DNB Theory Bulletin Board

Minutes for the Open Theory Meeting, October 20, 2011

2012-01-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - January 18, 2012

Following are minutes for the DNB Open Theory Meeting held on October 20, 2011. The minutes were written by Charlotte Wile.

Present: Janos Fugedi, Bill Kiley, Mei-Chen Lu, Mira Kim, Gabor Misi, Lynne Weber, and Charlotte Wile.

The meeting was conducted via Skype. Janos and Misi were in Hungary. Bill, Mei, Mira, Lynne, and Charlotte were in New York.

TOPICS

The topics for this meeting were papers that Misi and Janos presented at the August 2011 ICKL conference in Budapest, Hungary:

1) Gabor Misi, “Interpretations of the Placement of the Feet.”

2) Janos Fugedi, “Dancers’ Perception of Movement Rhythm.”

TOPIC #1: Gabor Misi’s paper, “Interpretations of the Placement of the Feet.”

1.1 Misi’s paper “Interpretations of the Placement of the Feet” describes inconsistencies in the rules for certain groups of symbols that depict the placement of feet. These indications mean different things to Albert Knust, Maria Szentpal, and Ann Hutchinson.

1.2 Our discussion of the paper began with Janos telling us about Maria Szentpal, who is cited extensively in both Misi’s and Janos’s papers. In the video clip below, Janos talks about the major role Maria had in the development of our notation system. Misi is sitting next to him. (The clip was extracted from a video we made at the meeting to document the conference call.)

1.3 [Maria’s English and Hungarian manuscripts that Janos refers to (see minute 2:50 on the video) are available for research on the premises of the DNB library.]

1.4 The group first examined examples K1 and F1 in Misi’s paper (page 2). The examples are copied here below.

1.5 Misi uses K1 and F1 to compare Maria’s and Ann’s methods for determining the distance of a normal step:

Maria says the distance of a step is measured from one foot to the other foot. The normal distance is one foot length between the supporting feet, i.e., three squares in F1.

Ann says the distance of a step is measured from the heal of one foot to the heal of the next foot. Thus, the the normal distance is two foot lengths, i.e., 6 squares in F1.

1.6 However, regardless of which of these definitions you use to interpret K1, the resulting movement will be the same (F1).

1.7 Charlotte wondered if the way distance is judged affects the way the movement feels or is executed. For example, in everyday pedestrian walking she would find it easier to think about the distance between the feet, i.e., from the toe of one foot to the heal of the other foot (Maria’s method).

1.8 Mira said she understood what Charlotte said about the feeling of the movement, but, as Misi brings out later in his paper, there are reasons Ann uses the heal to heal definition.

1.9 Janos said that the feeling of distance in a step is different depending upon the context of the movement. For example, it might be different if you are on your toes and step to the side, or if you are doing various dance steps.

1.10 Mei said that the “normal" distance can vary. For example, a normal step for an older person might be smaller than what is normal for a younger person. However, it is important to have a clear definition of what "normal" means in Labanotation.

1.11 Charlotte said that in the L/N texts Ann provides two ways of notating. In one method, the measurement signs used to indicate the size of a step represent an approximate amount. In the other method, the signs depict an exact amount. The exact amount is relative to the mover’s foot size.

1.12 Misi pointed out that in Ann’s definition, the measurement can be from the center of one foot to the center of the other foot, as well as from the heel of one foot to the heel of the other [see paragraph 2.6 in Misi’s paper].

1.13 Charlotte asked if it matters whether the analysis is “from the center to the center” or the “heel to the heel,” since the distance of the step would in both cases be two foot lengths.

1.14 Misi replied that it doesn’t matter if your feet are parallel [as in K1 above.] However, if your feet are rotated, the analysis is affected [as is discussed later in his paper].

1.15 The topic veered to what one thinks about when taking a step; the feet or the center of weight.

1.16 Charlotte talked about her experience teaching very young children. If they take small steps they would probably think about the distance between the feet.

1.17 Janos said in performing traditional Hungarian dances he would probably not think about the center of weight or the feet. Rather he would just think about expression of the movement. The distance he moves would serve the expression.

1.18 Mei said that what you focus on depends upon your training and the dance style. When she walks down the street she doesn’t think about the feet or the center of weight. She just walks.

1.19 Charlotte: What if I say to you, “Take little steps while you walk.”

1.20 Lynne: I probably would think about my feet.

1.21 Charlotte: What about taking tiny steps in a bourree?

1.22 Mei: You would think about moving the feet and the pelvis together. In modern dance you would think more about your center of weight.

1.23 Charlotte: In our system of notating we indicate the distance of a step by showing the situation of the feet. In situations where the intent is about moving the center of weight a certain distance, maybe we should be including that in the notation.

1.24 Next we discussed examples K2, F2a, and F2b in Misi’s paper (page 3). Example F2a shows how Maria would interpret K2. Example F2b shows how Sheila Marion would interpret K2.

1.25 The examples are copied here below.

1.26 Mira and Mei said they would interpret K2 as in F2a.

1.27 Lynne said that is what you would normally think if you had ballet training.

1.28 Mira: If you are standing on one foot, where is “place”? If I put my center of gravity nearer the toe I feel like I’m falling. Rather, place is where the heel is. Likewise, in a turned out first position, place is between the heels.

1.29 Mira showed a movement in which she stepped in place onto the ball of her left foot (both feet were parallel). She said the movement feels more stable if the left foot is placed near the heal of the right foot rather than near the toe or center of the right foot.

1.30 Post-meeting Charlotte photographed herself replicating Mira’s movement.

1.31 Charlotte asked Misi about the reference for F2b. In paragraph 3.5 in his paper, Misi says the example comes from Sheila Marion. Charlotte wondered if Ann has stated anywhere how she would interpret K2. As far as Charlotte could tell, Ann does not address this issue in the L/N texts.

1.32 Misi said that Ann and Maria would both interpret K2 as in F2a. In this case the contrasting interpretation (F2b) comes from Sheila Marion in a paper she wrote for ICKL in 1979.

1.33 Charlotte wondered if Sheila knew when she wrote her 1979 paper that she was disagreeing with Ann’s and Maria’s interpretation.

1.34 Janos: Sheila was reverting to a former rule in which the reference point in the case of positions is the center of the foot.

1.35 Janos gave some more information about Maria’s analysis. He said he had discussed the topic of step distance with Maria many times. Maria said the problem is we are not elephants with round feet. If our feet were round it would be much easier to define the relationship of the legs. Unfortunately, the length of a human foot is three times longer than its width, and this is what causes the problem. To deal with this in notation, Maria envisioned the foot as having a circle around its heel. That circular shape becomes the reference point.

1.36 To illustrate, Janos showed us the drawing below.

1.37 Next the group discussed examples K3, F3a, and F3b in Misi's paper (page 4), copied here below.

1.38 In Maria’s interpretation, the ball of the left foot touches near the toe of the right foot, as in F3a. In Ann’s interpretation the foot touches near the heal, as in F3b.

1.39 Lynne said she would interpret K3 with the ball of her left foot next to the center of the right foot (i.e., between F3a, and F3b).

1.40 Janos asked Lynne how she would interpret K3 if the heal was touching (rather than the ball of the foot).

1.41 Lynne replied she would probably also touch near the center.

1.42 Janos said Maria’s rule was that it doesn’t matter which part of the foot touches (e.g., the ball or the heal). The placement of the foot should be determined according to where foot would be normally when the whole foot touches [see paragraph 4.5 in Misi’s paper].

1.43 Misi pointed out that if the ball of the foot touches near the center or the heal of the other foot, and then you roll to the whole foot, you end up with one foot more forward than the other. This is a reason for using Maria’s rule.

1.44 Post-meeting, Charlotte made the video below to illustrate rolling variations: near the toe, near the center of the foot, and near the heal.

1.45 Mira said that where the movement ends affects the analysis of the movement. For instance, in a rolling movement you end on the whole foot. The body knows that you will end on both feet and you naturally place the foot so the feet will end up next to each other. However, in K3 there is a different sensation. The ending position is on the ball of the foot. Thinking about what would happen if the foot were to roll is not relevant.

1.46 Charlotte: This brings up the issue of what criteria should be used in creating rules. Should they support the feeling of the movement, or should they be based on what would make the fewest or easiest to remember rules?

1.47 Mira wondered about the examples given in Misi’s appendix (page 13) shown here below. In the Hutchinson-Kolff “4.6 paragraph” example, the touching is near the heal. What rule does the Sheila Marion use in the rolling “4.8 paragraph”?

1.48 Misi said that in the “4.8 paragraph” example Sheila used a caret to avoid the rolling problem. The caret says the touch is preparatory.

1.49 Janos said that ICKL called the caret used in this way a “forward reference.”

1.50 Charlotte understood this to mean that in the “4.8 paragraph” example, the caret tells you to judge the location of the right foot touch according to where the foot will be in its subsequent support.

1.51 Mira wondered if Sheila’s “3.5 paragraph” example conflicts with her “4.8 paragraph” example (see page 13 in Misi’s paper). The “3.5 paragraph” example implies that Sheila's reference for the foot placement is center.

1.52 Regrettably, we needed to stop discussing Misi’s paper at this point in order to leave enough time for Janos’s paper.

TOPIC #2: Janos Fugedi’s, “Dancers’ Perception of Movement Rhythm.”

2.1 Janos’s “Dancers’s Perception of Movement Rhythm” is a PowerPoint paper which describes his research into the perception and notation of timing.

2.2 The PowerPoint begins with a summary of Janos Fugedi and Gabor Misi, “Ways of Notating Floor Touching Gestures with the Foot” (ICKL 2009), which compared four different methods of notating timing: exact (Knust), mixed (Szentpál), unit (Hutchinson), and rhythm expressive (Fügedi and Misi).

2.3 The PowerPoint then goes on to describe an experiment Janos conducted with his students. His hypothesis was that “movement rhythm is represented in our mind as if it was ‘mind-notated’ in unit timing.” To test his hypothesis, the students watched short films of traditional Hungarian dances. They recorded the timing of the movement using a special task sheet.

2.4 Janos first showed us the films. The video below, which was extracted from the video we made of the conference call, contains the films. Charlotte inserted the titles. In the video only some of the music accompanying the dances is audible. [For a larger image, click "You Tube" on the bottom right.]

2.5 In the experiment each student recorded the rhythm of each film using horizontal lines on a horizontal staff, as instructed on the task sheet shown here below (see page 19 in the PowerPoint). [Click the image to make it larger.]

2.6 Examples of the students' responses are given in the PowerPoint on pages 20-21. A sample is shown here below.

2.7 Fifty two students participated in the experiment. All of them were dancers. Some had a L/N background and some did not. In any case, their task did not involve L/N. Rather they were just asked to use horizontal lines to depict when movements in various body portions begin and end.

2.8 The results of the experiment are documented and analyzed on pages 22-34 in the PowerPoint. On page 22 Janos shows the different ways the students drew the lines on the task sheets. Janos found that of 98% of their drawings corresponded with a unit or unit-like perception of rhythm (page 34 in the PowerPoint).

2.9 Charlotte speculated that the results may demonstrate that it is easier to understand and record unit timing.

2.10 Janos corrected Charlotte. He said that exact timing is no more difficult to learn than unit timing. He feels that the subjects in the experiment mainly used unit or unit-like timing to record their observations because that is the way they they intrinsically understand timing. The results of the experiment support his experience in teaching L/N for more than 20 years. Even though his students are taught both exact and unit timing, they most always choose to notate using unit timing.

2.11 Charlotte asked if the students taking the experiment knew that Janos was testing their perception of timing. Janos said they did not know the purpose of the experiment.

2.12 Mei said if she had participated in the experiment before she had L/N training, she probably would have draw the “unit-like” lines which are not clear about where the movement begins (see page 22 in the Power Point). In other words, she would have drawn the lines a little after the beat.

2.13 Janos said it is important in discussing these issues to keep in mind a dancer's training. The way you are taught movement affects the way you perceive rhythm. This understanding of rhythm is not conscious. It is during the teaching process that you get your built in sense of rhythm. He feels that in all the dance styles that stem from traditional forms, such as folk dance, tap dance, ball room dance, and Latin dance, the perception of rhythm tends to correspond with the “unit timing” method of notation.

2.14 Mei and Charlotte wondered if it might be useful to do the experiment with ballet or modern dancers.

2.15 Charlotte said she would be curious to know if unit timing or exact timing is used most in L/N scores. Regardless of which method notators might say in theory they feel works best, which one do they actually use in practice when they notate scores?

2.16 Janos said that is a good question. He thinks they use both. Generally they use unit timing, but they may switch to exact timing to notate touching. However, there are notators who mainly use specific timing. For example, Judy Van Zile uses it extensively and consistently in her notation of certain Asian dances.

2.17 Charlotte gave the example of Mickey Topaz’s score for “Day on Earth,” which uses both unit timing and exact timing for touches. Some people might say that this is not a problem because the context of the notation lets you know how it should be interpreted. However, Charlotte thinks that if you are doing a close reading of the notation, the mixture of exact and unit timing can be confusing.

2.18 Mei said arguments can be made for each method of writing, but when conflicting systems are used in the same score, the notation becomes very hard to read.

2.19 Charlotte wondered which timing method should be emphasized in our texts and in our teaching.

2.20 At this point it was time for the meeting to end. We all felt we had made a good start in our examination of Misi’s and Janos’s excellent papers, but there is so much more in them we would like to discuss. We decided we should continue at the next meeting.

Call for Manuscripts

2011-10-24T11:47:00.000-04:00

Submitted by Billie Lepczyk, October 22, 2011

Call for Manuscripts

Dance: Current Selected Research

Volume VIII

Edited by:

Lynnette Young Overby, Ph.D. and Billie Lepczyk, Ed.D., CMA

We are preparing the 8th volume of Dance: Current Selected Research. Criteria for the consideration of manuscripts: (1) original research on topics for which valid techniques in experimental, historical, ethnographic, movement analysis, or clinical research have been applied in the collectionof data and with appropriate analytical treatment of data; (2) state-of-the art research reviews on topics of current interest with a substantial research literature base, or (3) theoretical papers presenting well formulated but as yet untested models.

Deadline: February 10, 2012

Guide to Authors

1. The selection is required to be in English and should not have been published exactly in its present form elsewhere. However, it is satisfactory if the paper has been presented at a professional meeting and/or appears in abstract only.

2. Submit one copy of the manuscript in a Word document (.doc or.docx) to both editors by e-mail. Submissions must include the lead author’s address, telephone number, e-mail address, title, and professional affiliation. The manuscript order is: (1) title page, (2) blind title page, (3) abstract, (4) text, (5) references, (6) author notes, (7) footnotes, (8) tables, (9) figure captions, and (10) figures.

3. The submitted manuscript is required to be typed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with 1 inch margins on all sides and text in 12 font Times.

4. The submitted manuscript is required to be no more than 9,000 words (approximately 25 manuscript pages) in length.

5. Include an abstract of not more than 200 words.

6. The APA reference and citation system (6th edition) should be used for all manuscripts.

7. Illustrations, charts, etc. should be submitted in “camera ready” condition apart from the text. Indicated exactly where this material should be inserted.

8. In addition to the editors, the papers will be evaluated by at least two outside reviewers for consideration for publication.

9. For each contribution selected for publication the author will receive one copy of the book.

10. Deadline for submitting manuscripts is February 10, 2012

Dr. Lynnette Young Overby, Co-Editor

Dance: Current Selected Research

Office of Undergraduate Research & Experiential Learning

180 S. College Ave.

University of Delaware

Newark, DE 19350

302-831-7064

302-831-3698

Email: overbyl@udel.edu, lepczyk@vt.edu

Submit your manuscript to both editors

Choice on Dance: Current Selected Research Volume 3

“This serial presents an ideal way for beginning dance majors to become aware of dance research. For this third volume as for past ones (1989, 1990), editors Overby and Humphrey have selected articles reflecting research across the dance spectrum including dance education, history, kinesiology, and ethnology. These articles are useful not only for their content but also as examples of research methods within each area…it is quite possible that this and future volumes will show up on reading lists in general dance research courses; for that reason this publication is recommended to undergraduate libraries supporting dance programs.”

Dr. Overby is Professor of Theatre and Dance and Faculty Director for Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning at the University of Delaware and specializes in dance education and imagery research. Dr. Lepczyk is Professor of Dance in the Department of Theatre and Cinema atVirginia Tech and specializes in movement analysis and dance style research.

JPAS, On Line Journal

2011-10-13T12:36:00.000-04:00

Submitted by Doris Green, October 13, 2011

JPAS (Journal of Pan African Studies) is an online publication that brings together scholars, educators and others who work within this area of concentration. JPAS began in 1987. Volume 4 number 6 is a special issue on African dance. My article is entitled “The Saga of African Dance and Black Studies Departments.”

The article traces African dance from the 'hub' of cities with large Black populations, namely New York City, to the continent of Africa where I studied in the bush, Art Centers and campuses of Universities of Africa. It reveals how I, always mesmerized by rhythm wrote my first drum sounds, when I was a teenager in high school, after a remark from a stenography teacher who said 'any sound could be written with the Pitman shorthand system'. I pondered the statement and questioned if any sound could be written, why not write drum sounds. With that I picked up my pencil and wrote my first drum sounds.

The article explores how I aligned my system with Labanotation in an integrated score. It also points out the dire need for a comprehensive textbook on African music and dance as any course in academia that is not supported by a definitive textbook is not consider a viable course. As far as academia is concerned African music and dance is too young and disorganized to be viable courses. These courses may be 42 years old in the U.S., and diaspora, but in Africa they are centuries old. Hopefully my textbook GREENOTATION: MANUSCRIPTS OF AFRICAN MUSIC AND DANCE will soon be published so African music and dance can take its rightful place in academia.

I have had the pleasure of working with a number of the legends of Africa from the post-colonial cultural era. These people were the founding members of African music and dance as we know and perform it today.It was not easy introducing my work to Africans because I am female and many felt that females should dance and not drum. But African dance is always accompanied by music. It is the music that controls the dance. If one does not understand the music, it makes it difficult to dance on time and interpret what the musicians indicate. When I did break through, they were astonished indicating that my work was what Africans had been seeking for decades.

