Ballet and math relate to each other? What? How? Ballet has everything to do with math.
The first major link from ballet to math is how closely the two relate to music. You can dance ballet without music but is is not as compelling or interesting to watch. Music and dance are so closely intertwined that it makes the common person become submerged in the beauty of the dancing. Dancers have the learned ability to be able to recognize certain time signatures such as a 3/4 or a 4/4. These time signatures divide notes into a measure to speed up or slow down to conform to the needed style of music. A 3/4 is a waltz, while a 4/4 is more syncopated.
(This is an example of a waltz aka a 3/4)
The second link from ballet to math is the positions of the body. For almost as long as ballet has been around there have been the 8 distinct positions of the body. In the ballet studio there are numbered walls and corners. The hips face these numbered walls or corners depending on what the teacher asks for. These are the 8 positions:
Croise Devant = Crossed in Front
A La Quatrieme Devant = The 4th Position Front
Efface (Devant) = Shaded (in front)
A La Seconde = To the 2nd Position
Croise Derriere = Crossed in Back
Ecarte = Spread or Separated
Epaule = Over the Shoulder
A La Quatrieme Derriere = The 4th Position Back
The third link from ballet to math is turning. A dancer will execute many turns in their lifetime as a performer. Turning is vital for any ballet variation or corps choreography. This website makes wonderful references to the mathematics of turning in ballet.http://discovermagazine.com/2008/the-body/11-the-physicist-who-figured-out-ballet. This video shows what turning in ballet looks like:
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