Why talk about stillness while talking about movement? As I was teaching my pup to "stay", I was thinking on how much of our lives we spend not moving. We reach towards our phone and stop moving, we walk to a location and stop, a cat stops moving while looking for its prey, a squirrel hops and jumps around, and then sits still on a brach, and the turtle stays absolutely still while sunning itself. 
What does stopping of movement mean in terms of brain functioning? 
The neural mechanisms of stillness are complex [1]. In the next few posts, I will look at how we stop moving, the neural mechanisms involved, and how this plays out in dance. In the meantime, check out Episode 2 of Vichaar where I talk about movement in dance, and movement in the brain. 

Citation:

1. Noorani I, Carpenter RH. Not moving: the fundamental but neglected motor function. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2017;372(1718):20160190. doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0190. Link to full-text. 

To celebrate 20 years of innovative community programming, Dance for PD is hosting the Dance for PD Community Festival: Around the World, Around the Clock, a FREE 24-hour virtual celebration featuring classes, panel discussions, and film screenings that highlight the diversity and breadth of the Dance for PD family. I am so excited to demonstrate Bharatanatyam for PD on Friday, April 29th at 6 to 6:30 pm EST. You can register here. Since Parkinson's Disease is condition where movement is impacted, the PD community event dovetails really well with Episode 2 of Vichaar.

 In this episode, I will cover:

• A glimpse of movement and movement patterns in Bharatanatyam ranging from minute, subtle movements (e.g. saccadic movement of the eyes) to movements of the entire body 
• How the brain enables movement planning, initiation, sustenance, and termination
• That the brain ascribes meaning to movement, which shapes our individual and collective realities 

I hope you will join me on April 29th for a demonstration of Bharatanatyam in Parkinson's Disease, and to the second episode of Vichaar!  ​

In Episode 1 of Vichaar, an online production exploring the convergence of dance and science, I give an introduction of the topics I aim to cover each week. Each month, I will take an aspect of Bharatanatyam (e.g. rhythm, movement, music) and talk about its neuroscientific basis. 
While it may seem that there is not much common between arts and the sciences, I feel that the disciplines are more alike than not. Here are a few thoughts from my work in Bharatanatyam and neuroscience:  

• Both neuroscience and Bharatanatyam have a framework and structure, and the job of practitioners like myself is to first, understand and learn this framework, and then create new works and discoveries. One might think this is stifling. How can any innovation and creativity happen at all? But as dancers and scientists, and people interested in arts and the sciences, know much innovation happens on a daily, hourly basis in both these disciplines. Practitioners of the sciences and the arts continue to build on the work of others in unique and creative ways. 

I am so happy to announce that Vichaar made its way to the Bipartisan Congressional STEAM Caucus to "advocate for policy changes that will encourage educators to integrate arts, broadly defined, with traditional Science, Technology, Engineering and Math curriculum."

Vichaar: Episode 1
​I am excited to present the first episode of Vichaar. Here, I give an overview of this production , where each month I will take an aspect of Bharatanatyam and discuss its neuroscientific basis. This video gives a flavor of what's to come in the coming months. The transcript for this video can be found below and here. 

Vichaar was covered by the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) in this blog post entitled "Exploring the Convergence Between Arts and Sciences, One Month at a Time".  The article can be found here. 

For Brain Awareness Week 2022, I will release a series called "Vichaar". This Sanskrit word means "thought, perception, reflection, or contemplation. Each month, I will take an aspect of Bharatanatyam e.g. rhythm, creativity, movement, proprioception, and talk about its neuroscientific basis. Keep an eye out at this space for more information at this space starting March 15th, 2022! I look forward to hearing from you!