Perspective: choreography through the eyes of a chemist

The first thought that comes to mind when most people think of ballet and chemistry is how opposite the two topics are. A ballerina is thought to be a graceful artist while a chemist is thought to be analytical and only consider evidence-based truths. However, scientists must be just as creative as ballet dancers and dancers must be as detail oriented about their craft as a chemist. The two opposites attract and can then be intertwined to create new discoveries and inspire new art. Scientific techniques have been used to create synthetic fabrics dyes, date and analyze historical works of art, and to create new musical soundscapes. They have even been used to inspire modern dance choreography. a revolving notion . . . , a new piece of ballet choreography created during the research of this concept, set out to prove that chemistry topics could be the foundational inspiration for movement within ballet choreography. Ideas of energy and space were primarily used to develop phrases of movement, carry the story, and create motifs formulating in a cohesive and successful new work of art. Thus, it has been concluded that science and art are not so isolated instead creating beautiful new discoveries in harmony.

ABSTRACT The first thought that comes to mind when most people think of ballet and chemistry is how opposite the two topics are. A ballerina is thought to be a graceful artist while a chemist is thought to be analytical and only consider evidence-based truths. However, scientists must be just as creative as ballet dancers and dancers must be as detail oriented about their craft as a chemist. The two opposites attract and can then be intertwined to create new discoveries and inspire new art. Scientific techniques have been used to create synthetic fabrics dyes, date and analyze historical works of art, and to create new musical soundscapes. They have even been used to inspire modern dance choreography. a revolving notion . . . , a new piece of ballet choreography created during the research of this concept, set out to prove that chemistry topics could be the foundational inspiration for movement within ballet choreography. Ideas of energy and space were primarily used to develop phrases of movement, carry the story, and create motifs formulating in a cohesive and successful new work of art. Thus, it has been concluded that science and art are not so isolated instead creating beautiful new discoveries in harmony. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii INTRODUCTION 1 SCIENCE AND ART 4 CHOREOGRAPHY 8 CONCLUSIONS 14 CHOREOGRAPHY VIDEO & IMAGES 16 BIBLIOGRAPHY 18 iii INTRODUCTION Music is written on a staff, paint adheres to a canvas, and clay is baked into a lasting form, but ballet dancers have been attempting to concretely record movement since BeauchampFeuillet notation was created in the 1700s. This written notation was used to define choreography exclusively for a time. Yet many dancers today would define choreography as the MerriamWebster defines the word choreograph: “to arrange or direct the movements, progress, or details of.” This invokes how choreographers are mere chess players playing with pawns. But how does one turn a creative impulse into a well-planned out game? They bring notions of space, time, and energy and turn into a human representation of an idea. A chemist plays a similar game when they mix compounds and provide energy to systems to create new compounds. I would argue that the two, chemistry and ballet, have more in common than one may first predict and would even go as far to say that chemistry’s ideas of energy can inform the configurations energy assumes in a rhythmic series of movements. On December 5th, 2024, a revolving notion . . . was presented at the University of Utah Marriott Center for Dance and became my personal attempt to allow chemistry to influence ballet choreography. This work sought to demonstrate that a chemist’s conception of energy and molecular interactions could inspire and inform choreographic choices within a balletic pas de deux concluding that the classical definitions of science and art are not isolated ideas. To every viewer, art has a different meaning. It is subjected to the scrutiny of their experiences, emotions, perspectives, and opinions. Whether art is good, bad, or even considered to be art is left up to the viewer because otherwise the countless arguments would be insufferable. In the book The View From The Studio Door, Ted Orland tries to give guidance to budding artists. Within the first pages he asks his pupils to consider their own definition of art. 1 As the reader realizes that this is harder to do than it seems, he writes “…given that art has been with us since the dawn of history, you’d think we would’ve long ago reached some universally accepted definition of just what art is. Seems reasonable, hasn’t happened. Instead we’ve settled for a motley collection of often-competing views – everything from bare-bones dictionary entries to multi-volume philosophies. About the only thing these efforts share in common is that they’re universally unconvincing…” (Orland, p. 20). The better question becomes, ‘why do you create art?’ or ‘what makes one piece of art more profound than another?’ When the conversation shifts to this topic, artists agree much more readily that great art is made by an artist that invests a piece of themselves into the work so that its meaning is greater than its design. This personal investment in a piece of choreography results in greater appreciation by the audience. Take Kenneth MacMillan’s choreography in the ballet Manon, a ballet about a women trying to climb the ranks of society from poverty through affairs and betrayal. Every lead ballerina who has taken on the role of Manon has put their own understanding into the character and it has given the character greater depth and allowed her to reach more people fundamentally than a character like the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. As the MacMillan Foundation writes, “Manon herself has altered as different dancers have taken on the role. Antoinette Sibley saw her as a girl ‘who allowed it all to happen to her … Lynn Seymour made her more ruthless… Natalia Makarova understood her as an instinctive creature who lives for the moment, ‘extracting from it all the excitement she can… Sylvie Guillem’s guileful Manon used her sexual allure to survive in a male-dominated world” (The MacMillan Estate). On the other side of the coin many scientists view science as a way to remove humanity and only look at the observable facts. Richard Feynman, a renowned physicist, would strongly disagree and so would I. The greatest scientists are the most creative and able to visualize the 2 unseen. “The great difficulty is in trying to imagine something that you have never seem, that is consistent in every detail with what has already been seen, and that is different from what has been thought of; furthermore, it must be definite and not a vague proposition. That is indeed difficult” (Feynman, p. 23). So, if the ability to visualize makes great scientist, and if artist visualize every day, shouldn’t the study of one enhance the other? Can we interpret data like a scientist while letting our observations lean into the humanity of nature? I think we can. The study of art and the practice of putting a piece of oneself into an idea or concept can develop the creative skills that scientists must utilize when trying to decide what to study, how to study it, and what it means. For without an idea and the ability to showcase that your idea is worth something, science becomes stagnant. Since these skills are often skipped over in a science course due to the copious amounts of scientific discoveries and information professors must try to promulgate to students in a given semester, the better solution may be to integrate art, science, and their respective learning objectives into one program therefore allowing students to build creative skills in places set apart from ‘normal’ science courses. Numerous universities, including the University of Utah, already require students to take one to two fine arts classes as part of general education courses, but perhaps expanding upon this training would allow students to develop greater creative skills. If students of different disciplines work together to come up with creative solutions or responses to a prompt, that will not only enhance their understanding of themselves and also their understanding of how to be innovative. Thus, leading to novel ideas that will further allow science to keep evolving as the next generation takes up the mantle. 3 SCIENCE AND ART It is not a unique idea to use science to inform or understand art. In most art studios, painting and chemistry have gone hand in hand for a long time. Pigmentations in paints have developed from plant derivatives with limited colors to inorganic metal complexes that can create an impressive array of colors. Nuno Francisco, a professor from Portugal, and his team examined this relationship between chemistry and pigmentation. They examined how artists have used inorganic metal complexes to diversify their color pallets and how chemistry has been used to study paintings of different varieties. Artists have been using chemistry to expand their art, but also to be able to understand what their predecessors have done before. They can discover the original colors used in the stained glass of the Sistine Chapel by using spectroscopic techniques that also can reveal how they created pigmentations before modern technology. The techniques these chemists use in analysis do not require the destruction of the artifacts because they are noninvasive and able to analyze a wide range of materials. Scientists are then able to repurpose them to analyze art pigments. Connections such as this serve a link between “both areas— Chemistry and Art— [as they] transform materials according to the needs of the market” (Francsico, 2017). Artists are always in need of ways to create art of a higher pedigree while also developing the next idea. Haphazardly while trying to isolate quinine from coal tar to synthesize a new malaria medicine, William Henry Perkin created the next new color to excite the fashion industry, mauveine. This became the first synthetic dye, a type of dye that now dominates the world of fabrics because of its accessibility and low cost. The discovery of a synthetic pigment was also pivotal for modern synthetic organic chemistry. It cascaded into the discovery of methylene blue which was first used as another fabric dye. However, Dr. Paul Ehrlich discovered that methylene 4 blue not only dyed fabric, but also microscopic organisms. It was also then found to have remedial effects for patients afflicted with malaria and depression (Mendelson). It is now customary practice for new medicines to be created or modified synthetically with entire laboratories dedicated to the advancement of organic synthetic techniques. However, without Perkins “… longstanding interest in painting and photography,” (Mendelson) scientists may still be attempting to isolate drugs purely from plants and other organisms proving that the collision of art and science can lead to impactful discoveries for both artists and scientists. For Mahadev Kumbar of Nassau Community College, NY, chemistry producing music was the next link. His work sought to show that the mathematical components of chemistry and music could be used to transform the progress of a chemical reaction into sound that would produce a unique spectrum, a song. Using Fourier transforms, which converts time domain