Response to "Sign for the Carving Shape Mode", part 3

Response to "Sign for the Carving Shape Mode", part 3
Submitted by Ann Hutchinson Guest - February 10, 2000

Charlotte, Oct. 5, '99: I like her Ex.CWc), it visually suggests the idea. Now, as I read Charlotte's response, Nov. 10, '99. I have to say I am not a CMA and may be lacking in necessary background, my understanding of carving is that it is gestural, while molding is a change in the torso and general body shape. A little tutoring needed here, I am sure.

'Any' Symbols

In reading C. Wile Nov. 10, '99, I don't see Ex. CWb) as meaning 'any shape', to me it means "we are talking about shape. The same with Ex. CWc), to me it means "effort is the topic." I would prefer the any sign to be added to these two. You are right, you listed Motif signs which do not incorporate the 'any' sign. We here have been discussing whether these signs should have the ad lib sign added, to be consistent. No doubt it would help beginners - one less thing to have to learn. Thus 'any rotation' could be A1 here; any part of the body would be A2, and any weight transference would have the 'any' added at the base, as LOD does with the basic sign: A3 meaning any action; A3. The basic action stoke used in CWf) in our usage means an action linked appropriately to the movement context. I may need to remind people that this difference came up as a necessity because of the use of the action stroke in Structured Description. There, by itself, it does not mean "do any action you want." I think we all feel the need to link Motif and Structured uses in Labanotation; they can no longer be considered separate disciplines, Motif must lead to Structured without conflict in meanings.

Response to "Sign for the Carving Shape Mode", part 2

Response to "Sign for the Carving Shape Mode", part 2

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - November 10, 1999

Many thanks Jimmyle for your response to my October 5 posting.

I think your comments about the word "Carving" are thought provoking. Using a term that implies a reciprocal relationship does seem like a good idea. What term do you use for that Shape Mode? Do you like the term "Molding"? Or do you use another term? I avoid using the term "Shaping" because it is sometimes used for generic Shape Qualities. (See Hackney, Peggy. "SHAPE: What's Shaping Up?", paper presented at the 1993 Eurolab Conference in Berlin, Germany.)

Re: Your idea of using the sign shown in Ex. a) below to indicate "any Shape Mode." I think that might be a good idea if we were just beginning to develop the Shape Mode signs. However, I think that at this late date it might be too confusing to have Ex. a) mean "any Shape Mode," when in the past it has indicated "Shaping (Carving, Molding)."

Also, in my opinion it is not really necessary to change the present generic sign that indicates "any Shape Mode." (Ex. b) I feel that adding a wavy line to the indication is not needed for "syntactical consistency." It is true that many other generic indications in Motif Description include the sign for "any." However, there are also many indications that depict the concept of "any" without a wavy line, such as those in Ex. c-f ).

On the other hand, if an indication does contain the wavy line, the meaning of the wavy line should be "any." Hence my idea for changing the drawing of the Shaping (Carving, Molding) sign, as I discussed in my October 5 posting.

Response to "Sign for the Carving Shape Mode", part 1

Response to "Sign for the Carving Shape Mode", part 1

Submitted by Jimmyle Listenbee - November 10, 1999

I like the use of the sign for "any" (Ex. a) horizontally imposed over the sign for "shape" (Ex. b) to indicate "any shape" (Ex. c), because of its syntactical consistency.


I don't think we should be using the word "Carving" to indicate 3-dimensional shape changes, because it emphasizes an attitude of acting on the environment more than adapting to it; I think "the way the body forms itself in space" implies a reciprocal relationship.

Revising the Sign for the Carving Shape Mode

Revising the Sign for the Carving Shape Mode

Submitted by Charlotte Wile - October 5, 1999

I am interested in revising the sign for the Carving (Shaping) Shape Mode. The traditional sign for the Carving Shape Mode is shown in Ex. a). I think this sign is confusing because it contains a wavy line that looks like the sign for "any" (Ex. b). Therefore, Ex. a) looks like it should mean "any Shape Mode" rather than "Carving." To avoid this confusion I suggest the Carving Shape Mode sign should be drawn as in Ex. c).

Recently we have been experimenting with this idea in the LIMS Intensive Certificate program in New York. So far the faculty and students seem to like the revised sign (Ex.c). I would love to hear what others think of it.