A group of six undergraduate and graduate students from Ohio State will head to London in November to present a dance performance – based on a mathematical equation -- at the Tate Modern, international museum of modern and contemporary art.

That’s right, math. And dance. The group, led by Jeanine Thompson, associate professor in theatre, collaborated to create a movement piece based on the math equation known as “Ordinal 5.” The unique endeavor was the brainchild of Brian Rotman, professor in comparative studies and former professor of mathematics in the UK, and is being supported by an Arts and Humanities Grant in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“The result has been amazing,” Rotman said. “I presented an abstract mathematical idea to Jeanine in the form of a diagram, with a motion ‘floor plan.’ The students had to keep to a strict structure of arriving together at certain points – like buttons on a couch – but between these points, anything could happen. That’s up to the choreographer and the ensemble.”

The original idea, according to Rotman, was exploring the question – How can you physicalize a mathematical equation? How can you produce a work of art that incorporates a mathematical idea?

Thompson said the 10-minute dance takes the math equation and “makes it live in space and time.” She held auditions for theatre and dance students, and ended up with three from each department. “This is truly an interdisciplinary project,” she said.

The group of students, she added, has developed into a deeply sensitive ensemble who work well together. “I see learning going on with each rehearsal,” she said. “They are helping each other realize this equation and create a work of art. They’ve really run with it.”

The students include: Owen David, Natalia Lepore Hagan, and Rachel Switlick (dance), and Moopi Mothibeli, Ibsen Santos, and Beth Josephsen (theatre). They will spend a week in London in late November and present the performance numerous times during an event that’s part of a six-month Tate investigation on topology. A London musician is creating a musical score to accompany the piece. And Janet Parrott, associate professor in the Department of Theatre, will create a video documentation of their creation.

Photo by DMoody Photography