WHERE IDEAS COME FROM

Thought, Movement, and the Brain

Featuring Carol Becker, Jennifer Homans, Daphna Showhamy, and Daniel Wolpert

Columbia University, School of the Arts, October 10, 2024

Writer Jennifer Homans—author of Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet and the monumental recent biography of George Balanchine, Mr. B—were in conversation with Zuckerman Institute neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert, whose research focuses on experimental approaches to human movement. Moderated by Carol Becker, Professor of the Arts and Dean Emerita, and Daphna Shohamy, Kavli Professor of Brain Science; Director and CEO of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute; and Co-Director of Columbia's Kavli Institute for Brain Science. 

This conversation explored the relationship of movement to the brain. How is thought movement and movement thought? How do we understand the nature of the particular movement and training that is dance? Where is such memory stored in the body and how does it affect those who pursue such a path? What function does dance serve in our personal and collective lives? And, finally, where did the idea to devote a decade to writing about the life and work of Balanchine come from and how did it evolve?

 Lenfest Center for the Arts, Columbia University. October 10, 2024.