Broken Rhythms Dance Company is getting set for their Vancouver premier.
We are excited to announce that we will be representing our community at the 2025 Dancing On The Edge Contemporary Dance Festival this June with Broken Rhythms highly acclaimed and most unique work 1,000 Pieces of ∏
Dancing on the Edge Festival (DOTE), recognized as the cornerstone of Vancouver’s contemporary dance season, presents its 37th annual festival, featuring an impressive line-up of established and emerging dancemakers at the Firehall Arts Centre and SFU Woodward’s, on stages June 12 to 21, 2025.
1,000 Pieces of ∏ : Show Info
Have you ever experienced math phobia and wanted to dance about it? Broken Rhythms has arrived in Vancouver to serve up some delicious dancing π with a twist (and a few turns). 1,000 Pieces of π is the first act of its kind in that it investigates the mind-body connection by utilizing the constraints of the never-ending and never-repeating sequence of the number π (3.14) to create a full and yet ‘irrational’ dance show.
Company | Broken Rhythm Dance Company
Choreographer | Dyana Sonik-Henderson
Name of piece | 1000 pieces of π
Venue | Firehall Arts Centre
June 14th @ 7:00 PM
June 15th @ 7:00 PM
Approx. Running Time: 50 minutes
1,000 Pieces of ∏– Neurodiversity and Creativity: When Math and Dance Meet
Have you ever experienced math phobia? How about math anxiety? More specifically, arithmophobia or numerophobia, fear of math and/or numbers. Dyana Sonik-Henderson, artistic director of the independent rhythmical contemporary dance company Broken Rhythms, knows all about those phobias and has created a self-imposed challenge for her newest work, 1,000 Pieces of π.
This work follows the never-ending and never-repeating number sequence that makes up the irrational number we call π/Pi, most commonly written as 3.14. The entire show contains only ten dance moves, and each of these moves has been given a corresponding number: (1) Head, (2) Jump, (3) Slide, (4) Turn, (5) Balance, (6) Torso around, (7) Kick, (8) Run, (9) Touch the floor, (0) Connect to another dancer. The goal is to reach the 1,000th number of π in under 50 minutes, demonstrating the body’s incomparable ability for knowledge accumulation and sequencing by utilizing the body to memorize the first 1,000 numbers of π and performing the work with a talented cast of dancers.
The origins of dance moves being allocated a number can be traced back to the pre-postmodern dance era when Merce Cunningham (a pioneer of modern dance) was said to roll dice as a way to disrupt the body’s ‘natural’ movement patterns. Though this work is reliant on the pre-determined sequencing based on the infinite numbers of π, this methodology of creativity and concept can be applied to other numbers to make brand-new works, or the numbers can be swapped to create an entirely different show.
Originally conceptualized by Sonik-Henderson as a way to pass high school math, the transforming of numbers into movements was utilized to offset a difficulty in ‘traditional’ academic instruction.
Diagnosed with multiple ‘neurodiverse’ labels at a young age, Sonik-Henderson had the idea to incorporate body and dance to help with accurate sequencing and memorization, which took an unexpected direction after Sonik-Henderson returned to school during the pandemic.It was through dance that Sonik-Henderson discovered her body’s mechanical ability to memorize complex rhythms, movements and numerical sequencing while exploring emotions and connecting to community.
1,000 pieces of π is a dance experiment, it is exciting to work on an innovative project that challenges the mind/body connection and provides another way for others to approach math, learning and dance.
Read what people are saying about 1,000 Piece of ∏
Attend workshop: Next session Spring May 25, June 1, June 8th
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