FRACTALS are, simply defined: non-regular shapes; "infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. Driven by recursion, fractals are images of dynamic systems – the pictures of Chaos."
FRACTALS are created through mathematical equations - and yet fractals also best describe what we see in nature: not perfect square and perfect circles, but irregular patterns that repeat: A tree that repeats its branching patterns down to its twigs, then leaves, then patterns on the leaves; clouds that are cloud-like no matter how big or small; ocean currents; weather patterns; the spread of diseases; mountainous landscapes are all fractals.
FRACTALS are created through mathematical equations - and yet fractals also best describe what we see in nature: not perfect square and perfect circles, but irregular patterns that repeat: A tree that repeats its branching patterns down to its twigs, then leaves, then patterns on the leaves; clouds that are cloud-like no matter how big or small; ocean currents; weather patterns; the spread of diseases; mountainous landscapes are all fractals.
I like fractals, for one, because they are a way of mathematically representing nature (whether in a 3D design program, or in mere language); and I find nature to always be the most perfect of artists from whom I can still learn and draw inspiration. The beauty of the desert, or a sunset, or the patterns of stars in our sky - there's beauty there, and there's chaos, and there's math, and there's order, even though it doesn't at first seem like it: behind every chaotic system there is an inherent sense of order. And in these chaotic times, when we have leaders who seem to run things through chaos, it's our necessity to find the order, and to help others navigate towards their own sense of stability, as well.
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The image in the header at the top of this page, and in the moving image here, seen zooming in to infinity, is called a MANDELBROT FRACTAL. It is the image upon which I based my dance, "Butterfly Effect," which required dancers to work with high levels of detail in their movement while at the same time yielding themselves to high levels of ordered spontaneity; a technique I liked to call "Chaos Theory Dance," which had as much to do with how to be funny on stage, as it did with physics and mathematics.
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Other choreographers around the world were also experimenting with similar ideas about spontaneity and complexity with high levels of dance technique.
Sidra Bell, in New York, for instance, has developed a system she calls "Contemporary Systems: an interior and material approach to movement." Her work is profoundly fresh, unique, and breathtaking to behold.
Sidra Bell, in New York, for instance, has developed a system she calls "Contemporary Systems: an interior and material approach to movement." Her work is profoundly fresh, unique, and breathtaking to behold.
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Ohad Naharin, in Tel Aviv, director of the Batsheva Dance Company, developed the now world phenomenon, Gaga Dance (no relation to Lady Gaga, it's named after the Hebrew word for "Dodgeball."). Gaga technique is, similar to Sidra Bell's work, a kind of guided improvisation that clues a dancer in to their most detailed of bodily impulses. There are two levels: Gaga People (for the average nondancer Joe or Jane, and Gaga Dancers, for technically-trained dancers. Both classes are currently being offered for eight free online classes a day from Tel Aviv and New York during the coronavirus shutdown!
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For me, I need less chaos in this shutdown, not more, so I find myself leaning to more classic technique, and with all that sitting, I am enjoying being upside down whenever possible. The world of upside-down: To be continued.