My autobiography No Longer an Oral Tradition: My Journey Through Percussion Notation was published in 2010. It tells the history of my voyage from Brooklyn to Africa, but my textbook defines and gives structure to the oral traditions of African music and dance, from Tanzania to Senegal that is unparalleled.

My work essentially gives African music the scientific basis if formerly lacked and provides perpetuity to the field.

Article about Ray Cook

2011-10-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - October 4, 2011

Here is an interesting article about Ray Cook:

"The Language of Dance, Examined", by Dana Gavin (Hudson Valley News, December 22-28, 2010, pp10-11.)

The article includes terrific photos of Laban and Labanotation.

Unfortunately, the link above is a little hard to navigate and view, at least on my computer. You need to go to the site, then click on the picture of the newspaper, then click on the thumbnail at the bottom for pages 10-11. To enlarge the view see the icons at the top of the page.

ICKL Proceedings - Theoretical Reports and Papers

2011-09-06T14:49:00.006-04:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - September 6, 2011

Facsimiles prepared by Rachael Leyva, Mei-Chen Lu, and Charlotte Wile

One of the most important institutions for promoting the development and standardization of Laban-based notation systems is the International Council of Kinetography Laban/Labanotation (ICKL).

Below are links to facsimiles of theoretical material in the proceedings for ICKL’s biennial conferences from 1959 to 2007. There is also a facsimile of an index for the 1963 to 1991 proceedings, which ICKL published in 1993.

The facsimiles of the theoretical material just contain each proceedings’ cover page, table of contents, technical reports, and technical papers. Application papers and other materials in the proceedings are not included here. The full proceedings are available at the Dance Notation Bureau library. In addition, some technical and non-technical papers in proceedings for recent conferences can be found on ICKL's website.

When you go to each facsimile link below, you will see small navigation pages to the right. Because some parts of the proceedings were skipped when they were scanned, the page numbers on the navigation pages may not match page numbers on the facsimile. Also, some facsimile pages are crooked because the way the proceedings were bound made it difficult for them to be scanned.

1959-1977, First to Tenth Conferences

The facsimiles of the 1959-1977 proceedings were taken from a compilation of conference papers and reports published together as one book in 1996. As has been done for other years, just the technical materials from the compilation are presented here. The year that the material was presented appears in the headings of the papers. Topics for each year are given below.

Topics for the First Conference (1959): Differences in Movement Analysis and Notation (The Trunk and its Parts, Writing Shifts, Trunk Rotations and Front, Jumps or No Jumps - Pause Sign, Step and Leg Gesture, Whole Body Rotation).

Topics for the Second Conference (1961): Unification (Centre of Gravity, Symbols for Chest and Trunk Movement, Inclusion Bow, Upper Part of Body Movement, Movements of the Whole Torso, Vertical Bow Cancellations, Automatic Space or Body Hold, Waist Sign Use of [Contraction and Extension Signs], Flexing and Stretching the Hand and Arm, Hands and Fingers, ["x"] with Direction Symbol, Use of the Body Constant and Space Constant References.

Topics for the Third Conference (1963): Unification (Validity of a Symbol, Use of the 3rd Column for Upper Part of the Body Movements, Level of Supports in Crouching and After Kneeling, 'Holding' the Centre of Gravity, Weight Distribution in Open Positions, Szentpal's Rule for Hold Sign in Support Column, Meaning of a Step in Place After an Open Position, Space Between Supports for Echappe Movements, Sliding Steps, Shuffling Hops, Overlap of Support Symbols - As in a Sissonne Ferme, Step Turn Problems, Whole Torso Turns and Trunk Twists, Use of [Black Diamond and Whole Body Signs], Pelvic Rotations and Pelvic Tilts, Meaning of [Extension Signs] for the Arms, Meaning of [Extension Signs ] for the Hand, Meaning of [Extension Signs] for the Whole Torso, Position Pins for the Arms, Tick Marks, Shading of Turn Signs, Touch Signs in the Leg Gesture and Support Columns.

Topics for the Fourth Conference (1965): Pelvic Movements; Centre of Gravity; Pause or Hold Sign; Dynamics; Position Signs Near Direction Signs (Szentpal); Guidances (Leeder); Guidances and 'Parasite' Symbols; Proposed Labanotation Changes (Venable); Space Measurement Signs, Floor Plans, Turn Signs; Knust's Handbook Changes; Review of Unification Discussions -1963 Conference.

Topics for the Fifth Conference (1967): Agreements and Unification (Cross of Axes, Spirals, Paths, Corrections & Additions & Clarification on Knust's Paper, Parts of Body, etc., Upper Body/Inclusions, Guidance/Leading and the Addition Bow, Succession/Sequential Movement, Centre of Gravity, Spot Retention Sign, Space Measurement Signs, Repeat Signs/Analogy Signs, Rotations, Caret/Staple, Sign for "Either," Notation Examples, Front Signs with Specific Meaning by Maria Szentpal)

Topics for the Sixth Conference (1969): Orthography and Analysis - Decisions and Recommendations (Rotations around Principal Axes by Valerie Preston-Dunlop, Work That is Not Concluded from the Research Committee by Valerie Preston-Dunlop, Motif Writing Developments by Valerie Preston-Dunlop, Meaning and Use of Pin Signs Within a Rotation Sign & Meaning and Use of Crosses of Axes Relating to Rotations by Albrecht Knust, The Standard Retention by Albrecht Knust, Questions of How We Read and Write Timing in Kinetography by Lucy Venable, Miscellaneous Problems by Maria Szentpal, Notation Examples, Suggestions About the Further Use of the Inner Subsidiary Column by Maria Szentpal, The Movement Family Tree by Ann Hutchinson, Indication of Difference Between Rotation and Twist by Ann Hutchinson, System of Reference for Head Tilts by Ann Hutchinson, Circular Paths on Vertical Planes by Albrecht Knust, Isolated Problems).

Topics for the Seventh Conference (1971): Agreements and Recommendations (Body Narrowness and Wideness & Space Narrowness and Wideness by Albrecht Knust with Comments by Maria Szentpal, The Application of the Inner Subsidiary Column by Maria Szentpal, Suggested Indication for Time by Ann Hutchinson with Comments by Maria Szentpal, The Meaning of the "X" in the Support Column Near a Leg Gesture by Maria Szentpal, Facing Pins - Suggested Augmentation by Ann Hutchinson, Shorthand for Labanotation by Ann Hutchinson, Matters Arising Out of Other Sessions, Notation Examples).

Topics for the Eighth Conference (1973): Agreements and Recommendations ("Normal" Distance in Standing by Maria Szentpal, Kneeling by Maria Szentpal, Mixed Kneeling, Sitting by Maria Szentpal, Exclusion Bow, Symbol for Neither Stretched Nor Bent, Front Signs for Focal Point, Small Steps, Bent Leg Gestures, Supports Slightly Bent, Gestures and Supports, Slightly Bent, Leg Gestures Near the Floor, Small Steps, Leg Gestures Near the Floor, Slightly Bent Arm Gestures, Pins and Staples with Steps, Deviations, Placement of Accents, Description in Terms of Icosahedron, Area Around a Directional Point, Rounded Bow to Connect Columns, All fours by Albrecht Knust, Notation Examples).

Topics for the Ninth Conference (1975): Technical Report (The Direction of the Progression and the Direction of the Path by Albrecht Knust, Track Pins by Ann Hutchinson and Maria Szentpal, Support on All Fours by Maria Szentpal, Split Body System (SpB), Direction from Body Part (DBP), Shape Writing by Ann Hutchinson, Use of Pins, Notation Examples).

Topics for the Tenth Conference (1977): Report on Technical Matters (Decisions About and Clarifications of Signs & Examples and Their Meanings - the 282 Item List, Deferred Items, Priority Items for 1979 Conference).

1979, Eleventh Conference

Topics: Technical Report (Pins for Positions of the Feet, Track Pins, Pins for Minor Movements, Place, Design Drawing, Validity).

1981, Twelfth Conference

Topics: Technical Report; Corrections and Additions for Unification Paper; Revised Validity Paper; Time Signs by Maria Szentpal; Clarification of the Different Possibilities of Accelerando and Ritardando When Applied to Movement; Musical Time Signs by Maria Szentpal; Writing Levels of Kneeling by Means of Angling or Approaching the Surface of Support in Different Directions by IleneFox and Jane Marriett; Direction from Body Part (DBP) by Maria Szentpal; Notation and the Dynamic Aspects of Dance by Sally Archbutt; Introduction to Dynamics Panel by Lucy Venable; Notes on Dynamic by Lisa Ullman; Dynamics Discussion by Sally Archbutt; Quality and Dynamics in the Laban Movement Analysis and Notation System by Janis Pforsich with Peggy Hackney; Dynamic Discussion by Maria Szenpal; Statement on Dynamics for Panel Discussion by Muriel Topaz; Spatial Forms and Their Innate Dynamic Content by Lisa Ullman; Dynamics Exploration by Peggy Hackney with Janis Pforsich; Dynamics Summary by Lucy Venable; Report of the Principles Committee.

1983, Thirteenth Conference

Topics: Technical Report (Placement of Non-Movement Indications, Placement of Foot Hooks, Angling, Kneeling Levels, Options for Writing Kneeling, Preferred Usage for Writing Non-foot Supports, Reference for the Whole Arm, Black Diamond, Sectional Repeat Indications, Need for New Symbology for Head and Its Parts, Minor Movement, Time Signs, Revised and Expanded System of Symbols for On and Off Stage\Areas, Principles, Moving in and Out of Open Positions, Retention of a Leading or Guiding Part, Repeat and Analogy Signs, Validity); Angling by Ilene Fox and Jane Marriett; Revised Version—A Proposal for New Symbols for the Head and its Parts by Carl Wolz; August Revision—A Proposal for a Revised and Expanded System of Symbols for On and Off Stage\Areas by Carl Wolz; Moving Into and Out of Open Positions by Ann Hutchinson; Modified Version of Analogy and Repeat Signs by Ann Hutchinson; Working Ideas Based on Column Hierarchy by Janet Moekle.

1985, Fourteenth Conference

Topics: The Principles and Basic Concepts of Laban's Movement; Report from the Research Panel (Measurement Signs, Normal Step Length, Direction from a Body Part, Peripheral Path for Third Degree Points, One Movement Bow, Polar Pins, Areas of the Hand and Foot, Modified Bow for Retained Part Leading/Guiding, Staff Extender, Indication of Intention, Validity of Part Leading/Guidance Bow, Ad lib, Staples and Carets, Line of Balance, Dynamics, Use of X and [Folding Sign] as Pre-Signs,The Sign [for Stillness], Paths for Gestures,Validity, Retention Signs, Time Signs, Unfinished Business); Errata, Supplements and Comments to Papers Disseminated Prior to the Conference; Edited Version of DBF Paper, 1981, by Maria Szentpal; Polar Pins for Minor Movements, revised 1985, by Ann Hutchinson, Jane Marriett, Ilene Fox; Areas of the Hand and Feet, revised 1985, by Sheila Marion; Index of Items Fully Accepted 1985; Index of Other Items.

1987, Fifteenth Conference

Topics: Technical Report (Sign to Replace the Staple for the Same Spot, Signs for Spreading and Closing, Surfaces of the Hand and Foot, Finger Fan, The Drawing of en Croix Repeats, Inner Subsidiary Column, Place Middle Pin, Symbols for Contraction Over a Diagonal Surface, Spot Hold for the Foot, Unfolding, Signs for Joints of the Legs, Validity of the Leading/Guiding Bow, Symbols for "A Surface," Clarification of Usage of [Release Signs] in the Support Column, Validity, Direction from a Body Part (DBP) for Gestures, New Symbol for Release Weight, The "Zed-Caret" and its Augmented Usage, Simultaneous Contraction and Rotation, Discussion of the Spine Sign, Errata and Supplements to Papers Disseminated Prior to the Conference); Validity- Yet Another Proposal by Ilene Fox; Vertical Bows - Validity by Ann Hutchinson Guest; Leading/Guiding - Validity by Ann Hutchinson Guest; D. B. P. for Gestures by Ann Hutchinson Guest; A Proposal for the Use of the Caret (< or >) Which Involves the Elimination of the Staple by Lucy Venable; Carets and Staples by Ann Hutchinson Guest; Index of Technical Papers Circulated Prior to the 1987 Conference; Index of Items Fully Accepted by ICKL, 1987, Index of Other Items.

1989, Sixteenth Conference

Topics: Report from the Research Panel (Modifiers, Symbols That Have Their Own Validity, Validity of Horizontal Bows, Zed Caret, Floorwork Staff, Signs for Sex of Performer, Group Formations, Meeting Line, Mini-Floor Plans, Relationship of Two People, Action Stroke, Pre-Staff Indications, Intermediate Directions, Standard Palm Facing, Anatomical Descriptions of the Spinal Column and Hip Joint Movement, Focal Point, Stylized Preparation for a Step, Natural, Floor Plans, Use of [a Vertical Line] with Measurement Signs in the Leg Gesture Column for "Duration" or "Air Line," Reconstructing KIN/LN Grammar by Rob van Haarst, Keys for Thought by Sheila Marion, Retention of Supports by Bill Reynolds, Validity by Ilene Fox); Errata for 1989 Papers; Addendum to Anatomical Descriptions by Karen Barracuda, KL/LN for Recording Idiokinetic Exercises-Clarification by Karen Barracuda.

1991, Seventeenth Conference

Topics: Technical Sessions Address by Ann Hutchinson Guest; Report from the Research Panel (Time Signs,Validity, Floorwork, Kneeling, Minor Movements); Time Signs by Ann Hutchinson Guest.

1993, Eighteenth Conference

Topics: Report from the Research Panel (Summary of Voting, The Direction System of Labanotation/Kinetography Laban – A Clarification and Proposal by Janos Fugedi, Retention of Palm Facings in Labanotation by Ilene Fox, The Duration of an Indication Tied to a Path Sign -Validity of the Connecting Bow by Jacqueline Challet-Haas, Vertical Bows by Marion Bastien, Validity No. 3 Proposal by Ann Hutchinson Guest, A Validity Proposal for Gestural Actions by Sheila Marion and Judy Van Zile and Lucy Venable, Summary of Validity Discussions, Space Measurement Signs Versus Measurement Signs by Jacqueline Challet-Haas, Retention in the Support Column-Proposed New Rule); Errata to 1993 ICKL Papers; The Direction System of Labanotation/Kinetography Laban – A Clarification and Proposal by Janos Fugedi.

1993, Index for the 1963 to 1991 Proceedings

Topics: Technical Papers Presented from 1963 to1991; Technical Decisions from 1979 to 1991; Non-technical Papers Presented from 1979-1991; Bow Chronology; New Signs.

1995, Nineteenth Conference

Topics: Technical Report (Proposal for Labanotation, The Standard Cross of Axes in Kinetography Laban and Introduction to Validity Papers - 1995 Validity Proposals, Interaction of Movement Categories, Report of Findings on Usages of [The Back to Normal Sign and the Decrease Sign] by Lucy Venable and Sheila Marion, What is Movement? And other Validity Issues by Ilene Fox, The Assessment of Distance in Supports in Kintography Laban/ Labanotation by Christine Eckerle, The Notation of Floorwork within the Laban System of Notation by Anja Hirvikalli).

1997, Twentieth Conference

Topics: Technical Report (Inverted Pelvis Sign, One Sided Spreading and Closing, Spreading and Closing from the Front and Back and Right and Left Sides and its Use with Direction Symbols, The 8/8 Scale for Contraction and Folding, The Centre of Gravity Level, Parts of the Torso, Weight Distribution, Folding, Props, An Analysis and Classification of Springs); Minor Topics, by Ann Hutchinson Guest; Folding - Analysis of Movement, by Ann Hutchinson Guest; Props, by Carl Wolz; An Analysis and Classification of Springs, by Janos Fugedi.

1999, Twenty-First Conference

Topics: Technical Report; Principal "KIN" Usages and Rules differing from "LAB" Usages and Rules, by Jacqueline Challet-Haas; A Fundamental Difference Between Kinetography Laban and Labanotation by Ilene Fox; Degrees of Folding the Torso by Ann Hutchinson Guest.

2001, Twenty-Second Conference

(Note: This document contains page numbers on the papers that do not match the page numbers given in the table of contents.)

Topics: Technical Report; To Caret of Not To Caret, That is the Question by Sandra Aberkalns and Ilene Fox; Readings in Kinetography Laban – KIN Usage Relating to Column Consistency, Floorwork, Pins, and Indications for the Hand and its Parts by Jacqueline Challet-Haas. Christine Eckerle, and Anja Hirvikallio; Indications for Freedom of Interpretation by Ray Cook; Space Measurement–New Signs by Ann Hutchinson Guest; Movement Signs Across Contexts by Sheila Marion.

2004, Twenty-Third Conference

Topics: Technical Report (A New Sign for the Body-as-a-Whole by Ann Hutchinson Guest, A Generic Indication for Revolving on a Straight Path by Ann Hutchinson Guest, An Indication for the Motion of Flexing and Extending by Ann Hutchinson Guest, Space Measurement Specified by Ann Hutchinson Guest, Use of the Body Columns by Ann Hutchinson Guest).

2005, Twenty-Fourth Conference

Topics: Report from the Research Panel (Step Gesture Analysis, Workshop on "Upper Body Movement Analysis" by Noelle Simonet, Ad Lib and Freedom of Interpretation by Karin Hermes); Interpreting Timing Conventions in Labanotation by Ilene Fox and Rhonda Ryman; Upper Body Movement Analysis by Noelle Simonet; Ad Lib and Freedom of Interpretation by Karin Hermes; A Proposal for New Symbols for the Head and its Parts by Carl Wolz.

2007, Twenty-Fifth Conference

Topics: Technical Report (A Simplified Use of Consecutive Foot Hooks by Janos Fugedi, Unit Timing of Touching Gestures by Janos Fugedi); A Simplified Use of Consecutive Foot Hooks by Janos Fugedi; Traveling Arial Turns Arriving on Both Legs by Janos Fugedi; Notation of Leg Circles by Janos Fugedi; Unit Timing of Touching Gestures by Janos Fugedi.

