The Comedy of Change: Communicating Darwin's ideas through dance
The 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his most famous work, 'On the Origin of Species', fell in 2009.
Scientists and artists around the world spent 2009 commemorating Darwin's legacy with events connected to all aspects of his work.
Stephen Keynes, Chair of the Charles Darwin Trust and Darwin's great-grandson, suggested to Mark Baldwin, Artistic Director of Rambert Dance Company, that they should be involved in the Darwin 2009 celebrations. Keynes introduced Baldwin to Professor Nicola Clayton of the University of Cambridge, an expert in evolution and animal behaviour and a keen dancer. She became scientific advisor for the project, and distilled some of the Darwinian ideas about evolution, particularly sexual selection, to inform and inspire the dance.
Three themes from Darwin's work were used in the dance piece: how individuals vary because they are both similar and yet different; the interplay between the past and the future; and how the natural world can conceal and yet reveal. The dance took some movements directly from birds, and engaged with the metaphors around evolution. The production combined dance, science and creativity to make a performance that was grounded in science but that could also capture the imagination of the audience. There were also pre- or post-show talks at each performance, which gave them more context for the audience and explained how the themes were used.
The Rambert Dance Company YouTube video
The production toured 18 venues across the UK, reaching dance audiences beyond the traditional London crowd, and was seen by approximately 42 000 people. It was reviewed in all of the major broadsheets, and was given Critic's Choice in the Guardian, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph and the Times. Sky Arts did a documentary piece on the production, which can be seen on its website, and there is also a dedicated section on Rambert's website with video clips and information about how Darwin’s ideas were contextualised for the piece. Surveys after some of the shows indicated that many of the audience had an increased interest in Darwin and evolution after watching the performance.
In addition to the production, the dance company ran school dance workshops in collaboration with four teachers from the Teacher Scientist Network, a group based in Norfolk that works with scientists to enhance science teaching. Their aim was to combine dance and movement with school science curricula and the evolutionary science underpinning the Comedy of Change, presenting the ideas in a fun way while retaining the science that it still relevant today.
Further information and videos related to the project are available on Rambert's The Comedy of Change microsite.
This project was part-funded by the Wellcome Trust Arts Awards scheme.
Image: Still from The Comedy of Change; © Hugo Glendinning.