Dance for Physics

“All dance is about time, space, and light,” says Mark Baldwin, who, as artistic director of Rambert Dance Company, choreographed Constant Speed, a dance inspired by the concepts of special relativity and Brownian motion. The dance was commissioned by the UK’s Institute of Physics in celebration of Einstein Year, as the World Year of Physics 2005 is known in some countries. It opens in London on 24 May.

At the start of Constant Speed, “the dancers are dressed in white. In the end, they are all colors, as if pushed through a prism,” says Baldwin. The dance is “packed full of movement,” he adds. “Imagine the hips are some kind of molecule that is out of control, so the body can lunge in all directions. It’s a driving, muscular piece.”

The dance is “hanging what we hope will be an important piece of art on a scientific stimulus,” says Jerry Cowhig, head of IOP Publishing. “We never wanted anything pedagogical, but merely for it to be inspired by Einstein. It’s meant to be abstract and expressionist.”

At the same time, IOP hopes the dance will raise the profile of physics and of the institute. That may be aided by Rambert’s traditional discussions at schools and after performances. In this case, IOP will include an educational leaflet and physicists will join Baldwin and the performers for the discussions. With dance audiences, says Cowhig, “we are hitting new targets.”

Constant Speed has received wide attention in the UK press, in part because it is Baldwin’s first creation for the 80-year-old Rambert Dance Company. The piece will debut with three other dances from the company’s repertoire and will tour the UK for the next year.