Physics + Dance Lab @ UC
Monday, August 3 – Friday, August 7, 2026
Discover how dance can humanize and advance scientific research and how physics concepts can be expressed through dance in an immersive, weeklong dance laboratory. Designed for high school and undergraduate students of all backgrounds, this intensive invites you to investigate big ideas through the body—using movement as a way to explore, question, and make meaning.
Participants will work alongside both scientists and dancers, collaborating directly with Dr. Sarah Watzman, Principal Investigator and associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and Michelle Pearson, Founder and Artistic Director of Black Box Dance Theatre (BBDT). Participants will also help evaluate the efficacy of using dance as a teaching tool for physics concepts in collaboration with Dr. Melissa Jacquart, assistant professor of philosophy and curriculum and pedagogy director for UC’s Center for Public Engagement with Science. Supported by the National Science Foundation, the intensive explores quantum physics through rigorous physical practice and creative inquiry—translating complex science and the human stories behind it into an original, evening-length performance piece.
Over the course of the week, 20 undergraduate students and 20 high school students will work together through a “summer day camp”, intensive-style programming. Through each day’s events, students will work with UC researchers and professional dancers from BBDT to explore quantum physics through rigorous physical practice and creative inquiry. Together, we will co-create dance pieces inspired by quantum physics, as well as expand our understanding of how art and human expression has the potential to advance scientific research. By the end of the week, students, researchers, and dancers will work together to translate complex science and the human stories behind it into an original, evening-length performance piece. This performance will take place on the evening of Friday, August 7th.
This is a rare opportunity to move, learn, create, and perform within a process where dance is treated as research, connection, and human expression—working shoulder to shoulder with artists and scientists shaping new knowledge together. Background in dance or physics is not required!
Join Us!
Eligibility: High school students in grades 8th-12th during the 2025-2026 Academic Year; and current UC undergraduate students. If you are an undergraduate interested in participating but NOT enrolled at UC, please send us an email.
Dates: Monday, August 3 – Friday, August 7, 2026, including a showcase performance the evening of Friday, August 7, 2026.
Location: Weeklong Programming and Showcase Performance will all take place on the University of Cincinnati Main Campus.
Cost: The weeklong Physics + Dance Laboratory is free; acceptance to the program is required. If non-local, participant will be responsible for their own travel+accommodations.
How to Apply: We hope to be in a position to accept all interested students into the program. Applicants will be accepted on a rolling deadline until all vacant slots are filled.
To help us best prepare, we do ask all students who would like to enroll to complete an application.
All students interested in participating must complete a short application, which includes answering our 5 applications in writing or as a video. Applicants will be accepted on a rolling deadline until all vacant slots are filled. We aim to confirm acceptance to the program within a week of receiving your application.
For the Application: Please submit — in writing or upload a very short video — answers the following questions:
- Introduce yourself (name, School, year in school).
- Why are you interested in participating in the Physics + Dance Lab?
- What do you hope to gain from this experience?
- Do you have any relevant experience to dance, physics, and/or science and scientific research? (Note: no experience is required or expected! However, if you do have some relevant experiences, we want you to let us know about them).
- Anything else you would like share with the selection committee?
Video application should be under 5 minutes in length. Written answers should be no more than 500 words total. Use of AI to in generation of answers is not permitted.
Please note that we aim for our camp to be welcoming to a breadth of experiences. So, a lack of experience in dance or science is not disqualifying. Additionally, while your video needs to be of a good enough quality for the selection committee to hear your answers, your video application will not be assessed on its technical merits (no need to get fancy, a video you made talking to your phone is fine!).
Additional Questions? Please reach out to University of Cincinnati Professors Sarah Watzman and Melissa Jacquart: physicsdancelab@ucmail.uc.edu
Meet the Team
Dr. Sarah Watzman
Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Having completed her BS, MS, and PhD at The Ohio State University in Mechanical Engineering, she has been faculty at UC since 2018. Her research focuses on materials that convert heat into electricity and using magnetism to control and enhance that energy transport. Her childhood dream was to be a dancing doctor, and this project is making that dream a reality.
Michelle Pearson
Founding Artistic Director of Black Box Dance Theatre (BBDT). BBDT is a professional modern dance company nationally recognized for groundbreaking collaborations, physically compelling choreography, and deeply human, non-fiction dance. The company is featured in the documentary We Lift Each Other, produced by Tony Award–winner Mara Isaacs, highlighting the power of art to build connection and understanding across communities.
Melissa Jacquart
Senior Personnel and Assistant Professor of Philosophy, as well as Curriculum & Pedagogy Director for UC Center for Public Engagement with Science. As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she majored in Astrophysics, Physics, and Philosophy. Her current research focuses on how the arts & humanities (philosophy) can enrich public engagement with science and science education.
More about the Project
The Physics + Dance Lab @ UC is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant number DMR-24401870 as part of the NSF CAREER program, where early-career faculty are supported in developing both their research and educational programs.
The research portion of this project investigates topological materials, which are a unique set of materials that conduct electrons differently on their surfaces than they do throughout their bulk. This leads to interesting and unique energy transport properties and potential to unlock a new generation of efficient solid-state energy conversion devices. Results of this project are gaining a fundamental understanding of the effects of restrictions on charge carrier motion in topological materials, allowing the synthesis of topological materials in usable forms while preserving their unique attributes. This ultimately enables a new class of efficient energy conversion devices based on strategically designed topological materials.
The Physics + Dance Lab @ UC is a core portion of the education portion of this project, which aims to humanize the fundamental concepts of charge carrier transport through dance. The research team will use a physical embodiment of charge carrier motion to explain it to a broad audience and use dance as a creative way of conveying these concepts and inspiring interest in science. Read more here.