Resources and Riches: Dance Notation Bureau

2011-08-31T16:08:00.002-04:00

Submitted by Mei-Chen Lu - August 31, 2011

This is a post print of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the Dance Chronicle: Studies in Dance and the Related Arts © 2009 Taylor & Francis; Dance Chronicle is available online at: www.tandfonline.com

Note:

Because this article was published in 2009, there are a number of changes took effect afterward–

The theory meeting minutes are available to view at http://dnbtheorybb.blogspot.com/search/label/Minutes%20for%20Theory%20Meeting%20Thread

Now the Notated Theatrical Dances Catalog is available online at http://dancenotation.org/catalog/

For staging inquires, please contact Alice Helpern at alicehelpern@dancenotation.org

RESOURCES AND RICHES:

DANCE NOTATION BUREAU
by Mei-Chen Lu

The Dance Notation Bureau (DNB), founded in 1940, occupies a series of rooms with staff working on different projects and activities in a high-rise office building near the Wall Street financial district in New York City. With a name ending in “Bureau,” people always imagine that there are hundreds of workers. The size of the DNB is actually small: there are nine staff members with several volunteers and interns handling the staging contracts, dance notation projects, educational programs, library loans, and grant applications. The DNB is the only organization in the United States dedicated to the promotion, preservation, documentation, and study of human movement and dance through a symbol system called Labanotation, named after its inventor, Hungarian dancer and theorist, Rudolf Laban (1879-1958).

Labanotation scores function for dance in the same way as music scores do for music. Typically, the Labanotation score of a dance composition is created by the time the work is staged on a company that is not familiar with the dance. It contains the analysis of movements, floor patterns, and information about motivations and nuances that are transmitted as the work is being refined by the choreographer or stager. The score is laid out in measures on a staff corresponding to the music measures. These detailed scores give permanency to a work by allowing the dance to be performed or studied long after the lifetime of the artist who created that work.

Dance Notation Bureau History

During the 1920s and 1930s, Laban's system for notating movement was introduced in the United States by Irma Otte-Betz and Irmgard Bartenieff. At that time, the recording of dance held little interest for most choreographers, teachers, or dancers, but the teaching, lecturing and writing of these two enthusiastic individuals created the opportunity for the system to become known and used. Their co-authored book, Elementary Studies in Laban's Dance Script, which they themselves published in 1937, was the first that contained reading materials in Laban's notation. Four other women—Ann Hutchinson (afterward, Ann Hutchinson Guest), Helen Priest, Eve Gentry (then known as Henrietta Greenhood) and Janey Price—all of whom had studied Labanotation with different masters in Europe and the United States, soon joined those advocating dance notation. On May 15, 1940 these four met to exchange their knowledge of notation and discuss differences in usage, which had not yet been addressed in the United States. This meeting was also attended by two other influential people: Hanya Holm, choreographer and pupil of Laban's famous student, Mary Wigman, and John Martin, dance critic of the New York Times and notation advocate. Martin encouraged them to form a center, suggesting the name Dance Notation Bureau, with the purpose of standardizing Laban's system, and Holm offered her dance school as the DNB’s first official mailing address. Both of them served as advisors for the DNB.

The DNB started without members and formalities. Each founder contributed ten dollars to begin the new organization. All volunteered to work toward the goal of standardizing Laban's notation system. To guide the Bureau's activities, seven aims were identified:

to act as a clearing house, research, and work center,
to standardize the Laban notation (as it was then called),
to teach dance notation,
to issue diplomas to those qualified to teach and to notate,
to record dances and ballets,
to form a library of dance works, and
to perpetuate dance through the use of notation.

Two years later, Eugene Loring commissioned the DNB to notate his ballet, Billy the Kid, in order to establish his ownership of the choreography. Hutchinson, with the assistance of Priest and Anne Wilson, who was a member of Loring's company and later became a board member of the DNB, notated the work. This was the first ballet to be recorded in the United States using Laban's notation system.

Through the dedication of the Bureau’s founders, the dance world slowly started accepting dance notation. In 1948, George Balanchine, who had a strong interest in notating his own choreography, contacted Hutchinson to study notation. This request resulted in the DNB notating his ballets as they were set on the Ballet Society, predecessor to the New York City Ballet. At that time, the dance scores were only regarded as records and the works were still staged from memory, as a teacher or dancer worked with another dancer. It was not until much later that notation proved its real value for choreographers or stagers to mount a dance directly from a notation score. In 1958, the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in New York City staged Balanchine's Symphony in C from the Labanotation score. This was the first of many stagings from scores in both ballet and modern dance.

Renowned modern dance choreographer Doris Humphrey was also convinced of the value of notation. She had created her own system for recording dance but was not able to fully develop it. When introduced to Labanotation, she became a supporter. Her dance, the Shakers, was notated in 1948 by Hutchinson and Els Grelinger in Humphrey’s repertory class in New York City. In the following years, many of her works, including Variations and Conclusion from New Dance, Partita V, Desert Gods from Song of the West, Soaring, Water Study, With My Red Fires, and Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, were also notated in her repertory classes at Dance Players Studio, the Juilliard School, and the Connecticut College Summer School of Dance. Ritmo Jondo, Day on Earth, and Night Spell, which Humphrey created for the José Limón Company, were documented in Labanotation when she served as choreographer and artistic director of Limón’s company. Today, the total number of performances of Humphrey’s choreography staged from Labanotation scores has exceeded sixteen hundred.

In 1950, Hanya Holm’s Kiss Me Kate in Labanotation form achieved a milestone when it secured copyright for the choreographer under the dramatic-musical composition category (choreographic classification did not exist at this time). By means of a Labanotated score, choreographers had finally gained the right of protection of their creations because such scores, like videotapes and DVDs, represent an ephemeral art form in the tangible format required by the United States Copyright Office.

After its efforts at standardizing the notation system and its success in creating notated dance scores, the DNB was able, in 1952, to fulfill another of its seven goals—that of forming a library. In 1968, Lucy Venable, then the DNB president, accepted a teaching position at the Ohio State University (OSU). Venable, with dance department chair Helen P. Alkire, formed the DNB Extension for Education and Research within the OSU Department of Dance. Due to then unstable finances at the DNB, which relied on support from intermittent government grants and private foundations to maintain notation projects and other activities, Venable brought to OSU the original DNB scores where, it was thought, the materials would be more safely housed. OSU made two photocopies of the original scores: one copy remains at the DNB and the other is in the New York Public Library. Since 1969, newly acquired original manuscripts have been stored in the DNB Library in New York City, now occupying a space that is approximately 400 square feet.

In the 1970s, the DNB created the Dance Notation Bureau Press to publish notation scores and books. Doris Humphrey: The Collected Works (notated by Hutchinson, Grelinger, Odette Blum, Muriel Topaz, and Jane Marriet) was the first of a series of notated dances that was made available for purchase by the artist’s consent. Over the course of thirty years, a number of textbooks for Labanotation and Movement Analysis were issued: Elementary Labanotation: A Study Guide (Topaz), Study Guide for Intermediate Labanotation (Marriet and Topaz), Elementary and Intermediate Reading Studies (Elementary: Topaz; Intermediate: Peggy Hackney, Sarah Manno, and Topaz), Readings in Modern Dance (vol. 1: Jane Edelson, et al.; vol. 2: Michele Varon), Space Harmony (Cecily Dell, Aileen Crow, and Bartenieff), Methods of Perceiving Patterns of Small Group Behavior (Martha Davis), Primer for Movement Description Using Effort-Shape (Dell), and many others. These books are available for purchase through the Dance Horizons website, www.dancehorizons.com.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the concept of a notation score was expanded from a simple score of recorded choreography to a complete package including dance production information. Ann Hutchinson Guest recalled that Herbert Kummel, the first executive director of the DNB, commented that the dance score was incomplete. He pointed out that music, costume, lighting, sets, props, movement style, casting, and other information, which assisted a stager to realize the dance on stage, needed to be carefully documented as well. The majority of scores now include the production information in the score's introduction. Materials that do not fit in the score's introduction are assembled separately as a supplementary package, accompanying the Labanotation score when it is staged.

From 1970 to 1989, a total of 400 scores were submitted to the DNB Library. The works of Gerald Arpino, Balanchine, Laura Dean, Bill T. Jones, Kurt Jooss, Bob Fosse, Hanya Holm, José Limón, Donald McKayle, Agnes de Mille, Alwin Nikolais, David Parsons, Moses Pendleton, Anna Solokow, Antony Tudor, and others were notated through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with private foundations.

The DNB continues to act as the center of theory development in Labanotation. Since the 1980s, the DNB has regularly hosted theory meetings for notation professionals to discuss developments in the use of the symbols. The minutes for these meetings are posted on the DNB's website: http://www.dancenotation.org/thoerybb/index.html. In 1999, the Dance Heritage Coalition included the DNB in its America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: the First 100. The DNB has also begun to focus on new choreographers, adding the works of Robert Battle, Peter Quanz, and others to its collections.

DNB Library

The DNB Library was established in 1952. Lucy Venable, then a part-time DNB staff member and a professional dancer with the José Limón Dance Company, volunteered to organize, manage, and catalogue two file drawers of Labanotation scores and other notations with advice from Genevieve Oswald, then curator of the Dance Division at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The DNB Library now maintains the world’s most substantial collection of dance and movement notation, including folk and nonwestern dance scores, information on current and historical notation systems, technique studies, educational materials, examples of notating sports, and studies of animal movement patterns. The backbone of the library is its unique collection of over 760 Labanotation scores of notated theatrical dances. They represent more than 210 choreographers, among them Alvin Ailey, Balanchine, Battle, Agnes De Mille, William Forsythe, Martha Graham, Humphrey, Lin Hwai-min, Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Anna Sokolow, and Tudor. In addition to the Labanotation scores, the DNB Library collects supplementary information, including marked music scores, costume patterns, fabric swatches, light plots and cue sheets, prop and set information, newspaper clippings, programs, photographs, correspondence, rehearsal or performance videos, and music cassettes and CDs. Each year, the library adds to its comprehensive collection five to ten new scores produced by staff or contracted notators and acquired through donations. Through this rich collection, the Bureau assists twenty to thirty stagings from Labanotation score yearly, and lends approximately 200 dance scores and their supplementary materials for educational and research purposes.

The Library is divided into three categories: the Marjorie Isaac Archive, the Research Collection and the Maria Grandy Circulating Collection. The Marjorie Isaac Archive, occupying sixty-five cubic feet, is a manuscript repository of over 760 original Labanotation scores, along with subsequent notation and choreographic revisions and editions. Original manuscripts, together with handwritten pencil scores and computer-generated LabanWriter scores, are inventoried and stored in acid-free folders and boxes.

The DNB Library has an ongoing cooperative effort with the NYPL and Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at OSU to microfilm original Labanotation scores. The microfilm negative is stored in the NYPL vault. The NYPL and OSU each keep one positive copy of the microfilm.

The Research Collection, along with the Marjorie Isaac Archive, is the heart of the DNB Library. Materials in the Research Collection are available, sometimes requiring permission from artists or their representatives, to researchers, stagers and students. The Research Collection has several components, the largest being the Master File (ninety cubic feet). This contains a copy of the original Labanotation score photocopied onto acid-free paper, which is the master preservation copy. It also contains materials that supplement the notated score: a marked music score, costume sketches and/or fabric swatches, light plots, set information, programs, newspaper clippings, photographs and correspondence, which would not fit in the introduction of the score. Only the production information is assembled as a package and lent to stagers. The rest of the materials may be accessed, with supervision, at the DNB library. The primary source of the Labanotation score together with the above-mentioned supplementary materials provides vital information about a particular dance to stagers, researchers, and students that can be found only at the DNB Library.

The Research Collection also includes audiovisual materials that supplement the Labanotation score. Examples are reel to reel tapes (ten cubic feet), LP vinyl records (two cubic feet), audio cassettes (twelve cubic feet), music CDs (seven cubic feet), videotapes (forty cubic feet), and DVDs (five cubic feet).

In addition, there are other components in this collection, including the Richard Holden Collection of dances in Benesh Movement Notation (four cubic feet), the Publications Archive of the DNB journals, newsletters and bulletins (nine cubic feet), the photography collection (two cubic feet), as well as the Research Files on different notation usages and other notation systems (four cubic feet).

The Maria Grandy Circulating Collection is named after a former DNB board chair who was also the first ballet mistress* to learn Labanotation. She staged many works from scores and trained dancers with the aid of notation. The main component of the circulating collection is notated theatrical dances, which consist of photocopies of the Labanotation score (1000 items) and materials related to the score, such as music scores (500 items), music CDs (150 items), videotapes (250 items), DVDs (175 items), and other supplementary materials (50 items) designed to enhance the user's understanding of the dance. The circulating scores may have certain restrictions set by the choreographers or their estate. According to their wishes, the score may be made available for study, research, or staging. The DNB often serves as a liaison between the choreographer (or estate) and those who wish to use the score.

Currently, the catalog of notated theatrical dances is available for download on the DNB's website http://www.dancenotation.org/DNB/library/ntd.html. The DNB has been working to make the catalog of the dance scores searchable online for stagers, researchers, students, teachers and DNB members.

The library also circulates dance notation books, including Labanotation texts in foreign languages, books on other notation systems, and assorted dances published in various notation systems. In addition, it has a sizable collection of curriculum materials, such as theory examples, repertory excerpts, sample course outlines, and visual aids. The Technique Research File includes information on advanced theory topics as well as recent developments in the Labanotation system adopted by the International Council of Kinetography Laban, an organization formed in 1959 to assure the consistency and continued development of the Labanotation system. The World Dance Collection has dances from Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. Scores range from one to one hundred pages in length.

The DNB Library is staffed by a full-time librarian and is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm by appointment. Evening and weekend appointments may be arranged under special circumstances. The library is open year round with the exception of major holidays. Research questions about notation, specific choreographers, or dances can be submitted to Mei-Chen Lu, Director of Library Services, by telephone (212-571-7011) or email (library@dancenotation.org). Staging inquiries can be sent to Kristin Jackson, Director of Programs, at kristinjackson@dancenotation.org.

* Grandy danced primarily with the Robert Joffrey Theater Ballet, and she staged works from Labanotation scores for companies throughout the world. See her obituary by Jack Anderson, “Maria Grandy, 61, Ballet Coach And Head of Notation Bureau.“ New York Times, April 1, 1998.

Knust Collection

2011-08-24T11:03:00.006-04:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile – August 24, 2011

As part of a recent LabanTalk thread about online notation resources, Marion Bastien wrote about the “Collection Knust.” This wonderful treasure trove contains 204 short scores written or collected by Albrecht Knust in various styles (folk dances, ballet, modern dance, and choral dances, etc.). The scores are available on the website of the French National Centre for Dance. The web site is in French. An English translation of it can be found here.

Jeffrey Scott Longstaff’s Web Site

2011-08-11T14:24:00.008-04:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - August 11, 2011

Everyone interested in Laban-based concepts and applications should take a look at Jeffrey Scott Longstaff’s website, which contains numerous informative and thought provoking publications.

For example, a recent addition is Longstaff, J. S. (2011), Rudolf Laban's (1926) Choreographie - Origins of a Conception of Body-Space, which includes an English translation of Choreographie by Evamaria Zierach and Jeffrey Scott Longstaff.

Language of Dance Centre - New Forum

2011-07-31T18:34:00.004-04:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - July 31, 2011

Lisa Marucci has created a new forum for the Language of Dance Centre web site. The forum gives notation practitioners a place to record corrections/comments about the Labanotation textbook, written by Ann Hutchinson Guest. It is free to access and available by following this link:

http://www.lodc.org/resources/labanotation-2/labanotation-2005-corrections/forum/topic/4/9/1/145.html

Vitalizing Dance Legacy Through the Use of Labanotation as a Staging Tool

2011-07-23T13:43:00.001-04:00

Submitted by Mei-Chen Lu – July 23, 2011

Elizabeth McPherson, Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, wrote an article about the process of staging Helen Tamiris's Negro Spirituals and Donald McKayle's Games from Labanotation scores and the benefit of using the scores as a tool. Her article is published in Journal of Dance Education, Volume 11, Issue 1, 2011. © 2011 Taylor & Francis (Journal of Dance Education is available online at: www.tandfonline.com).

In her abstract, she stated:

In the 21st century, carrying dance legacy forward and exploring it to provide depth and understanding of the continuum of dance helps ensure that our current and future practice has a scaffold on which to grow and thrive. This article begins by exploring the importance of staging dances from the past to keep dance legacy alive as well as the unique benefits of employing Labanotation as a tool. This discussion is followed by a description of the process of staging a dance from Labanotation from the director's perspective with the specific examples of the author's stagings of Donald McKayle's Games (1951) and Helen Tamiris's Negro Spirituals (1928–1942) at Montclair State University.

To view the full article, please go here.

Response to Billie Mahoney

2011-06-09T14:43:00.001-04:00

Some Remarks to Billie Mahoney’s e-mailed comments on the November 2010 minutes titled
“To the DNB Theory Discussions. (written last week, Feb 1-6, 2011)”

Submitted by János Fügedi - June 9, 2011

1. First of all I have to thank Billie her comments, especially because her analysis and notations enlightened for me that the tap “brush” should NOT be regarded a transient touch. I will discuss this approach in detail later.

2. I also owe thank to her for calling my attention to Lucy Venable’s paper (with examples by P. Heale and B. Mahoney) discussed at the 1969 ICKL (see Conference Proceedings 1959-1977, ICKL 1969, 13). Unfortunately the examples, which could be relevant from the point of the present discussion (17-21), are missing from the cited edition of ICKL Proceedings.

3. I will refer to certain sentences of Billie Mahoney’s comments by paragraph numbers - even if such numbers are missing from the document - like this: BM, page 1. par. 4., and notation examples as e.g. BM Ex.3d.

4. BM, page 1. par. 4.: “Jańos’ paper to change transit contacts to accommodate his beginning students”

I have never mentioned beginning students, especially not in connection with “transit contact”. (Nota bene: the movement Billie is referring to is called “transient touch”, see Hutchinson Guest Labanotation 2005, 183. In the following I will use Hutchinson Guest’s term, even if Billie keep on calling it “transit contact”.) Quite the contrary, I reasoned for system simplification because (almost) all the advanced students made mistakes when they had to follow the convention of exact timing to notate touching gestures.

5. BM, page 1. par. 4.: “His supposed knowledge of tap dance from watching an internet video is not acceptable!”

I have neither supposed nor any other (e.g. definite) knowledge of tap dance beyond I just like watching it as a spectacular and virtuoso dance form. I showed and analyzed some sections of tap recordings in Mexico, which I found on the net to illustrate tap “brush”. The source was indicated on the slides of my presentation. Gianin Loringett, French dancer, choreographer, dance teacher was dancing, who is a professor of jazz dance at the Centre OFFJAZZ in Nice, also professor of the Conservatoire national e Région de Nice (source of information:

http://www.offjazz.com/tap/loringett.htm)

When Billie saw his dancing in my presentation in Mexico, she stated that the clips were sloppy tap performances. I can’t judge it, Billie is the expert. Anyone can watch and form an opinion; the lessons still can be seen here:

http://www.offjazz.com/vid-tap.htm - under the title “Get into the tap!”

After some search on the net I used these examples because I could download them free. Other sites I found with tap dance content needed money transfer for downloads. I’d be happy if anyone (e.g. Billie) could offer visual representation of tap “brush” to analyze.

6. BM, page 4. par. 8 and BM, page 7. Ex.3 and 4: Let me call your attention to a terming difficulty. Billie stated on page 4, that “All examples are written in ‘unit’ timing”, while the writing method of BM Ex. 3c, 3d follows Knust’s convention (first published in his Abriss 1956, 60): the hooks are placed where (when) the contacts really happen, that is these indications represent specific (exact) timings. We have to know from agreement that while specific timing is used for the hook, unit timing is used for the direction sign, the two together are meant to indicate a movement (a “brush”) regarded as a transient touch. In Ex.3e, Ex.3f, and Ex.4 the hooks appear at the end of the direction symbols. Now we have to know from agreement that this placement intends to indicate terminating touch and – here really – unit timing is used.

7. The conflict of simultaneous use of the two notation concepts is more obvious in Hutchinson Guest’s Ex. 292a (Hutchinson Guest Labanotation 2005, 183). The right leg must be moved from its side low starting direction to reach the ground on beat 1 prior the beat, but notation of the direction symbol starts on the beat, therefore the method used is unit timing. However the transient contact must happen on the beat, which is represented by the hook in specific (exact) timing. Understanding the intended movement content certainly needs special convention.

8. Timing of direction and contact signs is a difficult problem of Labanotation, heavily conventionalized in other notation situations as well, not just in the one mentioned above. When we, Gábor Misi and I discovered this fact, we started to investigate the problem of indicating touching gestures. During our work I had to realize sadly that my paper presented in Mexico was rather a brave than a really established sortie in this field. So we compiled a paper which Gábor presented at the 2009 ICKL conference in Bangkok, and a revised version of his presentation was completed for the 2009 ICKL Proceedings. Since the proceedings should have been printed by now, but has not been yet, we made a PDF version of the paper which is enclosed here.

9. The complexity of the problem forced me to reconsider my former, 2009 findings. The enclosed paper doesn’t give any solution, only summarizes the types of floor contact with the foot, compares usages, points out difficulties, calls attention to certain advantages or disadvantages. It is not an easy reading, perhaps even advanced notation practitioners need to focus as well to follow its line. From the point of view of the present arguing, let me call your attention to some of the main points:

10. Entry 5: The present understanding of indicating touching gestures stems from Albrecht Knust (see his Abriss 1956, 60). He introduced his rule of giving timing significance to the place of a hook on a direction sign in 1963 to ICKL, where it was recognized as “useful and comprehensive” (Conference Proceedings 1959-1977, ICKL 1963, 24).

11. Entry 10: After comparing exact timing, unit timing, and what I proposed in Mexico, we came to the conclusion, that none of them is capable to meet the three visual requirements raised in Entry 6, 7 and 8, which can be expected from the positions of foot hooks and direction signs compared to the musical order or to each other to indicate touching gestures.

12. Entry 19: Here we accepted the requirement for a transient touch – as a movement intention, just as the Minutes February 9, 2011 stated. (If we have a closer look Ann’s transient touch presentation on the embedded YouTube video, we can find that the first performance showed two opposite movements. Direction opposition separates movements. If at the end of one the touch is terminating, no matter how fast we move away from the point of contact, that contact would not be transient. In the second performance Ann made a ritardando-accelerando pair – a performance method similar to separating two consecutive non-legato movements. Worded another way, she left a possibility open for those, who rather avoid transient touch indication and prefer indicating it as a separate action.)

13. Entry 20: We questioned whether it is worth reserving a simple and easily understandable notation indication for transient touches. We stated that the transient touch is an “uncommon and almost unperformable movement phenomenon”. I still think so.

14. Entry 48: In our concluding paragraph we wrote, that “A special research is also needed to discover the difference between the execution and mental perception of movements”. We meant the timing difference, of course. This was the subject of a survey with dance student made during the last months, and which I will present at the next ICKL conference in Budapest. In this survey I was searching the reason of the already mentioned constant mistakes in notating touching gestures. The research hypothesis is, that not the physical process, but the result of movement gets conscious attention, of which a consequence is, that movement rhythm is represented in our mind as if it was “mind-notated” in unit timing.

15. Now let me investigate Billie’s notation as an outsider, whose field is analyzing traditional way of European dancing (though as far as I know tap dance is rooted in and originated from Irish tradition and Juba, see e.g. Hill’s Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History, 2010).

16. In BM Ex.3b. Billie states the tap is a result of a dynamic folding of the ankle (and, of course, of some lowering of the leg, because at the indicated level the toe would not reach the floor). Both the forward folding and the contact are cancelled right after their first appearance to withdraw their validity.

17. (A side note: as I learnt from Mária Szentpál, the cancellation of a dynamic contact is unnecessary, since in most dance practices the rebound – as a result of the hit – is automatic, especially in traditional dancing. I think it is the same in tap as well. Billie can tell us, is or is not a usual practice a kept contact in tap after a dynamic touch. We in Hungary indicate the rare case of the contact-keeping hit with a body hold above the hook.)

18. In BM Ex.3d we can see the same notation for the dynamic contact with the toe, with the same ankle folding-unfolding. The only difference between the two examples is, that the leg was moving place low (back, below the ankle), from its forward low position.

19. Notation of BM Ex.3d clearly states, that two movement concepts (a tap and a leg gesture), which might be performed separately as well, are performed at the same time, more accurately stated, the two movements are in superimposition.

20. Conclusively, BM Ex.3d, the “brush” – and let’s forget about the name implying sliding – has nothing to do with the concept of the transient touch, even if it may look so. With this approach it is all the same, how much the toe is sliding (sloppy) or how fast the tap is (brilliant), the point is the exact rhythm of the sound and the performing the direction with the leg.

21. Superimposition of movements is a favorite “tool” in traditional dance creation (and tap, again, can’t deny its roots in this respect either). I discovered the practice of movement superimposition, when I realized that springs can be classified by three different, but not exclusive ways, since the concepts are frequently mixed (I published it as “Springs in Traditional Dance: An Analysis and Clarification. Studia Musicologica 1999, 159-188.” A former, less elaborated version was released in the 1997 ICKL Proceedings, 40-76.)

22. If we have a closer look at BM Ex. 3b, 3b’, 3d and 4d’, we can notice that the hook is not attached to the direction sign. Even this way of notation indicates clearly the two different movement concepts, the tap with the specific timing of the floor contact, and the direction into which the leg arrives (well, in practice slightly later than the contact is performed).

23. (I would like to avoid now the extremely difficult notation philosophical question of what a direction sign means in our system, because direction sign use definitely doesn’t follow the commonplace-close topos of “start of movement = start of direction sign, end of movement = end of direction sign”.)

24. Conclusively, Billie can’t lose any of the validity of her former notations, no matter how we conduct or conclude our research with Gábor. Quite the contrary, her usage of separating the hook from the direction sign to indicate exact timing for contact is a long desired possibility for me, but before proposing it, we really would like to investigate all the possible ways of notating touching gestures. And - as we stated at the end of our joint paper enclosed here – we do “not feel possessing the competence to solve the … tasks in all genres of dance. … Completeness in genre can be achieved only in cooperation with representatives of other genres of dance”.

References

Conference Proceedings 1959-1977, An ICKL Publication, 1996

Fügedi, János & Misi, Gábor: Ways of notating floor touching gestures with the foot. Unpublished manuscript.

Fügedi, János: Springs in Traditional Dance: An Analysis and Clarification. Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 40/1-3, 1999, 159-188.

Fügedi János: An Analysis and Classification of Springs. Proceedings of the Twentieth Biennial Conference of the International Council of Kinetography Laban, August 9 – August 14, 1997, held at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, p.41-76.

Hill, Constance Valis. Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History, Oxford University Press, 2010

Hutchinson Guest, Ann: Labanotation. A System of Analyzing and Recording Movement. (Fourth edition) Routledge, New York and London, 2005

Knust, Albrecht: Abriss der Kinetographie Laban. Verlag Das Tanzarchiv, Hamburg, 1956

Ways of Notating Floor Touching Gestures with the Foot

2011-06-09T14:40:00.000-04:00

Submitted by János Fügedi - June 9, 2011

János Fügedi and Gábor Misi have made their paper "Ways of Notating Floor Touching Gestures with the Foot" available on the Bulletin Board.

To see the paper go here.

Minutes for the Open Theory Meeting, February 9, 2011

2011-05-23T15:04:00.000-04:00

Minutes for the Open Theory Meeting, February 9, 2011

Following are minutes for the Open Theory Meeting held at the Dance Notation Bureau, February 9, 2011. The minutes were written by Charlotte Wile.

Present: Sandra Aberkalns, Keisha Bolden, Zack Brown, Ray Cook, William Kiley, Caity Gwin, Ann Hutchinson Guest, Oona Haaranen, Alice Helpern, Mira Kim, Lynne Weber, Charlotte Wile.

TOPICS

1) Ann Guest’s Lecture on “Weight.”

2) Timing and Placement of Symbols in Relation to Ticks.

3) November 2010 Minutes - Comments from Billie Mahoney.

4) ICKL

1.1 TOPIC # 1: Ann Guest’s Lecture on “Weight”

1.2 The first part of the meeting was used to make an experimental video of Ann giving an advanced level lecture on “Weight.” The DNB is exploring the idea of using such videos for advanced notation study materials.

1.3 Ann’s presentation was extremely thorough and included many of the topics in Center of Weight: Advanced Labonotation, Issue 7, by Ann Hutchinson Guest and Joukje Kolff. The lecture was too long to be described here in detail. An example of what Ann talked about is shown in Video 1 below. (Here and elsewhere in the minutes, to make a video larger, click the "YouTube" icon on the right bottom of the video.)

2.1 TOPIC #2: Timing and Placement of Symbols in Relation to Ticks

2.2 This discussion was a continuation of the discussion in the November 17, 2010 minutes (Topic #2) concerning the placement and timing of symbols in relation to tic marks.

2.3 Charlotte asked Ann to clarify two issues: 1) Where should a direction sign in the support column be written in relation to the tic mark? E.g., is it written on the tic mark or just after it? 2) Where does the timing for the direction sign begin? Does it coincide with the tic mark? In other words, any gaps between the tic mark and direction sign (due to hook placement, separation of direction signs, or some other reason) would not be included in the timing. Or does it coincide with the beginning of the direction sign (even when the direction sign is written after the tick mark?).

2.4 Ann said that the direction sign should touch the tick mark. It looks better if the direction sign has its own bottom line, but if it covers the tick mark, the meaning is the same. If there is any space between symbols, it is so minor that its time value is insignificant.

2.5 In discussing this issue, Ex 2a was considered. The gap is needed to show that there are two separate directions in the movement. Without the gap (Ex 2b) the notation would have a different meaning.

2.6 Everyone agreed that the first symbol in Ex 2a has the same time value as the second symbol. In other words, the gap is included in the overall time value of the indications.

2.7 However, there still remained some confusion about where the beat occurs in the notation. Ray said that if there were no symbols on the staff, the beat would happen on the tick mark. Ann replied that it occurs immediately after it, not on it. She said a tic mark is like a fence in a garden. It is used to divide the garden.

2.8 The orthography of 2c was discussed. Caity wondered if the gap was needed. Lynne said the gap is used for clarity of reading. Sandra said the gap would only be needed when you have two flat edged symbols sitting on top of each other. In forward steps, as in 2c, you don’t have that problem and the gaps are not necessary. Ann said the gap is needed so that the tic marc can be seen. Without a gap, as in 2d, tic mark may not be visible.

3.1 TOPIC #3: November 2010 Minutes - Comments from Billie Mahoney

3.2 Just before the meeting Billie Mahoney e-mailed comments on the November 2010 minutes. Unfortunately, it was not possible for Billie’s comments to be distributed before the meeting and there wasn’t enough time to read them thoroughly during the meeting or to respond to all the issues that she discussed. The group decided to just focus on the issue of transient foot contacts without sliding. Billie’s entire e-mail can be seen here.

3.3 On page 4 Billie wrote, “For clarification, ex. 3a-d) explain tap dance movements in contrast to János’ understanding. THERE IS NO SLIDING IN FOOT CONTACTS! (only with sloppy execution, which takes many hours of class time drilling to overcome.)The detailed execution is shown first, with the prime (’) examples showing the simplified way of writing.” [Billie’s examples are shown here below, reformatted for the blog]

[end of Billie’s comments]

3.4 At the meeting Ann said the indication for a leg gesture with a single contact hook, as in 3e below, indicates a leg movement that ends free of the floor (a “V” shaped path, as in 3f). The untrained person would probably touch and then do a tiny bit of sliding before they lift the leg (the path would be curved at the bottom, as in 3g). Billie wants such indications to represent a single touch, without sliding (as in 3f).

3.5 Charlotte said that in János Fügedi’s 2007 ICKL paper “Unit Timing of Touching Gestures” he says a single touch without sliding is not possible. There would always be some sliding, even in tap dance. [See this online copy of the paper, p. 6. The paper is also in the 2007 ICKL Proceedings, pp. 33-48].

3.6 Ann asserted that doing the movement as a single touch without sliding is possible. It requires skill, a special flexibility in the ankle so you can touch and then let go. You need to be trained in the [tap dance] style.

3.7 Zack said that in terms of physics, it is impossible to not slide a little when you touch. He asked Ann what she meant by “touching.”

3.8 Ann again said it is possible for Billie to touch without sliding because of what happens in her ankle. See Ann demonstrating this in Video 2 below. (Unfortunately, the video doesn’t show the ankle movement very well, but hopefully it will still help clarify what she said. Starting on the left side of the screen, going around the table, it shows Lynne, Ann, Caity, Zack. Also, Ray and Charlotte are heard in the back ground.)

3.9 Charlotte said that awhile back, when the group was discussing János’s papers, she, Mira Kim, Mei-Chen Lu, and Emile Way did an experiment to explore transient touches vs. sliding touches. They videotaped themselves doing a transient leg gesture. First they did the movement attempting to not have any sliding, and then they did it with slight sliding. Unfortunately, on the video it was hard to see whether or not there was sliding in the “non-sliding” movements. However, they felt the sliding and non-sliding movements did look and feel different. In other words, even if there was some sliding in the “non-sliding” movements, performing them with different intents affected the execution of the movement. We had originally planned to put the video on YouTube, but decided not to because the subtlety of differences between movements was not visible when the video was put online.

3.10 Ann said she and Billie disagree about the use of the single hook. Billie wants Ex 3e to always mean no sliding, as in the way she uses it for notating tap dance. In contrast, Ann says in 3e a bit of sliding is permitted, as in the way people without tap training would do the movement. If you want to specify sliding, you write it as in 3h. If you want to specify no sliding, you write it as in 3i.

3.11 Ray: Regardless of how much training you have had, according to the meaning of the touch sign, 3e should not be read as “it’s OK to slide.” If there is always going to be sliding, why do you need a symbol for touch? If 3e can be interpreted in two different ways, then you are in trouble.

3.12 Ann clarified that she feels the single hooked symbol indicates that you intend to do a single touch, but without special training you will end up doing a tiny slide. If you definitely want to have no sliding, then you would write 3h.

3.13 Sandra: When you wear point shoes it is easier to touch without sliding, as in tap. If you are on demi- pointe, it becomes harder.

3.14 Charlotte: We should keep in mind János’s perspective on the issue, including his exploration of gestural touching in “Ways of Notating Floor Touching Gestures with the Foot,” by János Fügedi & Gábor Misi” (I believe the article was written for the 2009 ICKL conference, but I’m not sure if it has been published yet). As I understand it, among other things, the paper proposes using a release sign, as in 3i, to indicate transient touches (without sliding). This would mean the single hook symbol without a release sign (as in 3e) could be used for other purposes (e.g., see János’s paper “Unit Timing of Touching Gestures”).

3.15 Sandra: If a dancer does a tendu several times, each one will be different. But the underlying movement is the tendu. That is what you are writing.

3.16 Zack reiterated that according to physics the movement will always have a slide. What you are writing is what you intend to do, regardless of whether or not it in fact contains sliding. So it doesn’t matter whether or not there is sliding.

3.17 Ann said it does matter, because, as she said earlier, in Billie’s performance of tap there is indeed no sliding because of the foot and ankle action.

3.18 Sandra said that such style issues should always be glossarized to make sure it is clear what is meant by the symbols.

3.19 Ray said that it may be that in order to do the movement without the slide, you need to flex the ankle. If you do it without the foot action, you would slide.

3.20 Lynne said the surface you are moving on also makes a difference. If you have a harder surface, such as a tap shoe, the movement is more likely to have a bounce to it, without sliding. The movement will rebound off the floor. (The discussion in paragraphs 3.16 -3.20 can be seen in Video 3 below. The video shows, from left to right: minute .10 - Caity, Zack, Charlotte; minute .45 – Ann; , minute 1.21-Sandra talks in the background; minute 1.42 – Zack, Ray, Charlotte, Oona; minute 2.05 – Lynne.)

3.21 Charlotte said that if intending to slide produces movement that is different from when you do not intend to slide, then there should be a way to show those different intentions. The question we are struggling with is, how should those different intentions be indicated?

3.22 Lynne: Composers sometimes write things that are impossible for the musicians to do. They are written to show intent rather than what can actually be done. And then sometimes in the future people acquire phenomenal technique and can actually do them.

3.23 Sandra: Also, the tempo of the music is going to determine a lot because the faster the music is, the more bound you are muscularly, which means you will probably rebound more. When the music is slower the muscles react differently.

