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Dance notation is the symbolic representation of human dance movement and form, using methods such as graphic symbols and figures, path mapping, numerical systems, and letter and word notations. Several dance notation systems have been invented, many of which are designed to document specific types of dance while others have been developed with capturing the broader spectrum of human movement potential. A dance score is a recorded dance notation that describes a particular dance.
The primary uses of dance notation are historical dance preservation through documentation and analysis (e.g., in ethnochoreology) or reconstruction of choreography, dance forms, and technical exercises. Dance notation systems also allow for dance works to be documented and therefore potentially copyrighted.
Two popular dance notation systems used in Western culture are Labanotation (also known as Kinetography Laban) and Benesh Movement Notation. Others include Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation and DanceWriting.
Many dance notation systems are designed for specific types of dance. Some examples include Shorthand Dance Notation for dances from Israel, Morris Dance Notation for Morris dance, and Beauchamp–Feuillet Notation for Baroque dance. As a result, these systems usually cannot effectively describe other types of dance.
In the 1680s, Pierre Beauchamp invented a dance notation system for Baroque dance. His system, known as Beauchamp–Feuillet notation, was published in 1700 by Raoul Auger Feuillet and used to record dances throughout the eighteenth century.
A well-known collection of dance scores is the Sergeyev Collection, recorded using Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov's notation method (1892). This collection documents the Imperial Ballet's (today the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet) repertoire from the turn of the 20th century, including Marius Petipa's original choreographic designs for The Sleeping Beauty , Giselle , Le Corsaire , and Swan Lake , as well as Coppélia and the original version of The Nutcracker . It was with this collection that many of these works were first staged outside Russia.
In 1934, the composer Joseph Schillinger created a highly accurate notation system based on the 3D bone rotation and translation of a moving dancer. [1] With motion capture technology half a century in the future, there was no way to effectively measure and record this information at the time.
In 1948, Hanya Holm became the first Broadway choreographer to have her dance scores copyrighted, for her work on Kiss Me, Kate .
In 1951, Stanley D. Kahn published Kahnotation, a dance notation system specific to tap dance.
In 1956, Rudolf and Joan Benesh first published Benesh Movement Notation, a written system for recording human movement. It is most widely used in the recording and restaging of dance works. [2]
In 1958, Eshkol and Wachman published an exposition of their movement notation. [3]
In 1969, Romanian choreographer Theodor Vasilescu published a dance notation system for Romanian folk dances. [4]
In the 1970s, North Korean choreographer U Chang-sop developed a system of dance notation for Korean dance called the Chamo System of Dance Notation, which uses pictorially based symbols. [5]
In 1975, Ann Hutchinson Guest reconstructed choreographer Arthur Saint-Léon's Pas de Six from his 1844 ballet La Vivandière , along with its original music by composer Cesare Pugni, for the Joffrey Ballet. The piece was reconstructed from Saint-Léon's work, which was documented using his own method of dance notation, known as La Sténochorégraphie .
In 1982, the first computerized notation system—the DOM (Dance on Microprocessor) dance notation system—was created by Eddie Dombrower for Apple II computers. [6] The system displayed an animated figure on the screen that performed dance moves specified by the choreographer.
In 2017, Felipe Hsieh created Tango Notation, a dance notation system specific to Argentine tango.
Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era, closely linked with Baroque music, theatre, and opera.
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies in which motion or form or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who creates choreographies by practising the art of choreography, a process known as choreographing. It most commonly refers to dance choreography.
In linguistics and semiotics, a notation system is a system of graphics or symbols, characters and abbreviated expressions, used in artistic and scientific disciplines to represent technical facts and quantities by convention. Therefore, a notation is a collection of related symbols that are each given an arbitrary meaning, created to facilitate structured communication within a domain knowledge or field of study.
This is an alphabetical index of articles related to dance.
Labanotation is a system for analyzing and recording human movement, invented by Austro-Hungarian choreographer and dancer Rudolf von Laban, who developed his notation on movements in the 1920s.
Benesh Movement Notation (BMN), also known as Benesh notation or choreology, is the literacy of body language, it is a dance and movement notation system used to document dance and other types of human movement. Invented by Joan and Rudolf Benesh in the late 1940s, the system uses abstract symbols based on figurative representations of the human body. It is used in choreography and physical therapy, and by the Royal Academy of Dance to teach ballet.
