Jean Kirsten - New Works

Submitted by DNB Staff - May 16, 2017

Jean Kirsten has sent us the wonderful images below of his recent Laban inspired work.
       For larger images, Go Here


For other postings about Jean's work, see:
      Photos of Jean Kirsten's Installation "Rubber Twist with Rudolf"

      Artworks by Jean Kirsten

      Photos of Jean Kirsten's Exhibition "To Laban"

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Ärztehaus Markkleeberg 2016.jpg:
The 5 Plantonic solids in front of a public building (physician house) in Leipzig-Markkleeberg.

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wallpaper.jpg:
My design inside [Arztehaus Markkleeberg]: The wallpaper with notation symbols.

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ceramic.jpg:
Some ceramic works inspired by notation symbols. I did this during a workshop in October last year.

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Chemnitz.jpg:

Platonic Sculpture, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron inside the cube. This was shown in an exhibition during the museums night in Chemnitz/Saxony last year.

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notation chair.jpg:  A normal Chair (IKEA) painted with notation symbols in 2017.

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Trinity London 2016.jpg:

Last year the (75th) Laban Guild AGM and conference took place in the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance In London. I showed there this installation with Laban models and Plato solids.

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For Sophie (Taeuber, Hans (Arp) and Rudolf (Laban).jpg:

Three works that I exhibited at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich/Switzerland during a conference with the name Monte Dada, 100 years after the birth of Dada. I give them the name "For Sophie (Taeuber, Hans (Arp) and Rudolf (Laban).“

American Bandstand Dances in Labanotation

Submitted by DNB Staff - May 3, 2017
Facsimile prepared by Darcy Riley

The American Bandstand was a popular TV music-performance show that aired from 1952 to 1989.

This posting offers a facsimile of American Bandstand Dances in Labanotation, by Nadia Chilkovsy (1959).

Contents:

• How to Read Dance Steps
• Jitterbug
• Fox Trot
• Conga
• Cha-Cha
• Stroll
• Bunny Hop
• Facts About the American Bandstand
• Dances and the Author 

116 Modern Dance Classroom Combinations, by Ray Cook

Submitted by DNB Staff, February 24, 2017

116 Modern Dance Classroom Combinations, by Ray Cook (1979) contains a full range of modern dance classroom sequences written in Labanoatation. It is a wonderful resource for both teachers and students.

To view a facsimile of the book, Go Here.

An Interview with Peggy Hackney, Dec. 23, 2015

Submitted by DNB Staff - January 22, 2017

On December 23, 2015 we were delighted to have Peggy Hackney visit us at the DNB to share her thoughts about the history and development of our Laban communities and notation systems.   The videos below document part of that discussion.

As a supplement to Peggy's comments about Shape, we thought readers would be interested in her papers "Shape: What's Shaping Up?" and "Eye-blink." 

For a facsimile of the papers, GO HERE.

(The facsimile was taken from "Symbols of our Community .....Moving Forward with Motif: Proceedings of the Inaugural Motif Symposium, August 2-4, 2002") 


Addendum Jan. 24, 2017: When we originally published this posting, the Weight Sensing indications for Videos 2 and 3 were drawn incorrectly, with the "released" signs upside down,  The symbols in the posting have been rewritten, and are now correct.

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Interview Participants:

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VIDEO 1

TOPICS: The history of Shape concepts and indications. 

• Minute 0:00 - Shape indications.
• Minute 4:30 - The difference between the "original" Shape system and Peggy's revised system.
• Minute 11:00 - The role of application and context in the development and use of indications.
• Minute 13:21 - Warren Lamb's Shape indications.

INDICATIONS DISCUSSED:

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 VIDEO 2

TOPICS: Shape, Effort, Dynamics.

• Minute 0:00 - More about Peggy's system for indicating Shape.
• Minute 2:07 - "Indirect Effort" and "Direct Effort."
• Minute 5:23 - Weight Effort variables (e.g., Passive Weight, Weight Sensing).
• Minute 8:00 - Ann Guest's concept of Dynamics.
• Minute 8:40 - The terms "Strong," "Light," "Weak," and "Heavy."
• Minute 9:24 - More about Weight Effort  (active vs. passive).
• Minute 10:24 - Weight Sensing.
• Minute 12:20 - History of the expanded view of Weight Effort (e.g., active vs. passive Weight, weight sensing, etc.)