4.1 TOPIC #4: ICKL

4.2 The last few minutes of the meeting were devoted to bringing everyone up to date on plans for the upcoming ICKL conference. The idea of having Motif Notation included in ICKL theoretical discussions was promoted at the last meeting. Charlotte intends to follow through by submitting a Motif Notation theory paper on “altitudes.” Also, the possibility of having long distance participation in the conference via Skype is being investigated.

4.3 Charlotte said the project of scanning all the ICKL technical papers is coming along. Eventually the facsimiles will be posted on the Theory Bulletin Board so that the papers will be more widely available.

African Dance

2011-05-10T17:14:00.006-04:00

Submitted by Doris Green – May 10, 2011

In 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act that mandated the inclusion of courses on Black and minority studies into the curriculum of colleges and universities on a nationwide level. Any educational institution not in compliance would risk the loss of Federal funding.

At that time I was an undergraduate student in Brooklyn College where I studied Labanotation. Department chairmen scrambled to find what courses they could offer to be in compliance with the federal mandate. When questioned I suggested that African dance and music be offered. The department was familiar with my work on the campus in music, dance and theater. Thus they began to groom me to teach a course or courses in African dance. Therefore in 1969 when I graduated, I became the first person to teach African music and dance in Brooklyn College.

As the first teacher of traditional African music and dance in the College, I faced many situations that needed my immediate attention, such as the lack of a textbook; lack of terminology that would define the area of specialization; lack of instruments and written documentation. I immediately began to corral the information I gleaned from years of studying African dance with African students who came to New York and shared their culture with us. I went to Africa not only to hone my skills but also to conduct research

and share my knowledge with Africans. I would bring home new dances and instruments to use in my classrooms.

African music is largely percussive in nature and cannot be written with the western system of notation. Africans were making dire efforts to find a way to write music of their instruments. They were mesmerized when they discovered that I had created a system wherein percussive music could be written and aligned with the corresponding dance movements.

For more than 41 years I have been conducting research in countries from Tanzania to Senegal. Not only have I written and published my autobiography No Longer an Oral Tradition: My Journey Through Percussion Notation, but also a textbook Greenotation: Manuscripts of African music and dance, which has yet to be published.

The O.A.U. [Organization for African Unity] examined my work and suggested that it be adapted and included in all schools throughout Africa. My textbook is the most definitive work in the field and has been used in Ivory Coast and Ghana. French copies of this text were deposited in Senegal for use in the theater. Until all colleges and universities, public and private in Africa and the diaspora that teach Africa music and dance have a textbook that defines its music and dance parallel to how a dictionary defines its words, their teachings cannot be assessed, and what is flamboyant will continue to rule.

It is unfortunate that people are dancing what they call West African dance, which is a rehashing of the choreography of Maurice Sonar Senghor of Senegal, and Keita Fodeba, who were the two principal leaders of the post-colonial cultural awakening movement that was premiered in France in 1953 producing the Guinea Ballet. Therefore “West African dance is essentially the dances of Senegal, Mali and Guinea. But people dance throughout Africa. What about Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone as these countries are also in the West African region? Of course Senghor after being successful with the National Ballet of Senegal, and the Mali Dance Company would bring the National Ballet of Senegal to Brooklyn in 1971and completely revolutionize how African music and dance was practiced and performed forever.

I am retired now, but in the words of Bob Marley, stand up for your rights, don’t give up the fight. I will continue to push for the use of Greenotation in all schools and colleges. In the absence of a textbook, academia does not recognize such courses as valid courses within the curriculum.

For Black History month I did a performance, book signing and presentation of my autobiography entitled No Longer an Oral Tradition: My Journey Through Percussion Notation - From the streets of Brooklyn to the continent of Africa. Cablevision saw the advertisement and came to the Uniondale Library to tape the show.

The program aired on Channel 118 - Neighborhood Journal, to Nassau and Suffolk residents for more than two weeks, seven times a day.

The Jones family is a group of six musicians and dancers who I am training as the next generation in African music and dance notation. Of course the field of African music/dance has a long way to go to the fruition of my plans for the comprehensive study of African music and dance, which includes the publication of the textbook Greenotation: Manuscripts of African Music and Dance.

I will work with the Library to produce more shows that can be used for Black History and women's months.

A reminder the 34th year of DanceAfrica will showcase at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 26-May 29th.

If the readers want to know more about my work they can view my website.

Adowa Dance – A Traditional Dance, Music & Song – Ghana, West Africa

2011-03-08T11:35:00.002-05:00

Submitted by Doris Green - March 8, 2011

The Ashanti Adowa is the funeral dance of the Akan people of Ghana. This dance is also practiced along the eastern border of Ivory Coast that has an Akan population. Although the word 'Adowa' means antelope, an antelope has no significance in the dance movement, not even in the eloquent hand movements.

Death is generally associated with the elderly therefore, most of the time when we view this dance, we see the elderly population performing this dance. But the youth also attend these funerals and they perform a much more energetic version of the dance with jumps.

You will notice the practice of 'dashing' giving money or pasting money on the head of a good performer.

The instruments used in the ensemble are Dawuro split pea bell, Mmerima drum, (played with forked sticks) Mprentia drum played with the hands, and the Atumpan drums - two drums played with forked sticks by one player. Occasionally the Atumpan drummer will play the rhythm on one drum only. When he makes this change, in order for me to notate this in Greenotation, I use the horizontal bow (support) to show that the left stick is now playing on the right hand drum.They also use a tension drum called "Lunga" in northern Ghana and Donno in southern Ghana.

[For an example of Greenotation that contains the horizontal bow, go here.]

This dance was introduced to the United States through Professor Albert Mawere Opoku and the Ghana National Dance Ensemble that came to New York in the late sixties.

---

Enjoy.

Doris Green

Ethnomusicologist

Fulbright Scholar to Africa

Certified teacher of Labanotation

US State Department Cultural Specialist to Ghana

Author of No Longer an Oral Tradition: My Journey Through Percussion Notation

ISBN: 978 -1-60911-458-9

Symbols for Drawing Motif Notation

2011-02-18T09:14:00.005-05:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - February 18, 2011

In response to Brenton Cheng’s request (CMAlist, February 11, 2011) for downloadable notation images, I am offering as one possibility the symbols in “Appendix E”, from Moving About: Capturing Movement Highlights Using Motif Notation, by Charlotte Wile with Ray Cook. The appendix contains many symbols that can be used for drawing Motif Notation.

The appendix as a whole is copyrighted. However, the individual symbols in it are in the public domain. That means the symbols can be copied and pasted anywhere else without attribution or restriction.

Writing with LabanWriter or Calaban is probably much easier, but perhaps this is one way to help those who do not have access to those programs.

To download the appendix, go here.

To preview all of Moving About, go here.

Ashanti Adowa rare footage

2011-02-14T11:47:00.000-05:00

Submitted by Doris Green - February 14, 2011

Traditional music and dance in Africa are inseparable. Akin Euba defined the classes of music found in Africa. Accordingly he listed five types of music played in Africa. I, using his writings, created the Categories of African dance, for teaching purposes, so the students could become familiar with African dances. Consequently Traditional African music is connected to the writings of Akin Euba. Neo -Traditional African dance are connected to my writings. One source for Traditional African music would be an article “African Music Adapts to a Changing Society” that appeared in African Report, November,1970, p24.

Traditional African dance is the oldest and most indigenous form of African dance. There is an inseparable relationship between the music and the dance. The music of these dances is rooted in drum languages, which are replicas of the spoken language of the people. Obviously the category of Traditional African dance has as many different "Traditions" as there are spoken languages of the people numbering more than 2000. Events that relate to the cycles of life, birth, initiation, puberty, death and other rituals have prescribed dances that have been in existence for centuries. The Ashanti Adowa is played at funerals.

According to Maurice Senghor, creator of the National Ballet of Senegal, a happening or event that the people choose to remember must occur before a dance can be created. The people create the movement and set it to the existing music of the group.

From my experience the majority of traditional dances occur in the "bush" as part of ceremony and are rarely seen outside the social ceremonies, which they express.

Neo-Traditional dances are traditional dances performed outside the context of social ceremonies. They make use of elements of the traditions but not as they are found in traditional culture. Examples of neo-traditional dances are those dances that have been altered to fit on the proscenium stage. Since these dances originated as the result of a 'happening" they are pieces of history reenacted through movement, communicated by the musicians and acted out by the dancers. These dances have had aspects of the theater applied to them. For Neo-Traditional dances, see "Categories of African Dance", Traditions Journal, Volume 6 #4, Jan. 2008, p6.

The majority of National Dance Companies use neo-traditional dances. African dance as a classroom activity entered the curriculum in Africa in 1962 when Professor Albert Mawere Opoku was asked to come to the University of Ghana at Legon to teach dance and to create a national dance ensemble of Ghana.

In the USA traditional African dance came into the curriculum of schools across the nation with the signing of the Civil Rights Act in the sixties by President Johnson. I became the first person to teach African dance in Brooklyn College.

Kimati Dinizulu, the son of the late Alice Dinizulu, principal dance of Asadata Dafora, the first person to bring African dance to the shores of the United States. He is an ethnomusicologist, gifted percussionist. He has made extensive trips to Ghana studying his craft. He also specializes in the preservation of endangered African American musical instruments.

Doris Green

Fulbright Scholar

Creator of Greenotation

Certified teacher of Labanotation

If the readers want to know more about my work they can view my website which gives a global image of me and my work.

Minutes for the Open Theory Meeting, November 17, 2010

2011-01-29T12:27:00.001-05:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - January 29, 2011

Following are minutes for the Open Theory Meeting held at the Dance Notation Bureau November 17, 2010. The minutes were written by Charlotte Wile.

Present: Zack Brown, Ray Cook, Tina Curran, Caity Gwin, Ann Hutchinson Guest (by phone for part of the meeting), Oona Haaranen (by Skype for part of the meeting,) Mira Kim, Mei-Chen Lu, Emile Way, Lynne Weber, Charlotte Wile.

TOPICS:

- Guidelines for ICKL papers

- János Fügedi’s "Notes and Comments"

1.1 TOPIC #1 – Guidelines for ICKL papers

1.2 Tina: Since 1989 there have been a series of meetings concerned with establishing more rigorous discussion of Motif Notation development. The idea of having Motif Notation ICKL fellows was discussed at the 2007 and 2009 ICKL conferences. (See the October 20, 2009 minutes.).

1.3 Tina: A call for Motif Notation papers has been drafted for the upcoming ICKL conference in Budapest, August 2011. These papers will not be used for decision making in the way that L/N theory papers are. Rather they will provide a way for the larger international Laban community to have thoughtful and rigorous discussion about Motif Notation theory.

1.4 Tina: In putting forth the call for theory papers we need to consider what we mean by thoughtful and rigorous discussion. How do we think about and develop this work in a way that is cognitive of and provides recognition for the existing theoretical structures in all areas of the Laban work.

1.5 Charlotte pointed out that there have been many papers presented at ICKL about applications of Motif Notion. However, as far as she knows there are no papers that deal with Motif theory. What we are discussing is guidelines for what are referred to in ICKL as “technical papers”, i.e., symbols, rules of usage, etc.

1.6 Charlotte said that L/N technical papers at ICKL are sometimes presented out of context, i.e., just indications and their rules of usage are discussed. However, other papers also contain background information, such as ideas for how the indications should be used, the history of the idea, and so forth. Would it be useful to have both types of papers for Motif Notation discussions?

1.7 Mei said that many symbols are developed through the logic of the system. So you definitely need to know where the symbol comes from, especially if you are developing a new symbol.

1.8 Ray felt you need to have the “pros and cons” of the indications included in the discussions. Also, in the past when a technical paper was presented out of context, people sometimes misunderstood what it said. Then often Ann Guest would provide the history and background for what was being discussed.

1.9 Tina added that when ICKL first began, its members where highly qualified and knowledgeable practitioners. That is no longer the case. Presently only a handful of it members are very knowledgeable.

1.10 Mei: In ICKL decision making the votes of the experts counts more than the other members.

1.11 Tina: The discussions involve everyone, not just the small expert group, so there is an element of education.

1.12 Charlotte: In thinking about how Motif Notation should be discussed at ICKL, we should keep in mind that Motif Notation theory is relatively new and there are very few Motif Notation “experts”.

1.13 Mei: ICKL has a special research committee for L/N theory issues. Will there be such a committee for Motif Notation? Will there be voting on Motif Notation issues as there is for L/N issues?

1.14 Tina said that some people at ICKL favor having such a committee. However, at the last ICKL some people felt it is important to see if the wider Laban community that uses Motif Notation wants one. Tina doesn’t feel that we are at a place yet where people can say “This is right!”, or “That is wrong!” However, there should still be attention given to standardizing the system. We need to have something that frames and supports discussions, but that can grow organically.

1.15 Caity returned to the issue of theory vs. application. She felt it is essential that both components are present in a paper. You need to say this is how I’m applying an idea and this is how the theory fits into it.

1.16 Ray: In ICKL theory papers there are always many notation examples. However, some people feel the examples are not useful if they are made up. They need to be practical examples and come from existing notation.

1.17 Tina felt that having an experience with moving the ideas is very important. When people just sit and look at notation they are just in their heads.

1.18 Mei: The theory develops because there is a need in the field for a particular way of notating.

1.19 Lynne: For instance, the idea of folding symbols came about because that was the way modern dance was being taught in the U.S.

1.20 Ray: For many years people wrote ballet arms with contraction symbols. But when the folding symbols were introduced, they realized that ballet arms really fold, they don’t contact. A contraction indication doesn’t indicate what is being done.

1.21 Tina feels that placing theory discussions in a context is a very good idea. One way to do this is to have each paper partnered with an experiential session where the theory is embodied physically. This will also be an opportunity to educate people about Motif Notation so there can be a higher level of discussion.

1.22 Caity: It is essential that the papers answer a question. It’s like a thesis.

1.23 Ray: The question could be about how to notate something in a way that is not present yet in the system.

1.24 Charlotte said that her theory ideas often come from a real world “need in the field.” For instance, the idea for “altitude signs” grew out of her work teaching young children (The signs are described in Chapter XIV of Moving About by Charlotte Wile with Ray Cook.) However, sometimes ideas come just from thinking about holes or ambiguities in the system. For instance, one day she was playing around with different ways to write a movement of the lower arm. That made her think of the idea of “shifting” body parts and how that could be used to capture the intent of a limb part moving as a block. In this case the idea did not start with an application. Rather it just came from thinking about the system in an abstract way. (See paragraph 2.61 in the January 12, 2010 minutes.)

1.25 Tina: Finding ways to express the intent of movement is the artistry of our roles as writers.

1.26 The discussion switched to how the ICKL Motif discussions should be implemented.

1.27 Charlotte wondered how people could be encouraged to participate. Guidelines don’t mean anything unless people actually write papers and present workshops that use the guidelines.

1.28 Zack said it is good to have a way to draw together the disparate people in the Motif Notation community who are mostly working on their own. To do this it is important to let people know what they can gain from participating. Zack said that what would encourage him would be having the ICKL work include a complete description of the deliberations. ICKL papers are not that helpful unless you already know what the paper is responding to. Including such information would then make it possible to create a full description of Motif Notation.

1.29 Caity felt Zack’s idea was more appropriate for decision making discussions. She felt that the idea under discussion was not to have a document that is the “be all and end all” resource that people could consult. Rather, it is about finding ways that we can talk about our work, rather than making “rules.”

1.30 Charlotte said she has a fantasy of creating an online Wikipedia of Motif Notation. It would contain papers on theoretical issues, but also would contain papers or links to writings that relate to that topic. Having all the relevant material and links in one place would make it possible to more easily see the evolution of ideas.

1.31 Tina: The Wikipedia could grow over time with various people contributing to a given topic.

1.32 Zack talked about the usefulness of standardization in Motif Notation. He feels that many people assume that standardization would be restrictive and no one could deviate from it. However, in other examples of standardization that is not true. For instance, in the online world there are all kinds of standardization around HTML and style sheets and things that are used by a whole diversity of browsers. Each web browser uses HTML, Java script, etc. in its own way according to its inspiration. In the same way each Motif Notator can use notation in his own way according to his application. The standard allows everyone to understand the ways that other people are deviating from that standard.

1.33 Tina said that in the larger Laban community there is presently a strong opposition to “rule making” in Motif Notation. She feels it would be counterproductive at this point to have guidelines be about making rules. The whole point is to get people around the table talking and sharing. What happens organically is if something is a good idea, people use it and it becomes common practice. If it’s a shaky idea, people don’t use it and it goes away.

1.34 Various ideas for the guidelines were discussed. These would just be suggestions, not requirements.

1.35 For example, Charlotte felt that Motif Notation and Labanotation are sub-scripts of the same notation system. Therefore, in creating new symbols and rules of usage in Motif Notation one needs to take into account what is already established in Labanotation. And vice versa.

1.36 Ray said that when people create new L/N symbols they always consider the roots of the system. The new symbols always grow out of what was already established.

1.37 Mei felt it could be useful for authors to include unresolved issues and questions they have about their proposal.

1.38 Caity said this could include pointing out what may be weaknesses or is potentially wrong with a proposal.

1.39 The photo below shows Tina writing a summary of all the suggestions. (Click the photo to make it larger.)

2.1 TOPIC #2. -János Fügedi’s “Notes and Comments"

2.2 At the August 4, 2010 meeting we discussed Ann Guest’s paper “The Timing of A Step”. (Ann wasn’t at the meeting. She had emailed us the paper.) The discussion centered around Ann’s statement on page 1:

"In marking off the vertical units of time, it is not the horizontal bar line or the ‘tick' marks that show the beat, the count of 1, 2, 3, etc. These signs are dividers, the moment of the beat comes just after the bar line or tick mark. A small amount of space on the page has to exist to represent that moment, that time unit, visually. (See Your Move, 2008 page 275.) Thus, for example, the foot hook or end of a contact bow needs to be placed in this small area, Ex. 1a and 1b. This fact, long agreed upon, has been missing from the Labanotation textbooks. My apologies."

