Outreach

Three panels. Left panel: Mingzi Xu dancing on a dark stage in a butterfly costume with another dancer in a butterfly costume. Middle Panel: Three students dressed in light blue with translucent wings with one student partnered with another student in light green with translucent wings. She is looking away from him as if uninterested. Right Panel: Mingzi Xu sitting in a chair in a classroom with students walk around behind her holding cards with various scientific symbols (sigma, x squared, t, SE, and 1)
As both a scientist and an avid dancer, I am always interested in combining science and art. Performing arts are unique in that it is a natural, universal, and jargon-free language to reach the public. Combining my two passions, I have developed an outreach program that teaches the public about animal behavior using dance as a tool. 
 
One example of a dance I have made in collaboration with the Cornell Veterinary Dance Collective is Love on six (or eight) legs: a dance in two acts about the sexual selection theory.  This dance uses movements and interactions to teach basic concepts and examples about the sexual selection theory.
 
Love on six (or eight) legs: a dance in two acts about the sexual selection theory Act I: Case studies about how insects find mates Choreography: Mingzi Xu Dancers: Laupala crickets: Nycole Cole, Cristina Güitrón, Mingzi Xu Water striders: Jasmine Calle, Jiayi Xu Praying mantis: Ksenia Ionova, Csilla Kajtar Peacock spiders: Stéphie-Anne Dulièpre, Olivia Lenz Silkworm moths: Helen M. Chen, Jiayi Xu Music: The Thumbelina performed by Vaganova Ballet Academy Interlude: caterpillars feed and pupate at night Choreography: Mingzi Xu Dancers: Jasmine Calle, Helen M. Chen, Nycole Cole, Ajinkya Dahake, Lindsay Leverett Music: Frog call recording by Queensland Museum, Early morning sound effect by Sound Effects Real Life Act II: major concepts in sexual selection theory (male courtship, female choice, male-male competition, mate guarding, alternative reproductive strategy) Original Choreography: Jerome Robbins Adapted by: Mingzi Xu Principles: Michael Bardo, Mingzi Xu Soloists: Stéphie-Anne Dulièpre, Ksenia Ionova, Olivia Lenz Character dancer (professor): James Morrisey Corps de ballet: Jasmine Calle, Helen M. Chen, Nycole Cole, Cristina Güitrón, Jiayi Xu Music: Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47, composed by Frédéric Chopin, performed by New York City Ballet Orchestra Video editing: Charles Walcott

In addition, performing arts is a wonderful tool to break the wall of the ivory tower and make scientific research more transparent and accessible to the public. I plan to use dance to educate the public about animal behavior research itself, the day-to-day activities of scientists, and the challenging issues scientists face.
 
In the future, I will collaborate with the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at University of Minnesota as well as local dance studios to develop dance and theatrical programs targeted at both the general public and K-12 students. A few projects that are in line are: