A cross the floor: parallel processes

Dance Magazine, April, 2009 by Louise E. Wright

Ne'Kisha Williams might not be able to define "quantum entanglement," but she can sum up how it relates to movement with a single word: mirroring. The sixth-grader is one of 15 students at Girard College who are creating a dance based on the phenomenon that Albert Einstein dubbed "spooky action."

Miro Dance Theatre works with Girard students in contemporary dance projects that parallel its own, such as the company's new Spooky Action, which premieres this month at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Since 2006, the Philadelphia-based Miro has led an outreach program at Girard, a boarding school in North Philly that serves students from financially limited, single-parent families.

The Girard College Residency and Partnership began when David Timony, chair of Girard's Fine Arts Department, offered free space to Miro's artistic directors--dancer/choreographer Amanda Miller and visual/video artist Tobin Rothlein--in exchange for dance instruction. The program, which seeks to provide students with a professional dance model, serves mainly middle-schoolers. They attend one class a week focused on choreography.

This year, both artists and students are working with the idea of "quantum entanglement," whereby two particles, once connected, remain so even when separated, moving in opposition to each other at exactly the same time. To help students investigate this theme, Miller gave them mirroring exercises. "They almost had to predict what their partners would do," she explains, and the partners had to figure out how to indicate non-verbally their next move.

As the students make creative decisions, Miller guides them through each step. "I want to push them to try something new," she says. "Last year I challenged them to improvise sections, and I was surprised at the performance." Before the students perform in May, they'll attend company rehearsals and a performance of Spooky Action. "We want them to see the connection between their work and ours," Miller says. See www.mirodancetheatre.org/educationoutreach.>

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