2.3 At the Aug. 4 meeting the group wondered if Ann’s statement applied to all symbols, including, for example, direction signs in the support column. If so, does that mean that the time value of the direction sign begins after the tick? Some people said yes. Others said that the slight gap between a direction sign and the tick mark is just a convention that is done so the tick mark or bar line will stay visible, but the timing of the direction sign should begin at the tick mark. In that case the beat corresponds with the tick mark.

2.4 Before the meeting János e-mailed "Notes and Comments". The comments were about Ann’s "The Timing of A Step" and the August 4, 2010 minutes.

2.5 In paragraph 2 of his paper János wrote:

“AHG Timing, par.1.: ‘moment of the beat comes just after the bar line or tick mark’: It should be understood carefully – not really taking what was written but what intended to be written. I think AHG meant the following: ‘a sign indicating the moment of the beat comes just after the bar line or tick mark’. It definitely should be completed, that mainly in case of symbols which do not have the capacity to express timing, such as space measurement signs, foot hooks, dynamic signs, body part signs, etc, the list is long. In case of such symbols the musical role sort of similar to the musical notes in a musical staff. As in the score below, no one would think that the first notes of the measures should be interpreted later than the main beat. The indication is a convention.”

2.6 Charlotte: I feel János’s interpretation of Ann’s statement is clarifying: “…… a sign indicating the moment of the beat comes just after the bar line or tick mark”.

2.7 Zack wanted to know what “just after” means.

2.8 Charlotte said it means a hairline. Or if there are hooks there needs to be enough space so that the hook won’t be covered by the bar line or tick. At the August 4 meeting we wondered if Ann’s statement applied to all symbols, e.g., a direction sign in a support column, even when there is not a hook.

2.9 Charlotte still wondered if Ann’s statement should be taken literally, or if she meant something like what János said in his interpretation of her statement. Is it a good idea to assume that Ann didn’t mean exactly what she wrote?

2.10 Charlotte said that this discussion shows once again how important it is to be clear in our writings about the system. Just as Ray is always saying, one word, one comma can lead us astray.

2.11 Caity had a different interpretation of what János was saying. She felt that both Ann and János were saying that the tick marks are devoid of timing. Timing occurs in the white area between the tick marks. Do the physical tick marks have timing, or are they just distinguishing marks and the timing happens between tick marks?

2.12 Tina suggested calling Ann in London to ask her for clarification. We all smiled when Tina said it was tea time in London.

2.13 Tina called Ann and put her on speaker phone so we could all talk with her.

2.14 Caity told Ann that we had a question about timing and tick marks. Does the tick mark have timing? Ann replied that the tick mark is like a fence dividing two fields.

2.15 Charlotte asked Ann about direction signs in the support column. If the direction sign begins a hairline after the tick mark, does the timing begin at the tick mark, or at the bottom of the direction sign?

2.16 Ann: Why is there a hairline gap?

2.17 Charlotte: When we discussed your paper “Timing of a Step,” we assumed that you were saying that there should be a small gap for all symbols.

2.18 Ann: Usually the direction sign sits on the bar line. There usually doesn’t need to be a hairline gap unless you are separating the direction sign from another direction sign below it, in which case the hairline should come before the bar line.

2.19 Ray said that in the L/N book, the space exists where the tick or bar line is. It doesn’t come before or after. The tick itself makes the slight gap.

2.20 Ann: If there are such small gaps, it may be due to penmanship of the person who wrote the notation.

2.21 Charlotte: In notation which just contains tick marks, would the beat occur at those marks?

2.22 Ann: It would come immediately after the tick.

2.23 Caity: So the direction sign does not overlap the tick mark. It sits on the tick mark; directly after it.

2.24 Ann: That’s right.

2.25 Mira pointed out that in Labanotation, 4^th edition, page 308, symbols seem to overlap the tick mark. You don’t see the tick marks.

2.26 Ann said the question is whether the direction signs need to be drawn so the tick marks can be seen. In this case, it is true that they cannot be seen. However, the kind of time that the tick mark would represent is absolutely nothing. We don’t go into that kind of minuscule coping with time. In any case, the drawing of the symbols in the book could have been better so the tick marks show. Perhaps on Calaban [the software used for the book] it is not that easy to do that. It’s easier to show them when you draw the notation by hand.

2.27 Charlotte said that one thing that confused her was that on page 32, it says “Fig. 28 shows how the center line is marked off at regular intervals by small ticks, each tick marking the beginning of a new beat. The space between the ticks represents the duration of the beat.” Charlotte wondered if this statement conflicts with the idea that the beat occurs after the tick mark.

2.28 Ann: The tick is like a fence that marks the boundaries of property. You have a field and you have a fence surrounding the field. The fence doesn’t belong to one person or another. It marks the boundary of the property.

2.29 Ann: Perhaps Fig 28 would have been more accurate if the bracket had been drawn a tiny bit shorter. However, this is what I would call splitting hairs [everyone laughed].

2.30 Ann: When it comes to the end of a bow showing contact, we take a very small unit, like one tiny square, where a foot hook is placed. Otherwise visually the hook wouldn’t be clear. [Note from Charlotte: See Ex. 1a in “Timing of a Step.”]

2.31 Charlotte: I think in our discussion everyone understood the logic of having a gap when there is a foot hook. I think the confusion and disagreement within the group came when that logic is applied to plain direction signs in the support column.

2.32 Ann ended by saying the discussion involved very specific thinking. It is a question of “where to draw the line” and literally “where to draw the line”[everyone laughed].

2.33 We said goodbye to Ann. It was wonderful to discuss these issues directly with her. Everyone was very grateful to her for sharing her tea time with us.

2.34 We discussed our conversation with Ann further.

2.35 Caity said Ann’s fence metaphor was what worked best for her.

2.36 Mira said it was good to hear Ann’s perspective directly from her. Based on her explanation, her analysis makes sense. However, because Labanotation, 4th ed. is written in Calaban, the notation doesn’t match her ideas. LabanWriter can do what she is saying.

2.37 Zack explained what he believes Ann was trying to say when she talks about the moment of the beat coming just after the bar line. As time proceeds through a tick mark, that tick mark, having no vertical length, has no time value. That is why it doesn’t represent time. It just represents a division in time. The timing begins at the tick mark. But at that moment it is as though a “drum strike” occurs. That sound has duration. That duration is shown by a little tiny space just after the tick mark. That tiny space is what Ann is referring to. Also, that space is what you have in exact timing when the symbol is written a little above the tick or bar line. Zack wondered how big the space should be.

2.38 Some people in the group disagreed with Zack’s analysis. They felt Ann had been clear in the phone conversation that the timing begins after tick mark.

2.39 Zack said that when you take a step in dancing and have the sense of doing something “on the beat”, that “ beat” takes time that goes above the tick mark. That is why when you write in exact timing the end of the symbol protrudes above the tick mark or bar line.

2.40 Ray said this is not what happens when you are dancing. When you are dancing you don’t wait to hear the beat. As a dancer you have an inborn pulse and you anticipate the beat. The beat doesn’t take space in time.

2.41 Zack reiterated that the “beat” that we hear or sense when we move takes a certain amount of time. That time is represented by a space above the tick or bar line.

2.42 [Addendum from Charlotte. After the meeting I had another thought about the timing and tick issue. When we talked with Ann she said that Fig 28 in L/N 4^th edition, shown again here below, is drawn incorrectly. She said in the bracket in Fig. 28 should be drawn shorter. (See Paragraph 2.29 above.) I’m assuming she means as in Ex. 1 here below. In other words, the gaps separating symbols would not be included in the timing. Wouldn’t this present a problem when determining the comparative time value of simultaneous indications? For instance, if the gaps between the supports in Ex 2 are not included in the time value, the cumulative time value of the support signs will be less than the time value of the arm indication (Ex. 3).

2.43 Also, if the timing of one beat is slightly shorter than the distance between the tick marks, does that mean the basic unit needs to drawn slightly shorter too?

2.44 On the other hand, what if one says that the slightly shortened length of signs, as in Ex. 2, is only a convention that is used to separate symbols or keep them from obscuring the tick mark or bar line? In other words, the slight space between signs should be included in calculating the time value. This would mean the timing actually corresponds with the tick marks, as in Fig. 8. Then there is no problem. In Ex. 2 the total time value of the stepping signs then equals the time value of the arm sign.]

2.45 The discussion changed to paragraph 7 in János’s paper. János wrote:

“Minutes Aug. 4, 1.77: ‘Lynne reiterated that most step patterns never get to centered.’ It was interesting to see that the notion of ‘centered’ meant something else for Lynne compared to how the notion was used in AHG’s paper. AHG meant that the CofG was centered above the supporting surface, while Lynne seemed to take ‘centered' as the sagittal line of the body projected on the ground.”

2.46 Lynne said she used the term “centered” in several ways. This is discussed in the video below. (To know who is on the video, go to minute 3.17 on it. Charlotte has her back to the camera. Then going clockwise around the table you will see Tina, Ray, Caity, Lynne, and Zack. Mei talks in the background).

2.47 Charlotte said this is another example of how confusing it can be when one term is given different meanings.

2.48 Ray said the same can be said about the tick issue. It is confusing when the meaning of symbols is not consistent. The placement of symbols in relation to tick marks varies according to when the notation was written. Back in the 60’s you had to leave a hairline gap that was the width of the blue line in graph paper.

2.49 Lynne: That was what it was supposed to be. But sometimes people wrote differently because it seemed easier.

2.50 Tina said that when you separate yourself from movement and you’re just looking at the science of the symbols on the page, and you’re looking at absolute rules and practices, then it becomes a study in itself. But this disassociates you from movement. In a movement context a hair width of something represented on paper is really irrelevant. So if you’re studying this issue for the sake of studying it, the hairline question makes sense. But when you’re looking at the translation of the notation into “lets get the dance on the stage” and "the dancers in the right space" and "let’s talk about artistry," the hairline is not of primary concern.

2.51 Charlotte agreed that in staging movement the time value of the hairline would probably not be relevant. However, our texts and other materials that tell us how to read and write a score discuss such details. Ann made an issue of the hairline detail in her paper. The discussion of details in the texts makes them seem relevant. So when you read scores, and sometimes symbols sit on the tick mark and sometimes they don’t, you wonder if that reflects when the notators studied notation, or the sources they used as a standard, or is it just careless autography. If there is a difference in the way the symbols are placed within the same score, you may wonder if that means there is a difference in the timing of the movements. And fifty years from now people will read scores and certainly wonder if differences in scores or within the same score mean there is a difference in the movement.

2.52 Tina: Ultimately the notation needs to be reader friendly and you need to be able to distinguish what is on the page.

2.53 Caity agreed with Tina that one can get stuck in theory. It is important to contextualize what we are discussing.

2.54 Ray said he understood what Tina was saying. However, when he picks up a score he reads it literally with the rules he knows, unless told otherwise in the glossary. The rules he knows may not be the rules the notator is assuming he knows. Since the rules keep changing the notator may be using a different set of rules.

2.55 Charlotte said she feels that you can do a close reading of a score and also be sensitive to the meaning and context of the movement. In interpreting and staging certain scores you may have to ignore ambiguous notation and just do what you think is appropriate for that dance. However, if inconsistencies, even if they are details, aren’t explained in the glossary, and different texts and materials give different rules, and you’re aren’t sure what set of rules the notator is following, you can be left with questions about what the notator really wanted to say.

2.56 Zack: This is one of the things that I encounter a lot. Since I am not a dancer, people tend to dismiss me when I say I don’t know what a symbol means because it could mean this or it could mean that. It’s not clear.

2.57 Lynne discussed the background needed to read notation. In some scores you need to know the style of the dance in order to read the score. Other scores are written in great detail so that people who do not know the style will get it from the score. Such detailed scores are not easy to read, but if you work through them you will see what was intended.

2.58 Mei: We say that Labanotation is a universal language. However, it doesn’t always serve the purpose of a certain style, e.g., as when János discusses Hungarian dance.

2.59 Lynne said the problems computer scientists had with the way steps are indicated in L/N is another example. Just a simple step symbol in beginning notation held them up. You can write what the animators wanted, but it will be very detailed and difficult to read. How can you make the notation for such applications readable? It’s like writing poetry for a Russian. You are going to write it differently than if you are writing for an American because of the cultural differences. In the same way, if you’re writing for someone in the Graham company, you’re going to write differently from how you would write for someone who doesn’t know Graham technique.

2.60 Mei: That is why we need be clear about how timing really works when it is applied to different styles of movement.

2.61 Ray: An example is Pluto’s ideas for indicting timing in Tango. You can write the movement without his idea, but the notation is complicated and cumbersome. His idea gives you a way to write it simply.

2.62 Caity said Pluto’s idea relates to the discussion earlier about the importance of putting theory ideas in a context. Pluto’s ideas grew out of a need in movement.

“The Dance Notation Bureau Costume Design Collection” by Mei-Chen Lu

2010-11-15T15:48:00.001-05:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - November 15, 2010

Mei-Chen Lu, the Dance Notation Bureau’s Director of Library Services, has published an excellent article, “The Dance Notation Bureau Costume Design Collection,” in Documenting: Costume Design, edited by Nancy E. Friedland, Performing Arts Resources, Vol. 27. New York: Theatre Library Association, 2010, pp. 111-116.

Little did people know that DNB has such a unique collection of dance costume information and resources. We hope you will find this article about the history of dance notation and the breadth of materials in its collections informative.

Please keep in mind that this article is copyrighted. It may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the Theatre Library Association.

27th Biennial ICKL Conference - Call for Presentations

2010-11-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - November 10, 2010

The International Council of Kinetograph Laban/Labanotation (ICKL) has invited its members and interested individuals to submit proposals for presentations at its 27th Biennial conference in Budapest, August 1-6, 2011.

The proposals may be for papers, workshops, and panels on research and applications of Laban-based systems including, but not limited to, Kinetography Laban/Labanotation, Laban Movement Analysis, and Motif Notation.

Further information on ICKl and the conference, go here.

Minutes for the Open Theory Meeting, August 4, 2010

2010-11-09T15:27:00.116-05:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - November 10, 2010

Following are minutes for the Open Theory Meeting held at the Dance Notation Bureau, August 4, 2010. The minutes were written by Charlotte Wile.

Present: Ray Cook, Caity Gwin, Mira Kim, Mei-Chen Lu, Lynne Weber, Charlotte Wile.

1.1 TOPIC: Comments on the April 5, 2010 Meeting

1.2 There were two responses to the April 5, 2010 minutes:

1.3 The group discussed items in Ann’s paper first.

1.4 On page 1 Ann says:

“In marking off the vertical units of time, it is not the horizontal bar line or the ‘tick’ marks that show the beat, the count of 1, 2, 3, etc. These signs are dividers, the moment of the beat comes just after the bar line or tick mark. A small amount of space on the page has to exist to represent that moment, that time unit, visually. (See Your Move, 2008 page 275.) Thus, for example, the foot hook or end of a contact bow needs to be placed in this small area, Ex. 1a and 1b. This fact, long agreed upon, has been missing from the Labanotation textbooks. My apologies.”

(Note: Examples in Ann's paper are labeled here as AHG)

1.5 The group had questions about this idea.

1.6 Mira: We don’t teach that or write that way, but I think I understand what Ann means. When we write an accent sign we put it a little bit above the line. (E1a)

1.7 Charlotte: That makes sense for an accent sign or foot hooks. They of necessity need to be drawn above the line so they will be visible and not blend in with the bar line. But what about direction signs? Should they also be written after the tick or bar line? For instance, in notation where the direction sign for a support is drawn touching the tic mark or bar line, does the timing of the support begin after the beginning of the support sign?

1.8 Mei: In Labanotation the supports are written touching the tic marks and bar lines.

1.9 Ray: Having the timing for the foot hook begin after the tic mark and having the timing of the direction sign (when it is written on the tic mark) begin at the beginning of the direction sign is a contradiction in symbols.

1.10 Charlotte: Aren’t measure and beat numbers written in line with tic marks and bar lines? However, going by Ann’s statement, shouldn’t they be drawn above the bar line or tic mark? (As in Ex. AHG 1a above.)

1.11 Mira: What about the consecutive touches. Do they also need to be drawn slightly above the tic? (Ex. AHG1a)

1.12 Caity: I understand this more as a formatting question than as a timing question. Perhaps Ann is saying that the tic marks are used to show a certain span of time. The physical line itself is devoid of timing. In LabanWriter, symbols are written one pixel above that line.

1.13 Mira: In other words, the tic or bar line doesn’t show the end or beginning of the unit of time. It just divides the span of time into units.

1.14 A comparison was made to music. The bar lines divide the music into units. The notes depict the timing.

1.15 There was disagreement about whether the notes or bar lines in music denote where the beat occurs.

1.16 Charlotte said she had always thought that the L/N tic mark and bar lines correspond with the beat of music. Ann seems to be saying that the music beat comes slightly after the tic or bar line.

1.17 Ray: Before there was a computer you always had to put a hairline space between symbols.

1.18 Charlotte asked if the hairline came before or after the beat. She assumed that it would come before the next symbol so that the bottom of that next symbol would correspond with the beat.

1.19 Mira: In LabanWriter there is a very slight space after the tic or bar line, as in Ann’s statement.

1.20 Charlotte: In Labanotation, 4th ed., page 32 it says, “… the center time line is marked off at regular intervals by small ticks, each tic marking the beginning of a new beat. The space between the ticks represents the duration of the beat.” So here Ann is saying that the tic does denote the beginning of the beat.

1.21 Charlotte wondered about Ann’s statement that the timing comes after the tic has been “long agreed upon.” (See paragraph 1.4 above). If this is just a verbal agreement that some experts know about and use in their scores, but that contradicts what is written in the texts, this could be very confusing for future readers of scores. This once again brings forth questions about standardization and what it means.

1.22 Mira said that putting the hairline space is in fact the way we write, even if that hasn’t been spelled out in the texts.

1.23 Mei: Having the beat come after the tic or bar line makes the score much more difficult to read.

1.24 Charlotte: What is wrong with having the tic indicate the beat?

1.25 Mira said the tic can indicate the timing of the beat. However, the convention is to write the symbols with a slight space between them, or in the case of foot hooks, above the tic or bar line so they are visible (e.g., not drawn on top of the bar line).

1.26 Mira reiterated that she could see the logic in Ann’s statement.

1.27 The group finished this topic still feeling confused about Ann’s statement and the issues it raised. They decided to move on to the next topic in Ann’s paper: “The Meaning of a Step Symbol.”