chemical reactions into frequency domain music, he was able to produce sounds in which the amplitude and timbre of the music produced became characteristic of reaction types producing a unique sound spectrum. This type of analysis has also led to the creation of a musical periodic table in which the sound produced by each element is characteristic and still follows established trends of the table. He argues that sounds are “the music that is the universal language of the natural world. Music and chemistry—being integral parts of the natural world—have shared commonalities” (Kumbar). For people like Kumbar, chemistry provides the next medium for them to work with and for others, it is the next spark of inspiration. From an artist’s perspective, Liz Lerman, a modern dance choreographer currently based out of Arizona State University, has used scientific topics on numerous occasions to inspire her choreography. Her first one in 2006 titled Ferocious Beauty: Genome was about the discovery and advancements in genetic sequencing. First inspired by an exhibit at the Henry Art Gallery, 5 she thought that a project on the genome could be the foundation of her next work. Throughout her creative process and research, she “realized that this project could be about capitalism, or religion, or nutrition, or population control. It could be about race and identity, or about ethics, or about policy and professionalism. It could be strictly about the mechanics of the genome, using dance to describe biological processes. It could be about the future” (Lerman). Ultimately, she narrowed her focus to genetics, but the endless flow of larger ideas led to creative choices, like including video recordings of how different researchers in the field would respond if they were to meet Gregor Mendel who is considered the father of modern genetics. By including their testimonies in the soundscape, it demonstrated the lasting influence of a great scientist on others, broadening the conversation presented by the work. When discussing her creative process, Liz comments. “Along the way we [Liz and her dancers] learned how ideas come into being when scientists ask questions, and we also saw how structure, characters, and meaning can come to artists when they rattle around in someone else’s universe” (Lerman). Chemistry and artists may be contained by boxes we put around our fields, but when the walls are broken down creativity is allowed to flourish and concepts in both fields suddenly become versatile tools. Chemical analysis techniques have been used to study pigments in historical paintings, synthesis of organic compounds have created new fabric dyes, chemical reactions have been used to create music, and Liz Lerman has even created modern dance works inspired by many scientific ideas. These scientists and artists recognized that there was value in both fields that could enhance their work. Historical paintings could be dated and restored accurately with chemical analysis techniques without causing harm to the paintings, new synthetic drugs and dyes can be made accessible and affordable, chemical reactions and individual elements expressed frequencies of sound that were unique to their chemical properties allowing for further 6 understanding of those properties, and audience members could gain an understanding of genetic research through the language of modern dance. Music, dance, or any art is simply a language used to communicate ideas about a world in which curiosity guides a chemist to discover new truths about the world. Both are by design avenues for us humans to question the world around us with an acceptance of potential failure and uncertainty. Feynman admits, “I don’t have to know an answer, I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is so far as I can tell. It doesn’t frighten me” (Feynman, p. 25). And by asking these questions, both strive for clarity and truthful expression of a new potential truth about life’s existence. As I tried my hand at integrating the two fields of dance and chemistry during the choreographic process, I found that the rigidity and limitations of focusing on chemical energies and atom interactions imposed on ballet vocabulary forced me to think of the stage as a whole picture and altered the culminating creation in ways that I had not anticipated before stepping into the studio. I started to understand what Feynman meant when he said it didn’t frighten him because I saw success come from a place of true uncertainty. 7 CHOREOGRAPHY The curtain opens on a young woman danced by Kaidence Vance loading a record onto her record player in a single spotlight on one side of the stage. As the record starts to turn, she listens and begins to dance. Meanwhile, across the stage a young man danced by Jordan Jones walks into his own spotlight on the opposite side of the stage while engrossed in reading a book. As the book lowers, they make eye contact across the stage. Intrigued, they curiously circle each other around center stage reaching out and getting closer and closer until their hands meet. Still unsure they pull apart and begin dancing together but still separated. As they continue to dance, they slowly shift closer together in space until they are at last partnering together. After a spell Jones sets Vance back down by the record player and dances back across stage to pick up his book, he has decided to show her what he loves. She thinks it’s magnificent but still wants to dance so she helps him up and they are off to the races again. This time orbiting around each other, weaving in and out of partnering, and commanding the space dynamically as the music builds. To conclude the piece, they sit back at the record player where Vance hands Jones his book. He begins to read when suddenly Vance pulls out her own book and they begin to read together as the lights and