INDICATIONS DISCUSSED:

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VIDEO 3

TOPICS: Effort, Still Forms, Shape, Yield/Push & Reach/Pull, Laban training.

• Minute 0:00 - More about the history of Weight Effort.
• Minute 4:12 - Indications for  Pin, Wall, Ball, Screw.
• Minute 5:06 - "Pathway of Shape" as a way of indicating the duration of a Shape indication.
• Minute 5:30 - The Development of the indication for Carving.
• Minute 7:11 - The need for Yield/Push & Reach/Pull indications.
• Minute 7:54 - The expertise needed for developing symbols.
• Minute 9:45 - Laban training produces "renaissance people."

INDICATIONS DISCUSSED:

Folk Dance Collections

Submitted by DNB Staff - January 10, 2017, updated on September, 2023

The materials below consist of published notation scores and compiled individual dance scores by the DNB from various sources.  There are European and Israeli folk dances.  Some are accompanied by music scores; some teach basic notation knowledge.  All the material is useful for educational and research purposes.  

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10 Folk Dances in Labanotation, by Lucy Venable and Fred Berk.

              For recordings of music in the book, performed by Marcus Machado,  Go Here.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Lesson 1 - The staff, Directions, Levels, Rhythms, Pins and Repeat Sing
• Cherkessia- Israeli Dance
• Lesson 2 - Jumps, Hops, Leap
• Schottische Step
• Lesson 3- Turns (On the Ground and In the Air)
• Sarajevka Kolo - Yugoslav Dance from Serbia
• Lesson 4 - Circular Paths, Hold Signs & Accents
• Seven Step (Siebenschritt) - Austrian Couple Dance
• Lesson 5 - Leg gestures, Touches
• Korobushka - Russian Couple Dance 
• Lesson 6 - Waltz and Polka Turns and More Repeat Signs
• Masquerade - Danish Social Dance
• Road to the Isles - Scottish Dance
• Greek Dance
• Norwegian Polka
• Debka - Israeli Line Dance Based on Arabic Steps
• You Can Write a Dance in Labanotation
• Piano Accompaniment
• Glossary of Symbols

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Dances from Israel, by Lucy Venable and Fred Berk.

Contents:

Circle Dances

• Mamtera (Sprinkler)
• At Va'ani (You and Me)
• Likrat Shabat (Welcome of the Sabbath)
• Al Tira (Dance of Strength)

Couple Dances

• Roe Veo'a (Shepherd and Shepherdess)
• Al Tiruni (Do Not Scorn Me)
• Hanokdim (Shearers)

Line Dances

• Kol Dodi (The Voice of My Beloved)
• Horat Hasor (Tenth Anniversary Hora)
• Debra Rafiach

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Folk Collection No. 1 (Greek), notated by Alice Lattimore.

Contents:

• Gerakina
• Madedonian Dances
• Menouses
• Teamikoe
• Hassapiko

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Folk Collection No. 2, notated by Alice Lattimore, Joan Gainer, and Celia Rudin et al.

Contents:

• Bavno Oro
• Ritka Buza
• Hanodeid - Israeli Circle Dance
• Korobushka - A Russian Folk Dance
• Nenesko Kolo 
• Hora Aggadati
• Tanko Bushi
• Mayim

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Folk Collection No. 3 (British-American), notated by Muriel Topaz, Mireille Backer, and Alice Lattimore.

Contents:

• Highland Fling
• Hull's Victory (American Contra)
• Old Mother Oxford (Morris Jig from Headington, England)
• A Trip to Paris (18th Century Country Dance)
• Black Nag (English Country Dance)

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Folk Dance Collection, notated by Alice Lattimore, Celia Rudin,  et al.

Contents:
(Some of these dances are also in a publication above.)

