Flutter

I left off the last post with a cute lil pic of a cartoon mouse with a giant heart (I’m going to name the mouse Sal) and this beautiful video of Cardiologist John Grammer using movement to demonstrate different kinds of irregular heart rhythms.

Well, my house mouse problem has not been solved yet. I saw the little one scurrying around my kitchen last night and all I could think about was cartoon Sal holding an oversized heart. Something tells me if Sal’s heart was presented to John Grammer, he might be able to understand why it’s so abnormally large and demonstrate that to us through movement.

Here’s Sal one more time in case you forgot:

So if you could imagine Sal’s heart beating, what would it look or sound like? Would it be a gracefully steady boom or an awkward, fast-paced flutter? What could you learn about Sal from seeing his heart beat in front of you?

These are some of the primary questions that I’m hoping to find answers to in this project. The only thing is, I don’t think Sal will be available as a research subject, so I will have to ask human beings with non cartoon hearts.

Some other questions I have are: How can a heartbeat be physically embodied? How can that physical embodiment generate movement and music? Also what can we learn about a person from getting to know the rhythm of their heart?

What I love about the “Living Arrhythmia” video is that John Grammer’s physicalization of the heartbeat is so personal and his body articulates more to me than any power point lecture ever could. Not only do I get a sense of the pace of the rhythms, I also feel like I have a deeper understanding of each arrhythmia’s character, how vulnerable or erratic they are and how difficult it might be to live with one.  I also get to know a bit more about John Grammer; his self expression, his sense of humour and that clearly he’s a dancer. 🙂