28 problems

Dance quartet
Created, choreographed and directed by Dayna Hanson
with Jim Fletcher, Dayna Hanson, Madison Rough and Julia Sloane

Based on a discarded sheet of calculus equations, 28 problems began as a quartet dance featuring Jim Fletcher, Hanson, Madison Rough and Julia Sloane. An original vocabulary made of dozens of kinesthetic symbols—movement “glyphs” that reflect mathematical signs—forms the foundation of a work that bridges personal influences and abstract form. After a five-year hiatus, the work is being remounted to function at the center of a new, composite work called Hugely Amplified Presence that includes new and archival choreography and film elements.

A virtual companion to the dance, the 28 problems GLYPH GIFs feature selected movement vocabulary in a grid of animated front and back views that can be dragged and dropped by the viewer to make new mathematical expressions and choreography in two-dimensional space.

28 problems was created with support from 4Culture, 9e2, Abrons Arts Center, American Dance Festival, Base, Bossak Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Glenn Kawasaki, Office of Arts & Culture, John C. Robinson, Carlo & Lalie Scandiuzzi, University of Washington Dance Program, Case VanRij and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. 28 problems was presented in workshop form in Oct. 2016 at Base as part of 9e2 .

(photo by Jacob Rosen)