Dancing with Cubes
Meet math/dance major Anna Gayley.
Hometown: Iowa City, Iowa
Thesis advisers: Professor Angélica Osorno [math] and Professor Victoria Fortuna [dance]
Thesis: “The Shapes of Dance and the Movement of Math: A Math and Dance Crossover Episode”
What it’s about: I’m focusing on a movement style based on the five platonic solids. Trisha Brown created a dance piece called Locus. How she created it was with an imaginary three-by-three cube, and then she assigned each point in the cube to a different letter in the alphabet. She created a dance with the concept of getting a word or phrase and then moving in, around, and through all of those different points. For my show, Geometric Movement, we built a big six-by-six cube, and then the dancers moved around with it, picked it up, and rotated it.
What it’s really about: Cubes.
In high school I was: A cheerleader and yearbook editor who also really loved staying at home playing the Sims.
Outside the classroom: Getting involved with Every Body Athletics in Beaverton was one of my favorite things I’ve done here. It’s a workout program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It’s a company I really love, and I’ve really loved the work that I’ve done with them. I found out about EBA through SEEDS—a really good resource for students, and very underutilized.
Challenges faced: I have always felt a lot of impostor syndrome in different classrooms. My high school was a very average Midwest public high school. Coming here, there are people who went to private schools, or had money for tutors. The way I’ve dealt with it is just reminding myself that everyone who has a spot here belongs here.
Cool stuff: A goose chased me into the Performing Arts Building once.
Financial aid: I would not have been able to come here if I didn’t have financial aid. The place my family was at, the place I was at, I would not have been able to afford it, so I’m very grateful.
Help received along the way: I’ve loved the admissions office community—all of the professional staff there as well as the student workers. It’s the only job I’ve had that I’ve not cried at.
Favorite spot on campus: The Great Lawn, especially on a sunny day.
What’s next: Teaching at Success Academy in New York City, then going on to get my teaching certificate with a focus on special education through movement.
Tags: Academics, Students, Thesis, What is a Reedie?