• Bavno Oro (Yugoslav folk dance from Macedonia)
• Nebesko Kolo (Yugoslavia)
• Korobushka (Russia)
• Ritka Buza (Hungary)
• Hanodeid (Israel)
• Hora Aggadati (Israel)
• Tanko Bushi - Coal Miner's Dance (Japan)
• Mayim (Israel)
• Black Nag (English Country Dance)
• Highland Fling
• Hull's Victory (American Contra)
• Old Mother Oxford (Morris Jig from Headington, England)
• A Trip to Paris (18th Century Country Dance)
• Gerakina (Greek Folk Dance from Macedonia)
• Macedonian Dances (Greece)
• Menouses (Greek Folk Dance from Epirus)
• Teamikoe (Greece)
• Hassapiko (Greece)

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Database of Hungarian Traditional Dances, created by János Fügedi et.al.

Contents:

An online database of Hundreds of Hungarian Folk Dances documented in movie clips and Labanotation.  This is an external link to a website.

Variation of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker

Submitted by Mei-Chen Lu – December 23, 2016

The notation score of variation of the "Sugar Plum Fairy" from the Tschaikovski-Petipa ballet "The Nutcracker" is now available for download.  It was danced by Alicia Markova, prima ballerina at the time, and notated by Ann Hutchinson Guest in 1957.

Markova was an outstanding interpreter of this role and made comments of this dance:

"The essence of this variation should be like spun sugar.  Technically it should be danced in a very classical form, but not as bravura variation to dazzle and bring applause.  The success it merits should come from its delicacy and gentle grace, expressing the sweet goodness which is the quality of the Sugar Plum Fairy, who is dancing to entertain little Clara in the Kingdom of Sweets."

This score was published and copyrighted by the DNB in 1957.

Irmgard Bartenieff Papers at University of Maryland

Submitted by Mei-Chen Lu, December 6, 2016

Susan L. Wiesner, an archivist at University of Maryland, created a finding aid for Irmgard Bartenieff Papers between 1920 to 1981.  These papers were gift from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies to the University of Maryland.  The Bartenieff papers are arranged into 13 series, including six restricted files.  The remainder of the collection is open for research at Special Collections in Performing Arts, Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.  

SERIES 1 Personal items

1. Art work
   
2. Memorial/Remembrances
   
3. Memorabilia
   
4. Financial/Legal records
   
5. Health
   
6. CVs/Resumes/Licensures
   
7. Memory Aids
   

SERIES 2 Correspondence

1. Personal Letters
   
2. Professional letters
   
3. Postcards/Cards/Invitations
   

SERIES 3 Research/Scholarship

1. Laban Theory (Effort/Shape, Choreutics)
   
2. Motif, Notation, Kinetography Laban
   
3. Baroque/Historic Dance Forms
   
4. Physical Therapy/Dance therapy
   
5. Notes, Notebooks
   
6. Fundamentals
   
7. Choreometrics/Ethnic Studies
   
8. Choreography
   
9. Lectures, Demonstrations
   
10. Translations/Transcripts
    
11. Resources
    

Series 4 Publications Materials

1. Book drafts/Notes
   
2. Bound (soft) Manuscripts “Body Movement”
   
3. Articles/Papers
   
4. Film scripts/notes
   
5. Contracts/Legal
   

Series 5 Pedagogy

1. Course Handouts
   
2. Syllabi/Outlines/Schedules/Class lists
   
3. Course proposals/Curriculum development
   
4. Course Announcements
   
5. Exams/Assessments
   
6. Course Feedback
   
7. Course Notes
   
8. Faculty
   

Series 6 Performance-related documents

1. Programs
2. Ephemera
3. Posters/Broadsides

Series 7 Publicity

1. Press about IB
   
2. PR/Reviews/ads about “Body Movement”
   
3. press about LIMS
   

Series 8 Other Publications/Work

1. Books
   
2. Article/book chapter
   
3. Academic papers
   
4. Journals/magazines/newsletters
   
5. Brochures/booklets
   
6. Manuals
   
7. Notes and notebooks
   

Series 9 Organisational materials

1. LIMS
   
2. DNB
   
3. ADTA
   
4. ICKL
   
5. CORD
   
6. ADG
   
7. Other organizations
   

Series 10 Non-print media

1. Video/Film 
2. Audio
3. Photographs 
4. Slides

Series 11 Ephemera

1. Book inserts (bookmarks)
   
2. Promotional materials
   

Series 12 Scores

1. Labanotation
   
2. Music
   
3. Baroque/Feuillet
   
4. Scripts and Graphic scores
   

Series 13 Clippings

1. Clippings General
   
2. Clippings Used for Study