The Imminent Convergence of Cognitions at Montclair State University – by Scott deLahunta, R-Research/Random Dance

Berlin, 3/15/11

Dear Neil:

As you know from the conversations and meetings we have shared at Montclair State University during the past year, choreographer Wayne McGregor and I have been working together for a number of years researching the choreographic process with cognitive scientists. One of our aims has been to gain insight from their knowledge of the workings of the embodied mind that we might apply to the creative process of dance making. This collaborative research now follows three lines of enquiry (see the R-Research current projects; one of these is the Choreographic Thinking Tools (CTT) developed collaboratively with Dr. Phil Barnard.

(Phil and I are actually sitting here right now, as I type this, putting the final touches on a jointly authored paper, Points in Mental Space, in which we are publishing some of the more experimental results of the CTT project in Dance Research Electronic.)

Our first step with the Tools was to use them in the context of Wayne’s creative work with Wayne McGregor|Random Dance. The current step is to refine them so that they can be shared with others, and that’s why Jasmine Wilson, Antoine Vereecken and I are coming back to Montclair in the week of 11 April, to follow up on the pilot workshops we did in February this year.

As you and I discussed in February, the relationship with Montclair State University and its Office of Arts and Cultural Programming is an essential part of our continuing and evolving research. We learned a lot during the sessions in February and will arrive with some new exercises to try out. It will be great to have another opportunity to work with the dance and acting students and exchange ideas with Lori Katterhenry, director of the College of the Arts Dance Program, and Debbie Saivetz, coordinator of the BA Theatre Studies Program.

Phil Barnard will be joining us that whole week and is looking forward to his chat with you on Wednesday 13 April at 2:30 in Life Hall for all of the Theatre and Dance students and faculty.

We also will have the opportunity that week to interact with mathematicians and MFA visual artists at Montclair State to see how some of the same ideas of working with imagery might impact problem solving and creating thinking in other domains. And another of our collaborating science colleagues, Professor David Kirsh, will be sharing the research he has done with us on distributed choreographic creativity during the Brainstorm symposium on 12 April in the Kasser Theater.

All the best to everyone at Montclair State, & looking forward to seeing you soon.

Scott