement through facilitated movement phrases and seeds. To assess learning outcomes, quizzes were given before and after the workshops. Volunteers were recruited from on-campus social, dance, and neuroscience groups, and outreach will occur via social media and posters. The data from the learning aspect of these workshops house the scientific results, but the movement observed served as the foundation for a larger choreographic work presented in the Department of Dance’s Dance Majors Concert (2025). The physicality and repetition inherent in dance offer a unique and enriching platform for learning. I aim further to explore the potential of dance education in STEM with this pilot study.