Conveying principles of fluid mechanics... through dance

Fluid mechanics is typically~introduced to undergraduate engineering/physics students in their junior year, relying on knowledge from core courses in calculus an physics. Topics are traditionally introduced through tedious derivations that sometimes lack a clear conceptual interpretation. However, fluid mechanics is extremely visual, and solutions to classic fluid mechanics problems are highly aesthetic (for example, an oscillating wake past an obstacle, the swirl of a vortex, the chaotic motion of turbulence). In this talk, I will present an attempt at using dance to demonstrate fundamental principles of fluid mechanics. The objective is to create a visual demonstration of flow around a cylinder through a physics-constrained dance improvisation. This project involves a collaboration between Prof Capecelatro from the University of Michigan (UM) and dancers from the UM School of Music, Theatre {\&} Dance. A series of dances were choreographed and filmed ranging from low Reynolds number (creeping) flow to high-Reynolds number turbulence and inviscid (potential) flow. Details on the process and outcome of this collaborative effort will be presented, in addition to efforts to assess impact on student learning.