This plain truth becomes obvious when we think about the flow of energy in the dance, changes in angular and linear momentum, friction between the floor and your Aris Allens, the spring constant in the connection – the list goes on and on.
This isn't a new concept. For instance, recently, I found the following great quote:
"Lindy is 50% Newtonian physics, 30% musicality and 20% magic"
I would argue, however, that this quote is wrong. Lindy hop isn't about Newtonian physics – sure, the descriptions of inertia and conservation laws can come in handy, and leads are sometimes known to jokingly discuss the concept of a perfectly spherical follow in vacuum. But fundamentally, the dance isn't about particles. It's about the superposition of particle and wave properties of the motion to create the dance.
That's right, Lindy Hop is a dance best described by quantum physics.
Conversely, quantum physics is best described by Lindy Hop, as we learned earlier this week from Krister Shalm and his Project Q.
The first step towards studying Quantum Lindy Hop, of course, is to understand its classical wave dynamics. As a data scientist who spent years playing around with waves for his Ph.D., I accept the challenge. I hereby inaugurate Project W, a.k.a. Lindy Hop Science (1). Wanna help? Send me an email!
(1) Project W for waves. Project C for classical sounded kind of lame.