1.28 Lynne arrived at this point in the meeting.

1.29 In Ann’s paper (page 1) she says,

“Let us go over again what the symbol of 3a represents. The base of the direction symbol represents (and must represent) the moment the foot contacts the floor, 3b. This is true whatever the part of foot it might be. For the tap dancer, that is the moment the tap sound is heard, i.e. on the beat.”

1.30 Ray: If the support direction symbol touches the tick mark or measure line, then this statement disagrees what Ann wrote earlier in her the paper (paragraph 1.4 above). In that case the timing would begin slightly after the beginning of the symbol.

1.31 Charlotte: In order to make Ann’s statements agree, you need to draw the support symbol slightly above the tick mark or bar line if you want the foot contact to occur on the beat. However, what if you want the contact to come after the beat? Then you need to write the tic, have a slight space above that, i.e., where the beat occurs, and then put the beginning of the direction symbol above that.

1.32 The group discussed the timing of Ann’s Ex. 3c-3g.

1.33 On page 1 in her paper Ann says, “Before a travelling step takes place, the moving leg needs to advance in the appropriate direction in preparation for taking weight; at the same time the center of gravity (CofG) moves beyond centered balance toward the new support. In the notation of 3c, the arrow shows where this is understood to take place.”

1.34 The group agreed that this would be true in continuous stepping. However, in movement from a stationary position, as in 3c, does the notation specify that gesturing and center of gravity movement at the same time? Couldn’t the leg gesture happen before the center of gravity movement?

1.35 Ann’s 3d and-3e were compared.

1.36 Lynne said she would not do 3d and 3e the same way. For example, in reading 3d she would emphasize the center of gravity. Ray said the performance of 3d and 3e would depend upon how high the gesture leg is from the floor. If the gesture leg is high then the center of weight would have to move before the foot touches the floor in the step. However, if the gesture leg is close to the ground you do not need to shift the weight before the gesture becomes a support. (Video #1 - Ray and Lynne demonstrate.)

Note: Here and elsewhere, for the best viewing of a video, click the start arrow on the screen twice so you can view it in YouTube.

1.37 Caity said she did not think that Ann was comparing the examples. Rather she was just showing 3c-3f as components of what she gets to in 3g.

1.38 The group discussed zed carets, e.g., as in Ann’s 3g.

1.39 Lynne felt there are contradictory messages in 3g: 1) the center of gravity moving forward, and 2) the zed caret which limits the step to where you were.

1.40 Ray: Originally the zed caret meant there is an intention of connecting the gesture with the step. However, whenever you asked someone to demonstrate it, the reader would always do something extra physically with their whole body to show the gesture and step belonged together. The zed caret is not needed. Without it there is automatically a connection between the gesture and the step. If you want something extra to happen in the body, like a breath, then you write the zed caret. (Video #2 – Mei with her back to the camera, Ray demonstrating, Lynne and Charlotte sitting.)

1.41 Mei: The distance of the step is affected by the use of the zed caret. Stepping on the same spot will make the step smaller. If no zed caret is used, then the step may or may not be on the same spot.

1.42 Charlotte felt there could be confusion if the zed caret has two different meanings: 1) step on the same place, and 2) connect the gesture and the step. Mira said she recalled this being discussed at a previous meeting.

1.43 [Addendum from Charlotte: Mira may be referring to the April 20, 2008 meeting.]

1.44 Ray: Assume the zed caret means there is a connection or phrasing between the gesture and the step. Does that mean that when there is no zed caret, there is not a connection?

1.45 Charlotte: Without the zed caret, you may or may not have such phrasing. Likewise, if the zed caret means step on the same spot, when it is not written the step may or may not be on the same spot.

1.46 Mira said she remembered Sandra [Aberkalns] saying notators needed a way to show that certain movements are linked. That was how the linking idea for the zed caret began. Also, the regular caret is used to show stepping on the same spot when the gesture foot is touching the floor. What we are talking about is when the gesture leg is in the air.

1.47 The discussion changed to the issue of when weight is centered in a step.

1.48 Everyone agreed with Ann’s statement in her paper concerning a step that does not continue to a new step. On page 2 she says, “At the end of a concluding step, when no further transference of weight occurs, the center of weight is understood to be over the new support at the end of the symbol, the last ‘time unit’...”

1.49 However, the group questioned Ann’s statement about consecutive steps (page 2):

“But when consecutive steps occur, the center of weight will be moving into the direction of the next step. Thus the moment of the CofG being centered must occur before its displacement into the direction of the next step, as shown in 4b. Exactly where this point of balance occurs will depend on: a) the speed and b) the style of the movement. Because it is a passing event, it has not seemed important, to date, to pin it down precisely. However, as indicated in 4b, we have the means to be precise. Probably a larger basic unit for each beat (count) would be needed."

1.50 Ann's statement continues:

"In the case of fast, swaying steps, the weight may never be centered. Ex. AHG 5a shows a typical example; there is not time to produce full transferences of weight. By throwing the torso weight from side to side, as in 5b, a moment of being centered can be achieved.”

1.51 Charlotte: Is there an assumed timing for when the centering occurs? At the April 5 meeting everyone seemed to think there is one, although there was some discussion about whether it occurs 1/2 way into the support sign or 1/3 way into the support sign. In contrast, in her paper Ann is saying that is not so. She says the point of balance is not assumed; it depends upon the context of the movement.

1.52 Lynne: Context is important. You can’t just automatically assume when the centering will occur. Also, when you are doing a series of steps, the center of gravity never actually gets to the stable point.

1.53 Everyone agreed that context does influence what happens in the step, and it would be better for there not to be a rule that says what the timing is by default. In other words, unless stated otherwise, the timing of centering would be open to interpretation.

1.54 However, everyone in the group said they had been taught that there is a standardized timing for when centering occurs.

1.55 Charlotte pointed out that the texts do not say that timing is open. Rather, examples of when the timing occurs are given (Labanotation, 4th edition, page 127; Elementary Labanotation, by Muriel Topaz, 1996, page 32). Perhaps this leads the reader to think that there is a standardized timing.

1.56 Lynne: When you teach a ballet class to little kids, you tell them certain things. When you go back as an advanced student or professional dancer, and you revisit the exact same movement, you realize those things you told the little kids are simplifications of all that is going on. I don’t think there is a problem with telling people that centering is 1/2 way through the step. It gives them a concept, even if it isn’t absolutely true in all circumstances. However, when you get into more advanced work you need a better understanding of the details of movement. For example, computer scientists who are simulating movement.

1.57 Charlotte: In the texts maybe it should say clearly that, unless indicated otherwise, the timing of the parts of a step depends upon the context of the movement. When you need to specify details such as when centering occurs, there are ways of doing that. And then give examples.

1.58 Lynne said that in the beginning stages of teaching notation she would not even get into the details of transferring weight. They are too complicated. The details bog the students down in their brains, keeps them from moving, and turns them off to L/N. When you just tell a person to step, they usually know what that means and take a step. An exception was the computer animation people that Lynne worked with, who from the beginning wanted to get into detailed analysis and break the step up into small units. This made it difficult for them to even read simple scores, e.g., Fred Berk’s folk dances.

1.59 Ray: That is true not just about stepping. It applies to all movement.

1.60 Lynn agreed with Ray and gave arm examples. (Video 3 – shows Lynne demonstrating, Charlotte and Ray watching.)

1.61 Unfortunately there was not enough time to discuss the rest of Ann’s paper because the group wanted to have enough time to discuss János’s paper:

1.62 János’s paper includes a discussion of P. W. Pluto’s “Figure 1.” Lynne felt that “Figure 1” is not correct because it stipulates that the bottom of the direction sign indicates where the support contacts the floor. She feels that the timing of the contact is open to interpretation unless you are doing exact timing.

1.63 Charlotte: However, in Ann’s paper (page 1) she says, “The base of the direction symbol represents (and must represent) the moment the foot contacts the floor, 3b. This is true whatever the part of foot it might be. For the tap dancer, that is the moment the tap sound is heard, i.e. on the beat.”

1.64 Lynne said when putting things on paper, she personally thinks of the notation as having more leeway. It does not state that the foot must absolutely make contact at that moment. She gave some ballet steps as an example. (Video 4 - shows Lynne demonstrating.)

1.65 Ray: The examples Lynne has given are correct. You see those variations of the movement all the time in ballet class. However, those are just individual interpretations of the movement. What is written on the page is what is supposed to be done. If you want all those variations as possibilities, then that must be stated in the notation.

1.66 Lynne said she began thinking about this when she had to write a “dos-a do” for “Gold Rush” [Agnes de Mille]. The movement was turning on a circular path while maintaining your front. There is the “feeling” of what you are doing, vs. what you are actually doing (which looks really strange when you notate it).

1.67 Ray: You don’t write what you feel. You write what you do.

1.68 Charlotte: You write what the choreographer says it should be.

1.69 Lynne: But the choreographer says, “Forward,” and you are actually doing diagonal steps to start your path.

1.70 Charlotte: You need to figure out what he means, which may not be what he is saying.

1.71 Lynne: The issue is, when the dancer is reading the notation, how will they get it right?

1.72 Ray: You need to write exactly what the body is doing. If there is “feeling,” that can go in a bow. [Note from Charlotte: I think Ray meant an intention bow.]

1.73 Charlotte returned to the issue of how open the notation should be. If a given indication is going to be open to interpretation unless it is stated otherwise, then that needs to be stated in the material we use for standardization (e.g., texts and ICKL). On the other hand, if symbols are not open to interpretation, that needs also to be clearly stated. Otherwise, we will not know how to read a given score. Whatever the rule is, it can always be changed by a statement in the glossary. But everyone needs to be on the same page about what the rule is to begin with.

1.74 Ray: It’s not what our rules say, it is what they do not say that causes confusion.

1.75 Charlotte returned to János’s paper. Referring to the April 5 minutes, János wrote,

“Ray, Mira, and Mei pointed out that the rule about center occurring ½ way into the step has been changed. In Guest, Labanotation, page 127 it says that it is ½ way.” I read the referenced page several times but found nowhere this statement. Though it would have been much simpler looking it up if you’d cited the text and/or stated which figure you were referring to, I suppose you meant the explanation about Fig.190a. But here AHG* writes: “At (ii) the weight is transferred half way” (italics by me).

In other words, the weight is not fully centered at the half of the direction sign, but only half way, because the direction sign is followed by a body hold when the movement stops and the weight finally arrives “centered”. In this page AHG says nothing about when the weight is centered during a step. (190.a was used to explain the step-gesture rule, also confirming her stand in opposition with Knust and Szentpál on élancé and coupé.)”

1.76 Caity pointed out that AHG 190a is a concluding step, so János was correct in his reading of Ann’s statement. In her paper Ann differentiates between concluding steps and consecutive steps.

1.77 Lynne reiterated that most step patterns never get to centered. It has to do with physics. For instance, in working with animation, you have to talk reality. You can’t talk about your vision of center, when you aren’t actually centered at all. The only time you are centered would be if you were stepping on a straight line. (Video 5 – shows Lynne demonstrating, Charlotte and Ray sitting.) [Note from Charlotte: Unfortunately, Lynne’s movement is only partially visible in this video. Even so, I think the clip helps clarify what Lynne meant.]

1.78. Charlotte: I now see that János is correct about how Ex. 190a in Labanotation should be interpreted. However, it is interesting to note that everyone at this meeting was taught the centering occurs 1/2 way into a step. Where did this idea come from? Perhaps centering needs to be explained more clearly in the texts.

1.79 Lynne said she felt centering should not be brought up at all in the beginning texts.

1.80 Charlotte said that P.W. Pluto presents an interesting case. He wants to notate tango movement. For him the issue of where center comes seems very important, even though he is a beginning/intermediate student.

1.81 Lynne said this reminds her of when they started to notate modern dance. That work made notators aware of the difference between a contraction and folding. Likewise, Maria Szentpál’s work in folk dance brought about the refinement of foot hooks. Also, the computer animation people have made us look more closely at the true physics of movement. P. W.’s need for a better way to write Tango movement is also pushing us in new directions. We need to think it though and maybe change what has been established previously.

1.82 Charlotte said she felt P. W.’s paper may have mistakes because the texts do not explain the timing of steps clearly. However, his innovative idea for indicating the timing of centering could be very useful. (He puts a backwards slanted line inside the support indication to show when centering occurs.)

1.83 Ray: We are discovering new possibilities for writing because of issues that have come up and have never been addressed.

1.84 Mira: People sometimes think that new ways of writing a movement are not necessary because they think we already have a way to write that movement.

1.85 Charlotte: The new way of writing may express the intent of the movement better. For instance, P.W.’s idea of combining the idea of center of weight and direction into one symbol makes you think differently than if the two concepts are written separately. P.W.’s indication takes ones focus away from the center of gravity and places it more with the support. Maybe that is what is needed in teaching Tango.

1.86 Mira, returning to Ann’s paper, said she prefers her example 4b as a way to indicate the timing of when the centering occurs (see paragraph 1.50 above). When we notate, we need to think. And the readers are notation readers. P.W.’s slanted line has no connection to how we notate the center of gravity.

1.87 Ray: It depends upon how you are taught. If you were taught that there is a connection, then you would see the connection and read it that way.

1.88 Charlotte: P. W.’s idea would be very useful for scores where you don’t want to have many symbols and want to make the score easier to read. For example, it would be good for beginning notation students.

1.89 Ray: The less symbols on the page, the better.

1.90 Mira: P. W.’s method of writing would, of course, need to be glossarized.

1.91 Returning to the issue of how concepts are explained in the texts, Ray and Lynne said that everything in the texts assumes you have dance training. That may be OK, but we need to acknowledge it.

1.92 Lynne said when she watches her son doing gymnastics, she is not sure she would know how to notate it, even though she has training in how to analyze movement. For instance, there is internal torso movement and impetus that would need to be written. It’s not just about making paths and designs in space. There are many aspects of the movement that L/N hasn’t addressed yet. On the other hand, the system has grown as needs have come up, e.g., what is needed to write a Graham contraction.

1.93 Lynne said that is she is in favor of having the system be looser, so it can be adapted for various applications.

1.94 Ray: If you allow looseness in interpretation, it means each dancer is free to do the movement her own way.

"Moving Space" -- Laban scales on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad

2010-10-13T09:16:00.000-04:00

Submitted by Brenton Cheng - October 13, 2010

Friends and colleagues,

Laban moves into the 21st century!

I am happy to announce the release of "Moving Space: The Laban Scales" -- an interactive, 3D compendium of the Space Harmony scales for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Perfect for teachers and students as a teaching/study aid and way to explore the scales.

You can watch a demo of the app here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D00kel96O-o

Direct link to the app in iTunes (Apple App Store):

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moving-space-the-laban-scales/id396089751?mt=8

In our certification programs, we have long been using a variety of discovered and constructed objects in an attempt to convey to students a sense of the 3D structure of the scales. When Michael Neff, a computer animation researcher who did our program, created a short 3D movie illustrating the Axis and Girdle Scales, I was struck by how beautifully and clearly the scale's form was revealed, much more effectively than our string-and-plastic-tubing models.

Granted, a computer visualization will never substitute for embodiment, but it became obvious to me how an interactive scale reference utilizing a touchscreen could provide an instantly graspable sense of the scales' form, which could *facilitate* embodiment.

This is the result.

Please consider checking out the app, letting your students know about it, and sending me any feedback or suggestions. Features will continue to be added in response to your input, and once you have the app, updates are always free.

If you like it, consider rating the app and adding a review in the App Store, which will increase exposure of the app (and LMA) to the general public.

Enjoy!

-Brenton

-----

Brenton Cheng

Faculty, Integrated Movement Studies

Berkeley Laban/Bartenieff Certificate Program

http://www.imsmovement.com

http://www.centermoves.com

The Labanotator

2010-10-06T17:21:00.236-04:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - October 13, 2010

Long before there was a Theory Bulletin Board, LabanTalk, and the CMAlist, The Labanotator provided a forum for discussing notation issues. This important periodical, edited by Ann Hutchinson Guest, was published by the Dance Notation Bureau (1957-1965) and the Language of Dance Centre (1978-1994).

The links below go to facsimiles of all 76 issues of the periodical.

Issue No. 73 contains an Index of Contents (by topic) for all issues up to October 1993.

Note: Some of the facsimiles were scanned from xerox copies of the journal. In a few places the xeroxing was poor and could not be scanned clearly.

