Quantitative Performance Improvement Studies in Dance

In the past few days, I have been pondering about how to get my students to perform better.  My training as a Scientist and Engineer drives me to seek an efficient and scientific way to train my students in Classical Ballet.  Qualitatively I have good ideas as to where my dancers need more improvement but I do not feel comfortable not knowing cause and effect relationships at a quantitative level.  Specifically, I seek numerical evidence to determine which aspects of movement and anatomy affect the execution of certain steps in the vocabulary of Classical Ballet.  So far I have not found any good material covering this approach to performance improvement analysis. 

The general approach I plan to take is to get data on  input variables such as the angle of turnout, depth of plie and correlate this with the number of piroutte turns or the height of a grand jete.  The method will involve looking at film images and analyzing the body positioning based on stick models.  Quantitative data from this will then be analyzed using correlation analysis and other experimental analysis methods.  I'd like to know if anyone has ventured into this type of performance improvement research in Dance.  Feel free to comment.

Math Problem Help - Inequalities

Inequalities was a very confusing topic for me when I first learned Algebra.  The key to it really is to remember that < means less than  and > is less than.  Here's my solution to Exercise 4 of College Algebra by Hart.

ECHO - a film on perspectives

At times we make judgements on what we see based on our experience.  More often than not, our experience tends to make us skeptical and critical of what we encounter.  Only if we look closer and deeper do we uncover a new dimensions of something thrust before us.

I recently encountered the film "Echo" in a MOOC on film making.  The story revolves around a 17 year old girl, Caroline, who receives a phone call while walking on the street.  From the conversation, you  deduce that it is about her Dad getting into an accident.  Passersby notice the distraught Caroline and offer to help by getting her a cab and giving her money.  As soon as she takes the cab, her face changes and she stops the cab a few meters away from the scene.  Later you find Caroline at home with her family. Her mom upset about her being late.  In the next scene you find her having the same phone call and a passerby helping her.  This is cut short with the arrival of her brother. He asks who the guy is and how does he know about their dad.   In the final parts of the film, Caroline once again has the phone call experience with people helping her.

At the first sequence  of Caroline's phone call experience, you conclude that she is a fraud, taking advantage of the kindness of other people.  The film shots are taken from a distance, giving you the point of view of an outsider.  The middle part of the film gives you a glimpse of Caroline's family life. You get hints about an incident in the past that the family is coping.  The third part gives you an insight of how Caroline is feeling during the phone call experience.  With upclose camera shots, you find that she is highly emotional as if she were reliving the whole experience of her Dad having an accident.

The use of repetition and variation in this film gives you an insight to the same phenomenon from different angles.  By watching this film, one realizes that a story has many dimensions depending on the point of view you look at it from.  It reminds me of Akira Kurosawa's film "Rashomon" where a single storyline is told from the perspective of many witnesses with the end left for the audience to present a verdict.

I'm curious to know what you think of this film. Feel free to comment.

A look at the campaigns of the the 2016 Presidential Candidates

It has been interesting to observe the different Presidential Aspirants and their varied strategies to garner support.  I don't consider myself an expert in political campaigns but I have been privy to some campaigns giving me enough sensitivity to detect nuances in what the various camps communicate. Instead of doing a politics of obstruction and vote buying, the campaign teams should work on genuine public support by clearly communicating the unique selling proposition of their candidate. Buying votes and obstruction are indicative of the lack of creativity the campaign have.  They should not aim to merely have votes but rather aim to have an army of campaigners.  They should work giving people a powerful "Second Moment of Truth"..

 Here are some of my opinions regarding the various campaigns:

1.) Mar Roxas -  I think the campaign strategist are trying to make him something he's not.  It appears to be a rehash of the "Mr. Palengke" approach that hurt him bad in the last election.  Why do they try to make him a man of the masses when he is not.  There's also the "Tuwid na Daan" message that associates him with the current administration.  It would be better if he built on the tradition of his family.  How his grandfather labored for the independence of your country. How his father stood for the principles of liberty during Martial law. Building on this, he could say that he is ready to lead the country into a new era of economic prosperity, security and stability guided by the principles his family fought for.  The emphasis of his campaign should be more on the economic and financial aspect because that is what he is known for.

2.) Jejomar Binay -  It is quite challenging to manage his campaign because of the corruption allegations looming over his head.  Nevertheless, his campaign should be focused on human rights and social justice. He should highlight opportunities to solve human rights and social justice problems in our current political landscape.  The more radical and difficult the problem, the better.  It has to be good enough to overshadow the  corruption debacle. 

3.) Grace Poe -  Sen Poe's campaign has been put on the defensive because of her citizenship and residency being questioned.  Her campaign should use this to her advantage.  She can use her experience being a foundling and adopted by her parents as a springboard for her campaign. She should cast a vision of a more compassionate administration that takes care of the people.  With her as President,  the Filipino will now have a country that truly is their home.  Our previous women Presidents were not successful in communicating a mother persona for the country. 

4.) Rodrigo Duterte - Among all the candidates, his is a campaign with a clear consistent message.  His campaign is believable and gives the impression that it is intertwined with his person.  Mayor Duterte's campaign is peace and order and the elimination of corruption. It is also backed by a track record that consistently delivered this promise. His cursing the Pope, communicates he does not respect any as far as public welfare in concerned. Flaunting his womanizing appreas to be a strategy to belittle a weakness in order to put focus on the campaign promise.  What the public perceives as faux pas and incidents of miss-speaking are actually opportunities to strengthen Mayor Duterte's eccentricities differentiating himself from the other candidates.  My advice to his people, leave him to direct his own campaign. By doing so he appears more genuine and flawed making him even more credible as a leader to the populace. 

There you have it...I  wish all candidates the best in their campaigns.