Back in the 1970s, when I was an undergraduate in human biology, a professor showed us a short 1971 film about protein synthesis. A chemist who was later to win the Nobel Prize had directed it—or, should I say, choreographed it. Scruffy, long-haired students, accompanied by rock ’n’ roll music, danced the parts of ribosomes, mRNA, and amino acids out on an athletic field.
I remembered that movie a few months ago when a friend pointed me to the “Large Hadron Rap,” about CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Switerland. And I’m thinking about science and dance again today after hearing a piece on NPR about an unusual dance contest: Dance Your Ph.D.
So what’s all this got to do with ADD, beside the fact that I got distracted this evening checking it all out on YouTube? Well, dance, music, and other arts can certainly be a great way for those of us with ADD to learn. It keeps things visual, kinesthetic, and interesting.
But I also hypothesize that those of us with ADD have more than the usual tendency to make unusual connections in our brains—and maybe to appreciate those connections.
I choreograph it this way: Two sets of dancers represent the thoughts in two different brains. The dancers in the non-ADD brain sort themselves into groups, each group wearing costumes of the same color. Dancers in pink dance with others in pink, dancers in black dance together, and so on. They dance to Mozart chamber music, their movements flowing and harmonious. But it gets a bit repetitive after a while. Maybe even boring.
The dancers in the ADD brain, though, move to a wild fusion of djembe, didgeridoo, and fiddle. They associate freely and chaotically inside the brain. Dancers in different colors collide. Some of those pairs stay together and perform inspired and stirring pas de deux. Teal and rose! Sage and eggplant! It’s exhilarating, albeit a bit exhausting. But think of all the novel connections that occur in that setting!
Like the juxtaposition of dance and science. It’s hilarious and beautiful, creative and instructional. Like the collisions that are likely occurring all the time right there in your own ADD brain.
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