Between the Folds

The piece in question

Just yesterday I was playing around with a piece of paper, folding it, watching it, seeing how it could move.  I showed it to a friend and said, "I guess what I'm doing is improvisational origami."

Just today I mentioned the same thing to a different friend.  She said, "Have you seen Between the Folds?  You have to..."

Here's the trailer for the movie -- it's on hold at the library.  Hopefully I'll get to watch it soon.  Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait...

Every day I am finding more and more of the pieces that connect math, art, dance, rhythm, science, expression and creative practice.  I think the reason I'm so excited is that I recently found my way back from a wrong turn I took with this inquiry. But, that's part of the process, too, no matter what the medium. After determining what I don't want or need to do right now, the missing pieces seem to be falling into place.

[Edit: This post seems to be getting a lot of traffic, for some reason. If you're interested, here is the follow up post I wrote after viewing the documentary.]

Supporting 'Math Values in a Rich Context' / Origami as Math

I see a lot of geometry in origami but have always wondered what other math you can find in this kind of paper folding. 

Here is what Maria Drujkova had to say about origami during a recent blog post about the activities in her Natural Math Club:

Origami has the same values as mathematics, such as precision, modular reasoning (“bird base” as a group of folds), attention to detail, modeling, algorithmic thinking… Thus origami can be used to support math values in a rich context. The same goes for music.

I love the idea of supporting math values 'in a rich context.'  I love even just the idea of a 'rich context.'  I think all learning should happen in such a place.  Onward.