How Choreostorming Informs Thinking In Molecular Genetics And Cancer Biology

Jill Bargonetti
2021 Leonardo: Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology  
The medium of interpretive dance to convey basic science is well regarded but not commonplace for college level instruction or scientific hypothesis development. The molecular biology of cancer involves multiple polymer languages that coordinate genome information flow from DNA, to RNA, to proteins. The author describes a college course entitled "Choreographing Genomics" that 1) uses a non-binary art and science approach to teach the molecular biology of cancer; 2) communicates cellular
more » ... s to cancer patients in order to empower them to understand the biology of what they are experiencing; and 3) assists cancer scientists in developing hypotheses through kinesthetic and visual enactment of cellular processes. Non-trained movers and scientific thinkers together participate in "choreostorming" which is a non-binary process where all participants work as science thinkers and artists to develop, and extend, thought experiments into the movement laboratory. Choreography thus becomes a vehicle for blending science and art.
doi:10.1162/leon_a_02053 fatcat:6523itxbyrhmjfb7lagzfzbley