Motor neurons, which give the body the ability to move. Credit: D. Ng and N. Balaskas / Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute.
Writer Jennifer Homans — author of Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet and the monumental recent biography of George Balanchine, Mr. B — were in conversation with Zuckerman Institute neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert, whose research focuses on experimental approaches to human movement. Moderated by Carol Becker, Professor of the Arts and Dean Emerita, and Daphna Shohamy, Kavli Professor of Brain Science; Director and CEO of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute; and Co-Director of Columbia's Kavli Institute for Brain Science.
This conversation explored the relationship of movement to the brain. How is thought movement and movement thought? How do we understand the nature of the particular movement and training that is dance? Where is such memory stored in the body and how does it affect those who pursue such a path? What function does dance serve in our personal and collective lives? And, finally, where did the idea to devote a decade to writing about the life and work of Balanchine come from and how did it evolve?
Praise for Mr. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century:
“A magisterial biography…sensitive, stately, and often thrilling…serious act of cultural retrieval.”
–The New York Times
Where Ideas Come From is a series within the larger School of the Arts public program series. It is co-curated by Carol Becker, Professor of the Arts, Dean Emerita and Daphna Shohamy, Kavli Professor of Brain Science, Director and CEO of the Zuckerman Institute. Events, panels, interviews and conversations will bring together practitioners and theorists from multiple disciplines such as visual and sound arts, dance, theatre, writing, film, neuroscience, and politics to discuss where ideas originate and how they evolve. Programs will take place at the Lenfest Center for the Arts and at the Zuckerman Institute.
Co-presented by the Columbia University School of the Arts and the Zuckerman Institute, in collaboration with the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University.