VizChitra 2025

Spinning Stories: Embodying and Visceralizing Data
A 2-hour workshop on data, motion, and meaning

Note: I’m pitching this as an alternative session because it’s not exactly skills-based in the traditional sense, but it’s definitely hands-on (and body on!)

Describe your talk/session in 2-3 paragraphs
This workshop brings datasets out of the screen and into the body! I’ll be teaching four foundational hula hoop moves; each of which creates a shape - circle, cylinder (bar graphs in 3D), sphere and infinity. The hoop becomes a visual, tactile and kinesthetic tool to communicate information. We’ll also play with elements like speed, force, position and orientation. No prior movement or hula hoop experience is required!

We’ll map these movements to the climate stripes visualization - where we’ll feel the temperature increase that the earth has gone through. This form of data storytelling can leave a lasting impression. In pairs/groups, we will bring other datasets to life and share these mini-performances!

This session is grounded in the third principle of Data Feminism - Elevate Emotion and Embodiment, which speaks about valuing multiple forms of knowledge, including those that come from our lived, bodily experiences. By engaging with data through movement, we will challenge the traditional notion that data is purely objective and recognize the power of emotion and embodiment in understanding and communicating data!

Mention 1-2 takeaways from your session

• Learn a new, kinesthetic way to tell data stories
• Explore data performance, collaboratively!
• Hula hoop tricks that act as building blocks for motion-based data storytelling!

Who is the audience for your talk/session?
This session is for anyone working at the intersection of data, design, and meaning-making - educators, artists, analysts, movement practitioners, visual storytellers, or anyone curious about reimagining their relationship with information.

Add your bio, including work place name and your job role
Aditi is on a mission to put a spin on education through flow arts, blending science, math, and emotion in motion. She founded Spinfinity to help learners experience abstract STEM concepts through body-based movement and embodied learning.

With a Master’s in Human-Centered Design from Srishti Manipal Institute and a B.Tech in Computer Science, Aditi applies her multidisciplinary approach to learning sciences. As the Inschool Program Manager at SPOT – School for One, she creates transdisciplinary learning experiences that include flow arts, 3D printing, origami, and systems thinking. She is also a professional fire performer!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditibhat7