Pinewood teacher Michelle Gannon sees 3D printing as an invaluable skill for her students' personal success as they prepare to be entrepreneurs, creators, and contributors to their world.
"I am a firm believer that all young people will need to be entrepreneurs in the future. A basic understanding of 3D printing is an imperative skill to succeed in business. Concepts can be brought to fruition with a few clicks of a button. You no longer need to find someone to prototype your ideas at a high cost — you can simply make a prototype yourself. That freedom enables people of all ages and financial considerations to execute on an idea. Future business ideas no longer need to be limited to the people with access to funds.
"The programs available make it easy to design your own creations. You don’t need to be an engineer to use a 3D printer. The programs that we use in class are easy to learn in a few minutes — and the kids are off — designing their own magic!"
Neil sits at his computer, thoughtfully working on a design as a 3D printer whirs beside him. He and his fellow art independent study students have been tasked with exploring the theme of transformation through the creation of one or more artworks. With a subtle hum, one of Neil's designs emerges from the printer; an open lotus. As Neil holds the lotus in his palm, he shares the focus of his project: the history of dance.
We asked Neil, a sophomore at Pinewood, to share about his inspiration for and process in creating ten unique symbols that represent the historical transformation of dance, an art form that is deeply personal to him.
Q: Why did you choose to explore the history of dance?
A: My personal inspiration was myself as a dancer and an artist. Two of my most creative activities are art and dance, and I’ve always been looking for a way to combine them; here, I found one. The unity of dance, art, and modern technology strengthens the art itself. Representing creativity with a theme common to multiple types of people is what makes a piece of art universal; I was trying to achieve that.
Q: Which historical period of dance does each of your 3D symbols represent?
A: After a lot of research, I attempted to use ten symbols to represent some of the most important styles of dance throughout history. As time goes on, each of my 3D printed sculptures represents more and more styles. Although fitting the whole recorded, categorized history of dance into ten sculptures was pretty difficult, I did my best by doing research on each style. Below are the styles in order:
- Bharatnatyam [1500 BCE]
- Dithyrambs and Festivals to the Gods [700 BCE], Mime [500 BCE]
- Farandole [10 CE]
- Belly Dance/Java [900 CE]
- Ballet 1500 CE, Waltz [1660 CE]
- Tap [1850 CE]
- Square Dance/Tango [1870 CE], Jazz [1920 CE], Swing/Rock and Roll [1950 CE]
- Locking/Popping/Waving/Strobing/Tutting/Turfing/Hip-Hop/Disco/Breaking/Waacking [1965 CE]
- Jumpstyle/Electro/Trap [2010 CE]
- THE FUTURE [2020+ CE]
Neil designed ten unique symbols representing the history of dance using Tinkercad.
Q: Where does your passion for dance originate?
A: My mom has loved to dance from early on in her life, and it’s my belief that her love of dance was passed on to me. Another dance inspiration for me is my brother. He influenced the music I listen to and gave me access to real culture by showing me the best and the realest of hip-hop and rap. So, from the very beginning, I’ve been attuned to music, especially in that genre. I’m also a very creative and physical person, so dance fits my personality. I was dancing basically since I was out of the womb, and although I couldn’t take classes due to health issues as a child, I had always wanted to. Dance is a wordless form of communication. It has the power to bring people together regardless of any sort of boundary or distinction.
As Pinewood students engage with 3D design and fabrication, we see new possibilities emerge for them to express their interests, explore new concepts, and innovate ideas. The crucial skills our students are learning now give them unique powers of creativity in the classroom and position them to be dynamic, capable contributors in their future endeavors.
Pinewood's 3D printer featured here was donated on behalf of freshman Emily Takara in 2017-18 when she was named a semifinalist in NASA's Two for the Crew engineering challenge. Read the full story here >>
Follow Neil's dance and choreography on Instagram @dance11colorized >>
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