Issue No. 1, December 1957

Topics: Teaching – Basic Approach, Simplification with Facing Pins; Notating – The Staple; Unification – Ticks and Bar lines; Work in Progress

Issue No. 2, April 1958

Topics: An "Unsprung" Coupé; A Reference to Normal; Description for Rotations of Head, etc.; Suggested Changes: Pins for Positions of the Feet; Unification: Bar Lines

Issue No. 3, March 1959

Topics: The Center of Gravity Sign, Suggested Change; The Writing of Facing Pins; Suggested Sign for Facing; Placement of Change of Key Sign

Issue No. 4, 1959

Topics: Variations on the Whole Torso Sign; Sign for Facing: New Interpretation; Additional Degrees; Use of Relationship Pins (Position Signs)

Issue No. 5, 1960

Topics: Center of Gravity Sign – Knust's New Suggestion; Parts of the Torso Signs – Suggestions from the 1st International Conference and Further Discussions (Use of Third Column, and Use of Hip and Pelvis Signs)

Issue No. 6, 1960

Topics: Report from the 1st International Conference – continued (The 48 Areas of the Torso, Centre of Gravity plus Trunk Movements, Shifts, Whole Body Rotations – Cartwheels); Relationship Pins – Rule Clarified – New Suggestion; Response to The Labanotator No. 4 Questionnaire

Issue No. 7, 1961

Topics: Dynamics – Addition of a New Indication; Spine Inclusions for Head Tilts; Vertical Bows – Clarification, New Use; Rotations of the Legs – Normal State

Issue No. 8, 1961

Topics: The International Conference this Summer; Butterflies or Boats?; Circular Paths for Limbs of the Body

Issue No. 9, 1963

Topics: Review of Purpose of The Labanotator – Its Function Towards Unification, How to Approach Material Presented; Achievement So Far – Unification, Discussions Pending, Material Still to be Discussed; Answers to The Labanotators Nos. 7 and 8; Stretching the Limbs: Suggested New Rule, Hyperextended Limb or Joint, Stretched and Hyperextended Whole Torso; Clarification – Use of Flex and Stretch as Position or Movement; Contents of Issues Nos. I – C of The Labanotator (separate sheet)

Issue No. 10, 1963

Topics: Corrections – The Previous Issue: Achievements So Far; The Labanotation Textbook: Levels of Jumps, Levels of Kneeling, Blind Turns; Validity of a Symbol – Automatic Body or Space Hold?; Degrees of Distance – 2 or 6? (Short Steps, Flexions, Long Steps)

Issue No. 11, 1963

Topics: Cancellations – Formation of the Rule, Automatic Cancellation, Automatic Retention; Does the Whole Limb Cancel Its Parts? (Possible Solutions, New Proposal)

Issue No. 12, 1963

Topics: Levels of Supports; Levels of Walking After Kneeling; Levels of Supports When Center of Gravity is [Middle Level]; Use of Hooks for Supports – Knust's Objection

Issue No. 13, 1963

Topics: Pelvic Tilts – Single Hip or Pelvic Girdle Shifts; Pelvic Rotation, as in a "Contraction"; Shading of the Turn Sign; Circular Path – Circle as Much as Possible – New Proposal

Issue No. 14, 1963

Topic: Touching and Sliding Leg Gestures

Issue No. 15, 1963

Topic: Touching and Sliding Leg Gestures – Further Clarification

Issue No. 16, 1964

Topics: Touching and Sliding Hand and Arm Gestures; Hooks on Support Symbols, Further Comment; Szentpal Rule for Hold Sign in Support Column; Overlap of Support Symbols after a Jump

Issue No. 17, 1964

Topics: Validity of a Symbol – Conclusion; Third Column (Upper-Part-of-Body-Movements) – Solution; LN Meaning for [Chest Sign] – Suggested Change; Indication for Facing – New Proposal; Supports Qualified by Hooks – Further Clarification; Szentpal Rule for Hold Sign – Corrections and Clarification

Issue No. 18, 1964

Topic: The Four Crosses of Axes

Issue No. 19, 1964

Topics: Whole Torso – A Single Unit of Two Parts Combined?; Torso Twists: Blind Turns; Rigid, Flexible Tilts; Meaning of Step in Place after Positions on Two Feet; Step-Turn Problems; Time Value for Simultaneous Action Bow

Issue No. 20, 1964

Topics: Distinction Between Thumb and Little Finger Edge; Statement of Thumb Facing; Center of Gravity Problems; Need for Statement of Center of Gravity; Degrees of Lowering Center of Gravity; Hold Signs for Center of Gravity

Issue No. 21, 1964

Topics: The Action Stroke – Duration Line

Issue No. 22, 1964

Topics: Double Starting Lines; Terminology – Corrections; Touches and Slides for Hand Gestures, Contributed by Albrecht Knust; Crosses of Axes – The Next Step

Issue No. 23, 1965

Topics: Presented by Maria Szentpal – Position Pins Near Direction Symbols (The Centre Line Problem)

Issue No. 24, 1965

Topics: Replies to Comments on The Labanotator No. 21 (Knust's Use of the Increase Sign; The De-
crease Sign; etc.); Touching and Sliding Hand and Arm Gestures – Further Clarification by Knust

Issue No. 25, 1965

Topics: Distance between Supports in Sitting and Lying; Drawing of Joint Symbols and of Spot Hold for Unification; Length of Bar Lines; Drawing of Symbols for Wide, Long

Issue No. 26, January 1978
Topics: Does [the Base of the Hand] Exist?; Relationship Pins; What Do These Mean?; Starting Position Gaposis?; Verb or Adjective?; Helpful Bits; Aerial Turns; Hold or Carry Your Skirt?; Change of Level While Swivelling; See Floor Plan; Slanting Support Lines; Intermediate Directions; Starting Position Off-Stage; Answers to Quiz

Issue No. 27, April 1979
Topics: Labanotator Textbook II; Comments on Issue 26; Relationship to Focal Point; Repeat of a Reprise; Arms in 2nd in Ballet; Vertical Bows: Are Two Needed?; Looking, Facing Requires a Verb; Ad Lib. Runs; Bow Not Needed

Issue No. 28, June 1979
Topics: Comments on Issue No. 27; Contributions from Maria Szentpal; Counts, Beats, Terminology; Accelerardo, Ritardo; Statement of Unit; Unfolding; Sequential Movement; Tap Dictionary in Preparation

Issue No. 29, November 1979
Topics: Anatomical Descriptions; White Pins for Head Rotations; Shift or Step?; Wishful Possibility; Stopped Movements; White Pins in Turn Signs; Placement of Pin; Both or Either; Degree of Led By; Comments on Issue No.27; Jazz Study by David McKittrick; Indication of Reprise, Squibs

Issue No. 30, February 1980
Topics: Level in Standing; Foot Direction on Circular Paths; Proposed Key for Direction in Relationship to Focal Point; Definition of Arm Column; Variations of Supporting Bow; Cut the Corners; Timing of Looking; Understood Neighboring Direction; Effect of Heel Height on Level of Support; Interpretation of Stance Key; Comments to Issue; Squibs

Comments to The Labanotator #30, by Muriel Topaz (March 28, 1980)

Issue No. 31, June 1980
Topics: The Nature of this Publication; Comments on Issue No. 29; Snippet – Rubbing the Knee; Snippet – Where is Place?; Use of the Caret; Revolving on a Straight Path; Excerpt from 116 Modern Dance Classroom Combinations by Ray Cook; Hop Turns; Assemble Turns; Simplified Form; Aerial Turns – Air Lines; Snippet – When an Object is Grasped; Errata; Publication of Responses

Issue No. 32, November 1980
Topics: Simplification in Writing Stepping Patterns; Staples, Carets; The 'Same Spot'; Position or Movement Writing?; Double Carets; Timing – General or Specific?; Timing, Terminating Touches; The Question of What Follows; Legato, Staccato; Specific Timing – Some Leeway; Visualization of Rhythms; Keys, General, Specific Timing; Slight Developpe

Issue No. 33, April 1981
Topics: Analysis and Notating of Tap Dancing; Use of Double Horizontal Lines; Sectional Repeats for Group Scores; Sectional Repeats – Restatement of Material

Issue No. 34, November 1981
Topic: Anatomical Descriptions: Terminology, Reference Point (State), Degrees of Folding, Direction of Folding (Hinge Joints), The Knee, The Ankle – Reference Point (State), Direction of Ankle Flexion, Ankle Extension or Foot Extension?, Ball and Socket Joints, Direction of Folding, Shoulder Flexion, Indication of Rotation, Abduction and Adduction, Destinational Points, Movements of the Shoulder Blade, Movement Segment and Fixed Segment, Hip Contraction, Cancellation of Folding

Isuue No. 35, April 1982
Topics: Intermediate Directions – Choice of Descriptions; Handling of Score Details; Heel Contact; Cancellation; Design Drawing – Statement of Size of the Design; Distance of Step; Shorthand Devices – "Retrace Path"; "Any", or "The One in Question"; Thoughts from Sigurd Leeder

Issue No. 36, June 1983
Topic: Canon Form

Issue No. 37, October 1983
Topics: Relationship to Focal Point; Empty Direction Symbol for Pathway; Indication of Peripheral Pathway; Shift or Step?; Landing for Glissade, Pas de Chat, Sissonne, etc.; To Point or Not To Point; When Does Traveling Stop?; General Timing, Specific Timing; Indication of General or Specific Timing

Response The Labanotator #37, by Muriel Topaz [April 4, 1984?]

Issue No. 38, October 1984
Topic: Indication of Paths for Gestures (Based on a 1969 ICKL Paper by Ann Hutchinson Guest)

Issue No. 39, January 1985
Topic: Notating Chinese Kenpo Karate (Direction of Attention, Center Line of the Body, Leg Rotations, Body Facings, Secret Turn, Gestural Paths, Direction from Body Part, Shorthand or Simplified Version)

Issue No. 40, April 1985
Topic: Dynamics

Issue No. 41, June 1985
Topics: Motif Description (Body-as-a-Whole Movements, Open Choice Movements); Use of Keys; Change of Staffs; Looking, Addressing; Writing 'Both Hands', etc. on One Side of the Staff

Issue No. 42, November 1985
Topics: D.B.P. for Gestures; Signs for Right and Left Hips and Knees; Specific Contraction; Hip Movements – Point of Reference; Shoulder Movements – Point of Reference; Distance in Sitting; Unfolding

Issue No. 43, February 1986
Topics: Duration Line – Action Stroke; Revolving While Travelling; Directions – General to Specific Statement; Design Drawing – Statement of Shape of Surface; Signs for Spreading, Closing

Issue No. 44, May 1986
Topics: Centre of Gravity (Retention, Cancellation); Supports (Placement of Hooks); Comments to The Labanotator No. 42; Use of [Curved and Angular Release Signs] in Support Column

Issue No. 45, November 1986
Topics: Dynamic Signs – Right and Left?; Dynamic Signs – Impulsive/Impact/Swing; Meaning of [Turn Signs]; Passive Turns – Symbology; Cancellation of Body Rotation/Twists; Statement of Shifting in Addition Bracket; Repeat Movement or Notation?; Fluent Change of Level in Steps; Moving from an Open to Closed Position; Choice of Description in Levels of Supports; Choice of Directional Statement; "Opening the Chest"; Palm Facing – Timing

Issue No. 46, February 1987
Topics: Log Rolling – Carriage of the Limbs, the Standard Retention; Folding from the Base of the Knuckles; Body Key for Palm Facing; Heel Drop ("Heel Lower", "Add Heel"); Heeled Shoes – Use of Hooks; Sound, No Sound; Retention/Adjustment of Grasping (Hands); Labanotation Textbook II; Comments on The Labanotator No. 44

Issue No. 47. May 1987
Topics: Secret Turns; Abduction and Adduction of the Thumb; Choice of Directional Definition; Each One; General to Specific Meaning; Comments on The Labanotator No. 45

Issue No. 48, October 1987
Topics: 'Passive', 'Following', 'Resultant'; Travelling Turn in the Air; Diamonds Galore!; Repeats; Advantage of Round Pins for Floor Plans; Relationship between Support and Leg Gesture Movements; More Comments on The Labanotator No. 45

Issue No. 49, November 1987
Topics: Release Sign in the Support Column; Timing – Release Sign, Action Stroke; Existing Uses; Score Checking; Labanotation Textbook 11 Chapters

Issue No. 50, January 1988
Topics: Slow Closing into Fifth Position; Aplomb (Line of Balance); 'Feeling', Intention; Looking 'Beyond'; Contraction and Folding of the Arm – Hand Indication; Comments on The Labanotator No. 46

Issue No. 51, April 1988
Topics: Intermediate Directions; Retire Positions – Exact Description; Comments on The Labanotator No. 46 (continued)

Issue No. 52, August 1988
Topics: Body Hold Sign for 'Rigidity?; Partnerwork/Floorwork – Simple Description; Comments on The Labanotator Nos. 47, 48, and 49

Issue No. 53, October 1988
Topics: Orientation Indications – Clarifications; Use of Constant Key for Orientation; Abbreviated Orientation Indications; The Missing Directions; Comments on The Labanotator Nos. 49, 50, and 51

Issue No. 54, January 1989
Topics: 'Passive', 'Resultant' Movement; Standard Rotation for the Arms – A Change; 'Normal' Turn-out for Legs; Snippets (Pins for Crossed Arms, Undeviating Step); The Labanotator Table of Contents

Issue No. 55, April 1989
Topics: Hand Circles; Do We Describe Intention, Idea?; Comments on The Labanotator No. 54

Issue No. 56, July 1989
Topics: Hand Circles Continued (Horizontal Circles, Sagittal Circles, Use of Keys, Gathering and Scattering); Do Short Signs Mean Sudden?; Path Signs as Modifier; Comments on The Labanotator Nos. 47, 49, 52, and 53

Issue No. 57, October 1989
Topics: Hand Circles Continued – Addition of Sequential Movement (Successions), Individual Finger Articulation (Canonic Sequence), Combined Forms, Augmentation, Figure-eight Circles Small Figure-eights, Use of Pins to Indicate Small Circles, Modified Shape of Figure-eight; Further Comments on The Labanotator No. 54

Issue No. 58, January 1990
Topics: Change of Key for a Space Hold; Swing that Bow!; Thumbs Out; Afterflow; Approximate Moment of Passing; Floor Plans – Holding Hands; When does Movement Start?; Request for Hand Circle Comments

Issue No. 59, April 1990
Topics: Use of the [Curved and Angular] Release Signs; The Meaning and Logical Use of [Angular Release Sign]; Axis of Turning; Spiral Paths on Floor Plans; Length of Path Signs; Duration of Leg Flexion; Timing of Level Change in a Step-Turn; A Return to the Topic of Resultant; Added Thoughts to Topic 1

Issue No. 60, July 1990
Topics: Ankle Flexion – When Folding, When Contracting?; Performance of Sliding Steps; Measurement of Distance; Wrist or Lower Arm?; Labanotation Textbook II Update

Issue No. 61, October 1990
Topics: The Beijing Labanotation Group – A Report by Ann Hutchinson Guest (Hands Sliding Along Another's Arms, Group Circling, Floor Work. Free Arm Swings); Ray Cook – Comments on The Labanotator No. 59 (Use of Release Signs, Writing Complex Floor Plans, Interpretation of Simple Statements – A Simple Run, The Ad Lib. Sign for Running); Terri Richards – Steps, Change from Middle to Low Level; The History of the Development of Labanotation

Issue No. 62, January 1991
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part One

Issue No. 63, April 1991
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part Two

Issue No. 64, July 1991
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part Three

Issue No. 65, October 1991
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part Four

Issue No. 66, January 1992
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part Five

Issue No. 67, April 1992
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part Six

Issue No. 68, July 1992
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part Seven

Issue No. 69, October 1992
Topic: A History of the Development of the Laban System, Part Eight

Issue No. 70. January 1993
Topics: An Analysis of Elbow Rotation, by Janos Fugedi; Handling of Props

Issue no. 71, April 1993
Topics: The Handling of Objects (Representation of the Objects; Placement on the Staff; Contact, Hold, Carry, Carrying Hold; Directions for Objects); Pins – When Black, When Tack, When Track?; Pins for All-Fours Situations

Issue No. 72, July 1993
Topics: Timing of Claps; Leg Gestures: Distance from Floor; Parts of the Fingers (for Movement, for Touch); Led by the Wrist; Fact or Feeling?; Limb Rotation – Back to Normal; Spot Hold or Space Hold?; Back to Normal or Disappear?; Part Leading – Use of Toe Hooks

Issue No. 73, October 1993
Topics: Hand/Finger Fan; Track Pins, Black Pins; Led by the Wrist; Distance of Leg Gesture from Floor; Motif Indications?; Fact or Feeling?; Limb Rotation – Back to Normal?; Revolving While Travelling; The Labanotator Index of Contents, ed. 1994

Issue No. 74, January 1994
Topics: The Practice of Specific Timing; Forms of Relating – A Generic Sign; Motif: Centre of Weight; A Menu of Movements

Issue No. 75, April 1994
Topics: Paths, Traveling; Meandering Symbol – A New Idea; Path Signs and Room Areas; 'A Step'; LOD - 'Path' versus Traveling'; Movement of Body-as-a-Whole or of a Part?; Can a Starting Position Indicate Movement

Issue No. 76, July 1994
Topics: Ballroom Dancing; Comments on The Labanotator No.75

Moving About: Capturing Movement Highlights Using Motif Notation, by Charlotte Wile with Ray Cook

2010-10-06T17:11:00.004-04:00

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - October 7, 2010

I am happy to announce the publication of Moving About: Capturing Movement Highlights Using Motif Notation, by Charlotte Wile with Ray Cook.

Moving About teaches how to read and write Motif Notation. It tells about movement and how to tell what movement is about.

All aspects of movement are explored, including timing, body portion involvement, direction, Effort, Shape Modes, and actions (relating, traveling, forming body configurations, transferring weight, flexing and extending, falling, turning, going in the air, and changing altitude.) The book's 464 pages also contain many reading studies, quizzes, paradigms for concepts and indications, and an extensive bibliography.

For purchasing information and a free online preview, go to the Moving About website.

No Longer an Oral Tradition: My Journey Through Percussion Notation

2010-10-06T17:07:00.008-04:00

Submitted by Doris Green - October 7, 2010

Finally the music of African drums, bells, rattles, clappers, sticks and stones, can be written read and performed from a printout. As we know the music of Africa is largely percussive and exist as an oral tradition that is passed between generations by a mouth to ear process. Unfortunately any society that is entirely dependent upon oral communication for the transmission of its culture is doomed to failure because of outside interpretation and the breakdown of the human memory. Consequently each time the holders of this vast cultural knowledge died, they literally took archives of music to the grave where it was entombed and lost to the world forever.

With the realization that over the course of time, much of their music was rapidly dissipating, Africans began to search for a way to document their music through written notation. For decades, if not centuries, Africa was searching for a way to represent music of their instruments on paper. Africa’s desire to find a notation system for her instruments was unknown to a young high school student. This young girl was a musician and dancer who needed to find a way to teach Congo drummers how to read music so they could play the proper music to accompany her choreography. When she heard her teacher comment that any sound could be written with Pitman stenography, she grabbed her pencil and wrote a drum rhythm. She used three stokes to accomplish this.

Doris Green would take this pattern and develop it into a system whereby not only African music could be written, but the accompanying dance movements, through Labanotation, could also be written as a single integrated score. For the past 40 years Doris has covered Africa from Tanzania to Senegal, researching, teaching and sharing her knowledge with Africans. She served as a Fulbright Scholar, and US State Department Cultural Specialists.

Read my autobiography No Longer an Oral Tradition: My Journey Through Percussion Notation. This is the story of my life and the influence I had on the preservation of African music and dance. Now Africa has a notation system of her own.

For additional information on Doris Green and her work please view:

Doris's website - "Welcome to the African World"

New York Times Article - "So you Think It's African Dance?", by Alastair Macaulay

Online Exhibit - Greennotation

Sources

2010-09-02T12:43:00.000-04:00

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
kl.humanfactors@virgin.net