Would you live in a world without Art?

The Short Read:  Would we want a world without the beauty of Art?

In an age where STEM is all the rage, is there a place for the Arts?  Especially an art as specialized as ballet?
As we parents search for that elusive blend of study that will give our GenZ student the longest and best ROE (Return on Education) there is obviously an increased focus and push on Science, Technology, Engineering & Math – including each of their sub-specializations.

Interestingly, in an increasingly robotic and AI world, we are seeing more partnerships between Robotics Engineers and Jazz Musicians, Designers and Dancers.  As we transition between the Industrial and Intelligence Eras – in the ‘in-between’ – we will see more collaborations as science looks to become more humanistic and art becomes entwined with engineering.

Realistically, it is the ‘imagine’ers – the dreamers, the artists and writers – who gave us the science-fiction of ‘Star Trek’, ‘Jetsons’ and ‘2001:Space Odyssey’ – and planted the seeds of the Roomba, Oculus Rift, Segways and touch screens we now take for granted.

In researching this post some thoughts became clear:

• Range: The Engineer and Scientist who can converse with an Artist, and imagine movement, ambiguity and range will bring a better work product into their technical world.  An Artist who understands technology will be at the leading edge.
• Foundation Skills: As parents, what are the Transferrable skills that are going to outlive any Technical skill our student will learn in the next 10 years?  Tenacity. Self-Awareness. Ability to learn. Flexibility. Focus. Pride.  Discipline. Failure. Resilience. Teamwork. Empathy. Excitement. Joy.  EQ skills.  Skills that each of these ballet dancers have demonstrated in spades.
• Balance: In the end it isn’t one instead of the other.  It is about Balance. STEM now becomes STEAM as the Intelligence Era recognizes the contributions of many fields.

The Longer Read:

Passport to the Future – Young Canadian wins Prix de Lausanne ballet competition announced the headline on swissinfo.ch

Ballet? Future?
Does not compute.
Intrigued, I took the bait and clicked:

(I am awaiting permission to include a photo of Shale Wagman, winner of the 2018 Prix de Lausanne competition here, but if I do not have it as of posting, please click the link above!)

I was greeted with a photo of such balance, such power, such grace – pure ‘Poetry in Motion’.

Shale Wagman, a young Canadian, soaring through the air, had won the coveted Prix de Lausanne. It was a photo so beautiful in its perfection that it inspired this post.

I wondered:

Is there a place for the Arts in a STEM world?

As if in response, my very next newsfeed was an intriguing YouTube video published by Yamaha.  In collaboration with the Tokyo University of the Arts and Tokyo University of the Arts COI, Yamaha had used AI to convert muscular movement of dance into signals that played the piano:

Dancer Kaiji Moriyama playing the piano while dancing accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Scharoun Ensemble

What could be possible if the human body can create mechanical movement?  What could this portend for those with muscular disorders?

I was also reminded of a partnership between a jazz musician, improv artist and engineer who were trying to use the imprecise nature of jazz to create robots that more closely resemble human interaction, attention and responses.

In a recent article DARPA enlisted the support of an army of jazz musicians to help create a jazz robot.

http://adigaskell.org/2017/07/26/researchers-develop-an-ai-musician/

But is there a case for the Arts?  In an increasingly robotic and AI world, we are seeing more partnerships between Engineers and Jazz Musicians, Designers and Dancers.  As we transition between the Industrial and Intelligence Eras – in the ‘in-between’ – we should expect more such collaborations as engineers struggle to create robots that are more relatable.

Are there transferable skills from the Arts?

As with anyone involved in elite sports or arts, dancers bring intense focus to their craft.

Google ‘Shale Wagman’ and you realize that this win was no fluke.  Shale has been committed to his craft for a very long time.  His focus on Ballet is recent, but he was profiled in the Toronto Star as the youngest finalist in Canada’s Got Talent 2012.  He is a supporter of WE day.  No mean feat as the youngest son in a hockey-playing family.

As I continued to research, I discovered more about the mind and life of Ballet dancers.  The intense competition, the long hours, the physical toll especially on young girls are all legend.  It requires a special brand of mental stamina, commitment and discipline.  In an increasingly STEM world, it also meant standing your ground, being persistent, being organized.  With funding and subscription for the arts, especially ballet, being reduced, there is the inevitable career decision that has to be made.

Foundation skills

The technology cycle is constantly shrinking.  Therefore, technical knowledge is rapidly getting overwritten.  While the education system focuses on tooling our students with the newest and greatest technology, maybe our role as parents is to focus on the skills that persist – the foundation skills.  Or as we now refer to them – the EQ skills.

If that is the case, these dancers have that in spades:
Tenacity. Self-Awareness. Continuous learning. Flexibility. Focus. Pride.  Discipline. Failure. Resilience. Teamwork. Empathy. Critical Thinking. Excitement. Joy.

And in a world on the cusp of a new paradigm, it is these skills, this open mind, this willingness to grab what is in front, that will offer them the best opportunities.

Connecting the dots

As the Nature of Work changes, instead of the traditional ‘career ladder’ could the new career become a portfolio of skills & abilities? Could technologists bring their photography to their AI project? Could a jazz musician help a robot recognize and be more responsive to the needs of an aging human? Is there a place for the ‘Imagineer’?  Is it time for STEAM?

JOIN THE CONVERSATION in the comments, in your kitchen, on LinkedIn or FB

• Is there an extra-curricular activity you wished you still maintained in your life?
• Name one EQ skill that has served you best through your own life. Explain?
• Do you think STEM or STEAM or just liberal arts?
• Is learning how to learn more important than What we learn?

To join the weekly newsletter please email karena@futurecasting.ca

Research & Credits:

Ballet

• https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/jumping-higher_forging-the-dance-talents-of-tomorrow/43181594
• http://we.org
• https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2012/05/09/shale_wagman_torontos_billy_elliot_leaping_at_chance_to_win_canadas_got_talent_final.html
• http://www.pointemagazine.com
• Alternate photo: url Chenxin Liu dancing Don Quichotte at the Prix de Lausanne 2010 source wikipedia
• Photographers/journalist:   Caroline Minjolle, Lunax / Carlo Pisani swissinfo.ch / Gregory Batadon / Prix de Lausanne FB page https://www.facebook.com

Robotics & AI

• adigaskell.org/…/researchers-develop-an-ai-musician
• Yamaha uses AI to transform a Dancer into a Pianist <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/21injmy1wsU” frameborder=”0″ allow=”autoplay; encrypted-media” allowfullscreen>iframe
• Photographer: Ayane Shindo for Yamaha photographs Dancer Kaiji Moriyama playing the piano while dancing accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Scharoun Ensemble https://www.yamaha.com/en/news_release/2018/18013101/
• http://adigaskell.org/2017/07/26/researchers-develop-an-ai-musician/