For two days, elementary
school-aged students gathered into the Ikeda Theatre at the Mesa Arts Center
for ArcAttack, a performing arts group that plays music with custom built Tesla
coils and instruments such as guitar and bass. The band was made famous from
their appearances on America’s Got Talent and YouTube. I had the
pleasure of watching them, along with other students from around the valley who
were fidgeting and chattering, incredibly excited for the performance that was
to come. It wasn’t until the lights dimmed that the students started to calm
down.
The crew of ArcAttack shocked
the audience by first turning on the Tesla coils already on the stage, bolts of
electricity emitting from the large machines, stunning the students with a
spectacular display of electricity along with sounds reminiscent to
instruments. The awe of the students never wore off throughout the show; with
such engaging hosts (along with a robot by the name of King Beat or KB),
ArcAttack continued to amaze the audience.
Throughout the performances,
the hosts went through the technology and science of their performances. While
some of the explanations were similar to those taught in classrooms, none of
the kids found it boring or useless, seeing that they had seen them in action
just minutes ago. KB was used often throughout, talking about voltages and
circuits, demonstrating how those terms were used on him by dancing and
rapping. With the combination of science, technology, and performing arts, the
students were clearly enthralled. By the time the hosts asked for volunteers
for a demonstration, hands flew up to the air from across the entire theatre,
eager to help. Towards the end of the show, students were allowed to ask
questions, ranging from how the floor didn’t catch on fire (there was an
aluminum floor cover) to if King Beat had a human inside (unfortunately, there
wasn’t).
“Was the lightning real?”
asked a little boy.
“Yes, 100% real,” ArcAttack
replied, launching into a more in-depth explanation about Tesla coils.
Clearly, with the use of
performing arts and technology, science was made more tangible and interesting
to the students. While arts and science seem to be opposites, both can be used
interchangeably to make them more concrete and exciting.
