Hard to swallow: July/August 2005
A unique dance production based on the physics of Albert Einstein was premiered at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, on 24th May. 'Constant Speed' by the Rambert Dance Company was commissioned by the Institute of Physics (IoP) to mark the centenary of Einstein's ground-breaking ideas on relativity, light and atoms. It is Mark Baldwin's first work as artistic director of the company, and is just one of many activities taking place in celebration of Einstein Year - a year-long programme of events to highlight the contribution of physics to society.
As part of the collaboration Ray Rivers, professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London, acted as Baldwin's scientific mentor, giving him a crash-course on Einstein's theories of 1905 and enabling him to 'visualise the impact of Einstein's ideas'. Professor Rivers then tested out Baldwin's understanding, before finding ways in which scientific inspiration could be transferred into dance.
The principles of Brownian motion served as Baldwin's choreographic device when thinking about movement: 'the dancers' bodies move around the stage in a similar way to pollen-grains - as if being jostled by unseen forces. Their internal impulses are driven by the idea that there are molecules shooting through the body, from hips to knees to fingertips, which direct the movement accordingly. This generates a huge vocabulary of movement, creating an exciting series of unpredictable patterns, full of athletic and physical surprises.
'What I've discovered is just how compatible dance and physics are. Both have the ability to fire the imagination and question the world around us, and movement is an ideal medium in which to explore abstract notions.'
'Constant Speed' will be performed to six pieces of music, all composed by Franz Lehar around, appropriately, 1905. A significant element of this project is the educational work that will support it: in collaboration with the IoP, Rambert's award-winning education department will run a range of workshops and pre-performance talks, as well as making resource materials available. www.einsteinyear.org