Educator
Using dance to communicate science
Science Communication
Science and dance was introduced to me simultaneously during my childhood. I looked at them as two independent disciplines that I equally enjoyed studying. As I progressed into my professional journey as a scientist and artiste, I soon realized that my professional strengths like creative visualization, attention to detail and perseverance is a product of the amalgamation of the two disciplines. Therefore in 2020 I decided to share that experience with my audience as a science communicator using dance to illustrate and communicate science.
I am trained in an Indian Classical dance form called Bharatanatyam that was traditionally a format of storytelling. In my science communication projects, I try to explore the Bharatanatyam vocabulary in communicating science.
The Parable of the Research on Heparan Sulfate
Bharathanatyam is a traditional Indian classical dance form used as a medium for story telling. The characteristic feature of Bharathanatyam is its discrete vocabulary of hand gestures, footwork and delicate movements including eyebrows, eyes and neck. In this presentation, the vocabulary of Bharathanatyam will be exploited to tell the story of heparan sulfate, a sugar chain found on all cell surfaces.
A research article investigated the role of heparan sulfate in cancer. The observations from the article were acclaimed to be very interesting by six scientists from different fields. Each of these scientists had a different interpretation of the observation based on their individual expertise. The use of specialized tools and approaches by the individual scientists gave them a specific and yet only a narrow view of the whole system. The lack of viewing the big picture with individual thinking is the essence of this presentation.
This concept is derived from the Indian fable of six blind men and an elephant. Each blind man touches a different part of the elephant. Based on the observations made from the specific area of touch the blind men conclude the elephant to be similar to a rope, tree, wall, etc. The blind men are all right in their narrowed space of observation and yet different from each other as they are observing different parts of the same big elephant. Thus an efficient approach to interpret an observation would be to accept different ways of thinking.
Dance Your Science
Co-founder
Company of Scientists and Artists, where dance is used to communicate science.