As part of its ongoing Museum Tour initiative, IBSA Foundation continues to support secondary school classes in discovering science beyond the classroom walls. One recent example is the experience at the Museum of Communication in Bern, where students explored the connection between movement, expression, and science through the interactive exhibition “Dance!”
The Museum of Communication in Bern is presenting a very special exhibition: it invites you to dance! A class from Liestal was able to visit the interactive display "Dance!" for free, thanks to IBSA Foundation - as part of its ongoing Museum Tour project.
Dancing and learning in a museum: a curious way to spend a Thursday afternoon. The class from Liestal was in a good mood when they arrived and were very excited about their visit, eager to explore the permanent exhibition on their own. At the Museum of Communication, visitors are encouraged to touch things. There are many interactive stations where visitors can try out different aspects of communication.
The photo booth at the entrance is very popular. Most of the students used it to take a selfie, which was then printed out and became part of a larger picture. A funny memento of their visit.
The photo booth near the entrance was a big hit, with most visitors using it to take selfies that were printed out and added to a larger mosaic picture. They also loved the station where they could reenact famous movie scenes or even revoice them. The results are then shown on a screen for everyone to see.
Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, suddenly speaks in a completely different voice - and says some funny things. Even the adult visitors played enthusiastically with their families. It is no wonder that the loudest laughter always comes from this part of the museum. And you can discover some very talented amateur actors.
The Data Center section, which deals with digital communication, offered a more reflective moment. The digital world has its dark sides, which are addressed with interactive exhibits. The aim is to help young people avoid falling into the traps of the Internet. Here, the interactive stations teach them how to handle shared pictures and information in a playful way.
"The class already knows the museum," shared teacher Simone Hagmann. "But it never gets boring here and they really wanted to come here."
Thanks to IBSA Foundation for scientific research, she was able to make their wish come true, as the Foundation covers the costs of museum visits in the context of workshops and, as in this case, guided tours in selected museums in the German-speaking part of Switzerland for secondary school classes.
The students were so enthusiastic about the interactive stations that they were a little late for Lu Schenk’s "Dance!" guided tour in the museum’s auditorium.
The warm-up began with a few questions about the teenagers’ experience with dancing and their usual dancing habits. Next there were some exercises borrowed from the theater. Lu asked them, for example, to walk around the room and nod their heads briefly when they made eye contact. That was easy enough.
Then came the next step: when they made eye contact, they were to shake briefly, or do a little dance. Suddenly, everyone looked down and hardly anyone dared to move. Dancing in front of others takes courage.
The first part of the exhibit was nevertheless quite difficult. There was cool music playing and people were dancing on a large screen - but no one in the class was allowed to move. The second part was much simpler: again there was cool music and this time everyone was allowed to start dancing. The lighting in the exhibit is dimmed, which makes it easier to dance.
The AI dance station was a surprise. The more the class moved, the more they could influence and generate abstract formations on the screen. Another station taught the audience new dance steps. Informative panels on the walls detailed the benefits of dancing, for the body and the brain.
Finally, everyone was allowed to explore the exhibition independently. This time with headphones. The most popular station was the one at the beginning with the cool music and the dance floor. So absorbing was the visit that the class almost missed the train home.
Before leaving, the teenagers were delighted to receive the goodie bags from IBSA Foundation, which contained drawing materials and a small guide on how to draw comics, as well as the Let’s Science! book on the topic of healthy eating and exercise: "Today is the first day of my new life."
Dancing, after all, is more than movement. It can spark joy, improve cognitive function, and inspire a healthier life.