In 1976 the dance conservatoire, Laban, developed and established Britain?s first BA Dance Theatre degree. In 1980, came its first MA Dance Studies degree and in 2002 Europe?s first MSc Dance Science degree, notes Emma Redding.
The dance science programme was developed from a need to give the same rigour to the analysis of dance training as had been applied to sport. Previously, dancers who had an interest in this area were opting for sports-science courses and applying their research, where possible, to dance. However, dance is unique in the sense that it requires the body to be taken to unusual extremes and the dancer is required to be both athlete and artist. It seemed necessary and appropriate to initiate a dance science programme to develop dance-specific ways of measuring and improving training and performance.
Not all aspects of dance are quantifiable, but much of dance science research includes the measuring of physiological elements (such as jump height, strength; muscular power, flexibility; aerobic and anaerobic capabilities) and biomechanical aspects of dance (such as postural and dynamic alignment, stability, balance, weight distribution and foot pressure). The psychological aspects of dance training and performance are also observed.
Dance science is a relatively new and growing area of study in the UK. Laban?s programme, validated by City University, requires prior professional dance, theatre or performance experience and an undergraduate degree in dance, performing arts or a related discipline, or in science- or health-related areas. The dance science facilities are located within the dance-health area of Laban?s Stirling Prize-winning building, offering access to both professional and training dancers. This area also includes a Pilates studio and treatment rooms for osteopathy, physiotherapy and remedial massage. The dance science laboratory and its facilities are available to support dance schools and colleges, as well as professional dancers in the UK, by offering various assessments and subsequent feedback on the areas of physical fitness, biomechanics and psychology that are relevant to dance.
We are looking at running arts projects that are informed by science as well as science projects that are informed by the arts. For example, in 2005, Laban, with installation artist Michael Burton and architect Jason Pearson, will research new interdisciplinary processes between science, dance, art and architecture. Funded by the Wellcome Trust, the project aims to explore gaseous exchange through aerobic respiration as a central, involuntary process in dance and how this can be envisaged through an installation/architectural environment.
A continuing challenge will be to find ways of funding research and investing in keeping the laboratory equipment at the cutting edge of dance science practice. What is clear, though, is that dancers, educators and choreographers need to extend their knowledge of the body in order to minimise the risk of injury, maintain a necessary level of fitness and continually seek improved ways of training and performing.
Emma Redding is Course Leader for the MSc in Dance Science at Laban.
t: 020 8691 8600; w: http://www.laban.org