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"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them."
- Albert Einstein
Here is something to think about when you look up on one of our cool, crisp autumn nights in Hobbs, New Mexico… Two generations ago, a spacecraft named Voyager left our planet into parts unknown equipped with a camera and a “golden record” with images from around the globe and a musical playlist including songs by Beethoven, Mozart and Chuck Berry. Earlier this month, NASA has confirmed Voyager has officially left the solar system and has now traveled its first miles into interstellar space. This is an important milestone in human history. After all of this time, it is still amazing to think that before Galileo, we thought the universe revolved around us. Galileo was right - we are not the center of the universe. We are a small part of a much larger picture. We are limited. However, the artist and scientist have always reached beyond our limits and designed objects like the spacecraft Voyager which can travel to a place between the known and the unknown.
Like Galileo before him, Albert Einstein also looked to the skies. He did not see the cosmos as random dots in the sky, but a rhythmic pattern. Einstein theorized the structure of the universe as a series of strings like on a violin or guitar. He knew we were not the center of the universe; yet, we were all connected to it. From the far reaches of the solar system to inside the human mind; Einstein envisioned a pattern of rhythmic music. At the end of his life, Albert Einstein had one of the largest brains on record. What made his brain different than everyone else? Was he born with a giant brain or did the experiences of his life have a lot to do with it? We do know when he had a tough problem to solve, he played his violin to help him think clearly and identify new patterns of thought. Albert Einstein knew what modern brain researchers are finding out today - activities like music grow the brain, unlock our limitations and allow us to discover more about the world around us.
According to the renowned brain researcher, Eric Jensen, when it comes to a student’s brain, the teacher is the number one factor in its growth. Uncaring or unqualified teachers are the number one reason for a student’s failure at school. Quality and engaging instruction in art,music, theatre arts and dance grow brain cells. Inadequate and disengaged teaching shrinks the brain. Although you cannot see it, your student’s brain can grow (called neurogenesis) within five days of a highly engaged activity like participating in a full musical dance production with their fellow students.
Your NDI-NM directors know how a student’s brain works and this is why the students are able to pull off “a miracle” in two weeks. The NDI-NM residency teaches students strategies like how to “dance with excellence” and “never give up”. These activities open up a student’s mind to a world beyond Turner Street. In the final analysis, the National Dance Institute of New Mexico’s impact can be quantified not only by the students’ excellent performance today but also a generation from now, when all of their students possess the skills to go beyond their limits in any endeavor they pursue.
Thank you for supporting the arts.
Tyson Ledgerwood
Elementary Fine Arts Coordinator
Hobbs Municipal Schools
Albert Einstein quote from http://www.brainyquote.com
Brain research information based on EricJensen’s findings in Teaching with the Brain in Mind
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