music fade. Now they each have a new friend, have learned something new, and have been changed for the better because of it. This story does not sound like it has anything to do with chemistry and on the surface you would be right. The storyline is not trying to teach the audience about chemistry or present a specific chemistry related idea to them outright even though that was an original idea. When I first stepped into the studio, I thought I could develop shapes within the movement that would be reminiscent of molecular structures of known chemicals. However, the only one that appeared in the final project was an arm position where the dancers bent both arms out in front of them to 8 form a double bond like shape. There were two reasons I decided to shift away from shapes. The first one was skill. Being that my dancers had less experience in partnering, it became difficult to try to create adapted partnering shapes while ensuring that my dancers remained safe and confident by the performance which was of greater importance to me than the creation of literal chemical structures within the partnered steps. The second reason was that it began to take the shape of more contemporary ballet. Before creating my piece, a limitation that I tried to hold myself to was to remain in the classical ballet vocabulary. I wanted to assess if chemistry could effectively inspire ballet rather than dance more generally. When changing shapes, I thought it led to movement that was further removed from the confines of classical ballet vocabulary. That is when the focus shifted to energy and space. If one were to translate the dancers’ patterns on stage onto paper, the connection between chemistry and this dance could become clearer because there would be a distinct orbital like pattern produced as the two dancers move through time and space. Tatiana Portnova writes in her article from Transylvanian Association of Romanian Culture & Literature, “The origins of the word choreography, which originally denoted the recording of a dance, contain a graphical component present in the word’s meaning even now” (Portnova, 2020). Portnova’s goal is to describe the graphics of dancer’s movements on stage within different choreographic works and to understand their significance. How dancers move on a proscenium stage can be determinative to the effectiveness of a piece of choreography. When choreographers stage a work, they cannot forget the audience’s perspective because that can signify meaning to an audience member. “… the development of the creative abilities of both active and future professional choreographers, aiding their acquisition of a knowledge of the compositional laws behind directors’ thinking, a knowledge attained by studying the best examples of the staging techniques of the great masters 9 of dance” (Portnova, 2020). She states that because of the effectiveness of how a piece is staged can directly impact an audience member’s understanding of the work, current choreographers must carefully consider why and how dancers move throughout space on stage. For a revolving notion . . . this consideration of space on stage was informed by drawing a connection between how we interact with new people in our lives and how an atom interacts when it is introduced to a new atom. First a force must bring the two atoms together and then as time continues these atoms either ionic bond, covalent bond, or repel each other. The two atoms will orbit each other and move around space coming closer then moving away, but always tracking where the other atom is. The millisecond between when two atoms meet and a connection forming between them is the millisecond explored through space as Vance and Jones meet and get to know each other. On stage they also encircle each other and move with constant awareness of the other’s movement and location, acting very similarly to how salt ions may interact in solution. Every cation (positively charged species) has an anion (negatively charged species) counterion that allows them to stay in solution. They interact but they are not covalently bound so there is more freedom in their movement, but they are always near their “partner” always tracking where they are in space like Jones and Vance did. This interaction arises because like charges attract each other while opposite charges repel just as the North and South poles on magnets demonstrate. This innate chemical concept was used in the design process of this piece to enhance my storyline because two people can be like two atoms in space. They can attract each other, repel each other, orbit, and react to each other’s character just as two atoms do. How two people interact on stage can speak volumes to their relationship to the space, experience, and each other. In the final moment of the piece, the bond they create is left up to the individual audience member to decide. 10 Energy as a concept informed the piece when coaching the dancers on how to perform each step or piece of acting accurately. We discussed repeatedly how we could make each step bigger and more defined and one analogy quickly became a running theme. Tension and the release of said tension is like the energy barrier of a chemical reaction. In a chemical reaction involving the formation of a new bond, the system must first gather enough energy for the two atoms to transition past the energy barrier before forming the new and more stable bond. This new bond now exists at a lower energy state. Simply put, it is like starting the slow climb of a roller coaster before speeding down the rest of the rail system. In the dancers this translated to the gathering of energy within the body thus climbing the barrier and then releasing the built-up energy before ‘falling’ to the quieter energy state. This analogy caused the dancers to start finding moments of stillness where they were able to breathe while still feeling alive in their muscles like how an atom never truly stops moving. This allowed for transition steps to be smoother and more subtle while simultaneously causing other steps to stand out. As we ironed out these ideas of building and releasing energy in their bodies, edits were being made to partnering sections. At one point, Vance does a partnered whip-turn (a pirouette where the female dancer extends her leg and then pulls it in quickly towards the standing leg as she begins to rotate) and in the original version this was a series of rotations by both Vance and Jones as they held hands. However, the whip-turn was performed in the last version because it took on similar characteristics of the analogy discussed previously. Vance’s leg extending was a moment to build up tension before turning rapidly as it was released from the extended position in towards the standing leg. Unexpectedly, this analogy also led to a pivotal motif. Originally built from the dancers interacting in space, there were several moments when the dancers rotated around each other, 11 closing the distance before separating dramatically. During the editing process, I thought that just moving in space was not enough. Instead, the idea was clearer when they extended a hand to each other, grabbed hands, and then pulled each other closer together before releasing. It became a literal representation of the dancers forming and adapting the bond between themselves in the same way that two atoms in space would. It also illustrated the development of the relationship between the two characters. The two characters were becoming spatially closer together and showed how the process of becoming friends has its own energy barrier. The pathway to becoming close with another person is not linear and instead is developed over time before becoming a bond between two people. With the addition of this new motif and the continued discussion of energy in the studio, a revolving notion . . . was able to showcase its true inspiration while creating a piece that could be performed well and be enjoyed by the audience. As artists, we are innately perfectionists, constantly striving to be better. Ballet dancers are particularly known for having this mentality because in the ballet world perfection is never achievable. Your leg could be higher, your turn out increased, another turn could’ve been done, and it all could have been done with more grace. With every piece of dance ballet dancers perform and/or choreograph, the emphasis of the experience is put on what could have been done better, what was achieved, and what can be done next time. For this piece, several ideas available for future research became evident. The few that excite me personally are whether this could be used in a teaching setting, could it become about a literal chemistry idea, and could new partnering shapes or techniques be developed. The kinesthetic experience of embodying choreography physically has always been how I learn it best. Could embodying chemistry topics help students to understand the physicality of the microscopic world? Can you teach an audience member about an accepted theory in chemistry in detail through ballet? If allowed to bend the 12 rules of classical ballet vocabulary, can new shapes be developed that resemble or take inspiration from inorganic crystallography structures? Overall, this piece started to build itself as specific chemical ideas were brought into the studio space. By allowing chemistry’s notions of space and energy to inform choreographic decisions, the movement became a fluid representation of the dynamic storyline being portrayed. Curiosity within these ideas led to unpredictable developments born from the uncertainty that is innately part of creating a new choreographic work. Through the constant editing and rephrasing, a revolving notion . . . demonstrated that ballet vocabulary and fundamental chemistry ideas could be brought together to create new art. Science and ballet both have innate boundaries and a level of rigidity, but when the worlds are allowed to meld and interact it can lead to innovation and to a product that can be enjoyed by many. This work is evidence that allowing two opposing ideas to come together can enhance the creative output and can be adapted into many different artforms and sciences. Chemistry and ballet have been proven capable of working together, now the only question is ‘what are the limits of its success?’ Either way you can be certain that they are not as mutually exclusive as they may appear from the outside. 13 CONCLUSION Artists can use chemistry topics to create new works while chemists can use creativity to develop their next research questions. The two can be used in conjunction to allow for the highest quality of art and chemistry to be developed throughout time. Paintings, music, modern dance, and now ballet have used chemistry to communicate ideas and concepts allowing for beautiful art to be created. Artists are always inspired by the world around us and concepts we find fascinating to explore. On the flip side a chemist may develop creative skills to move their work forward by studying dance or other forms of art. By forcing them to think out of the box in one setting, it could lead to them thinking outside of the box when it comes to their next research question. It may even be the inspiration for their next project as well. The possibility of intertwining chemistry and ballet was proven possible when a revolving notion . . . was performed on stage in front of a live audience. In the studio and creation of the piece, concepts of energy and space were used in the vocabulary of classical ballet technique to create a pas de deux (dance of two) that displayed the parallels of human and molecular interactions. It demonstrates