In the French courts during the 17th Century, ballet first begins to flourish with the help of several important men: King Louis XIV, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Pierre Beauchamps, and Molière. The combination of different talents and passions of these four men shaped ballet to what it is today.
Linda Ann Crist was a noted labanotationist, documenting, writing, and teaching labanotation. Labanotation is a type of notation that captures dance movements on paper, similar to how musical notation captures musical performances. It allows for accurate reproduction of specific choreography by other dancers or dance troops at a later time.
Raoul AugerFeuillet (c.1660–1710) was a French dance notator, publisher and choreographer most well-known today for his Chorégraphie, ou l'art de décrire la danse which described Beauchamp–Feuillet notation, and his subsequent collections of ballroom and theatrical dances, which included his own choreographies as well as those of Pécour.
Pierre Beauchamp or Beauchamps was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp–Feuillet notation. His grand-father was called Christophe and his father, a violinist of the king's chamber, was simply called Louis. Following a custom of the time, Pierre Beauchamp was named Pierre after his godfather Pierre Vacherot, tailor of the queen's pages and a relative of the Beauchamps family.
Richard Holden was an American dancer, choreographer, choreologist, teacher, musician and writer.
Ann Hutchinson Guest was an American authority on dance notation and movement analysis, long based in the United Kingdom. She studied more than 80 dance notation systems and translated 20 to Labanotation. This gave her access to a number of dance works in their original version – such as Vaslav Nijinsky's L'Après-midi d'un Faune. Her extensive research, performing, and teaching career led her to establish the "Language of Dance" approach to empower educators, artists, researchers, and other professionals in their study and use of Motif notation to engage and deepen movement understanding.
The Dance Notation Bureau (DNB) is a non-profit organization founded to preserve choreographic works through notating dance scores in Labanotation and collaborating with dance companies to stage reconstructions of those works. Based in New York City, DNB was founded by Helen Priest Rogers, Eve Gentry, Janey Price, and Ann Hutchinson in 1940. It has significant holdings of videotapes, photographs, programs, and production information. Its mission is to advance the art of dance through the use of a system of notation called Labanotation. This allows the dances to continue to be performed long after the lifetime of the artist.
Eshkol-Wachman movement notation is a notation system for recording movement on paper or computer screen. The system was created in Israel by dance theorist Noa Eshkol and Avraham Wachman, a professor of architecture at the Technion. The system is used in many fields, including dance, physical therapy, animal behavior and early diagnosis of autism.
Ballet is a formalized dance form with its origins in the Italian Renaissance courts of 15th and 16th centuries. Ballet spread from Italy to France with the help of Catherine de' Medici, where ballet developed even further under her aristocratic influence. An early example of Catherine's development of ballet is through 'Le Paradis d' Amour', a piece of work presented at the wedding of her daughter Marguerite de Valois to Henry of Navarre. Aristocratic money was responsible for the initial stages of development in 'court ballet', as it was royal money that dictated the ideas, literature and music used in ballets that were created to primarily entertain the aristocrats of the time. The first formal 'court ballet' ever recognized was staged in 1573, 'Ballet des Polonais'. In true form of royal entertainment, 'Ballet des Polonais' was commissioned by Catherine de' Medici to honor the Polish ambassadors who were visiting Paris upon the accession of Henry of Anjou to the throne of Poland. In 1581, Catherine de' Medici commissioned another court ballet, Ballet Comique de la Reine, however it was her compatriot, Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx, who organized the ballet. Catherine de' Medici and Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx were responsible for presenting the first court ballet ever to apply the principles of Baif's Academie, by integrating poetry, dance, music and set design to convey a unified dramatic storyline. Moreover, the early organization and development of 'court ballet' was funded by, influenced by and produced by the aristocrats of the time, fulfilling both their personal entertainment and political propaganda needs.
Dance in Israel incorporates a wide variety of dance styles, from traditional Israeli folk dancing to ballet, modern dance, ballroom dancing and flamenco.
The terms dance technology and Dance and Technology is the application of modern information technology in activities related to dance: in dance education, choreography, performance, and research.
Valerie Sutton is an American developer of movement notation and a former dancer.
Joan Benesh was a British ballet dancer who, with her husband Rudolf, created the Benesh Movement Notation, which is the leading British system of dance notation.
Noa Eshkol was an Israeli dance composer and textile artist. Eshkol is best known for her co-invention, alongside architect Avraham Wachman, of the Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation (EWMN) System. She and Wachman worked together for over two decades to refine the system and develop its various applications.
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