Thursday, September 2, 2010

Sources – Visual Choreutics


Submitted by Alan Salter - September 2, 2010

[Following is an e-mail Alan Salter sent to the Dance Notation Bureau, August 31, 2010. A copy of his Visual Choreutics, which he mentions in the e-mail, is being sent to the DNB and will be placed in its library.]

Dear DNB,

While searching for a movement notation reference I was amused to discover my name in a bulletin board discussion on the dynamosphere.  Most of the little I wrote on this and about notation after my 1983 doctorate has appeared in the Laban Guild magazine (for example no. 27.1 08 cites several articles).  A useful teaching/ study tool for space was Visual Choreutics, a set of maps, and if your library doesn't have this I could send a copy.

Re the dynamosphere some coincidences were interesting (Hampshire's theory of mind), and the new scanning devices that reveal brain activity so well may perhaps encourage a more spatial understanding of the mental field.

My current movement writings relate to expression, psychotherapy and speech - no key links to notation, though it provides a convenient jotting device.

All fun. 

Cheerio,
Alan Salter


Addendum from Mei-Chen Lu - Submitted September 2014 

In Visual Choreutics Alan Salter says, 
"In Laban's theory of space the volume immediately surrounding the moving person is conceived as structured. This arises naturally from the form of the human body. Consequently patterns of movement and dance can be seen to be organized in these identifiable directions and areas. 
The kit is intended as an exploratory tool and as a teaching aid. It assumes some familiarity with the relevant theory and access to an appropriate text if necessary."

The booklet can be downloaded here.

The kit can be downloaded here (This needs to be printed in transparencies.)