how science and art can be used in conjunction to give inspiration to each other in the same way that the discovery of the first synthetic dye inspired the creation of an entire field of study, synthetic organic chemistry. Creativity born within the confines of art applies to the world of chemistry and the physicality of energy and movement within chemicals can be captured and displayed through dance. Ballet dancers have a unique perspective because in honing their art, there must be a level of consistent and methodical technique in their everyday training. In the same way, a chemist must be meticulous and methodical in the laboratory. Both must pay attention to fine details and learn to understand which details hold the highest meaning. After the discovery of meaning, they 14 must present the broader idea in a research paper or dance on stage in which the reader and audience are able to digest. Collaboration between the two styles of communication will not only lead to new creative ballets inspired by the work of chemists, but in future may lead to a way to communicate the newest chemical ideas with a broader audience. It may also enter the classroom as a way for students to embody scientific concepts to fully understand meaning. Either way art and chemistry, when allowed to work together, can create inspiring works of art and science even if that medium of art is classical ballet. 15 CHOREOGRAPHY VIDEO & IMAGES Link: https://youtu.be/im4UqVUPxlQ Picture 1: Opening scene of a revolving notion . . . where both dancers begin on opposite sides of the stage, Jones reading and Vance listening to music on a record player. Picture 2: The first time the dancers interact and reach towards each other. This was the first appearance of the motif discussed earlier in ‘Choreography’. Picture 3: The dancers dance near each other at first without partnering as the get to know each other. The arm position of the dancers pictured is the last attempt to physically depict chemical structures and was inspired by the shape of a double bond. Picture 4: The dancers’ first time performing partnered choreography, now displaying that they are becoming bonded friends. 16 Picture 5: At this point of the dance, Jones is sharing his book with Vance and intruducing her to his passion. Picture 6: As the dancers continue, they take turns rotating around each other while the other dances in the center. This picture shows the end of Vance’s circle around Jones. Picture 7: This is the final lift of the piece. This ending displays the formation of a relationship between the dancers. Picture 8: In the final moments of the piece, Vance pulls out a book of her own. Jones and Vance are pictured here reading and listening to the record player together. 17 BIBLIOGRAPHY Barnard, P., & deLahunta, S. (2017). Mapping the audit traces of interdisciplinary collaboration: bridging and blending between choreography and cognitive science. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 42(4), 359–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/03080188.2017.1381226 Fattal, L., & Needle, L. (2024). Choreographing Global Flyways: Interdisciplinary Middle School Dance and Science Learning. Journal of Dance Education, 24(2), 154–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2021.2004314 Feynman, R. P. (2007). The meaning of it all. Penguin. Feynman, R. P., Dyson, F., & Robbins, J. (1999). The pleasure of finding things out : the best short works of Richard P. Feynman. (pp. 1–25). Basic Books. Francisco, N., Morais, C., Paiva, J., & Gameiro, P. (2017). A colourful bond between art and chemistry. Foundations of Chemistry, 19(2), 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698016-9259-y Gaytán-Hernández, D., Chávez-Hernández, A. L., López-López, E., Miranda-Salas, J., SaldívarGonzález, F. I., & Medina-Franco, J. L. (2023). Art driven by visual representations of chemical space. Journal of Cheminformatics, 15(1), 1–14. https://doiorg.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/10.1186/s13321-023-00770-4 Kumbar, Mahadev. “Musical Chemistry: Integrating Chemistry and Music.” Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 84, no. 12, Dec. 2007, p. 1933, https://doi.org/10.1021/ed084p1933. Lerman, Zafra M. "Chemistry: an inspiration for theatre and dance." Chemical Education International 6.1 (2005): 1-5. 18 Lerman, Liz. “Ferocious Beauty: Genome | Choreographic Work by Liz Lerman.” Liz Lerman, Kate Ladenheim for Amy Jacobus Marketing, lizlerman.com/ferocious-beauty-genome/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025. Mendelson, Wallace B. “Never Say Dye: The Roots of Modern Psychiatric Medicines in Nineteenth-Century Fabric Colorings.” Psychiatric Times, 16 Oct. 2020, www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/never-say-dye-the-roots-of-modern-psychiatricmedicines-in-nineteenth-century-fabric-colorings. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025. Olivia Foster Vander Elst, Nicholas H.D. Foster, Peter Vuust, Peter E. Keller, Morten L. Kringelbach, The Neuroscience of Dance: A Conceptual Framework and Systematic Review, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 150, 2023, 105197, ISSN 0149-7634, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105197. Orland, T. (2006). The View From The Studio Door (pp. 1–41). Image Continuum Press. Pedrick, Alexis . “Dyes, Drugs, and Psychosis.” Science History Institute, 7 Jan. 2025, www.sciencehistory.org/stories/distillations-pod/dyes-drugs-and-psychosis/. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025. Portnova, T. V. (2020). Choreography and Choreographics: A Comparative Analysis. Astra Salvensis, 575–594. The MacMillan Estate. “Manon.” Kenneth MacMillan, www.kennethmacmillan.com/new-page97. Accessed 30 Mar. 2024. 19 Name of Candidate: Kirsten Rye Date of Submission: [April 1, 2025] 20