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Dance notation is thesymbolic representation of humandance movement and form, using methods such as graphic symbols and figures, path mapping,numerical systems, and letter and wordnotations. Several dance notation systems have been invented, many of which are designed to document specific types of dance while others have been developed with capturing the broader spectrum of human movement potential. Adance score is a recorded dance notation that describes a particular dance.
The primary uses of dance notation are historical dance preservation through documentation and analysis (e.g., inethnochoreology) or reconstruction ofchoreography, dance forms, and technical exercises. Dance notation systems also allow for dance works to be documented and therefore potentially copyrighted.
Two popular dance notation systems used inWestern culture areLabanotation (also known as Kinetography Laban) andBenesh Movement Notation. Others includeEshkol-Wachman Movement Notation and DanceWriting.
Many dance notation systems are designed for specific types of dance. Some examples include Shorthand Dance Notation for dances fromIsrael, Morris Dance Notation forMorris dance, andBeauchamp–Feuillet Notation forBaroque dance. As a result, these systems usually cannot effectively describe other types of dance.
In the 1680s,Pierre Beauchamp invented a dance notation system for Baroque dance. His system, known asBeauchamp–Feuillet notation, was published in 1700 byRaoul Auger Feuillet and used to record dances throughout the eighteenth century.
A well-known collection of dance scores is theSergeyev Collection, recorded usingVladimir Ivanovich Stepanov's notation method (1892). This collection documents theImperial Ballet's (today the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet) repertoire from the turn of the 20th century, includingMarius Petipa's original choreographic designs forThe Sleeping Beauty,Giselle,Le Corsaire, andSwan Lake, as well asCoppélia and the original version ofThe Nutcracker. It was with this collection that many of these works were first staged outside Russia.
In 1934, the composerJoseph Schillinger created a highly accurate notation system based on the 3D bone rotation and translation of a moving dancer.[1] Withmotion capture technology half a century in the future, there was no way to effectively measure and record this information at the time.
In 1948,Hanya Holm became the first Broadway choreographer to have her dance scores copyrighted, for her work onKiss Me, Kate.
In 1951, Stanley D. Kahn publishedKahnotation, a dance notation system specific totap dance.
In 1956, Rudolf and Joan Benesh first publishedBenesh Movement Notation, a written system for recording human movement. It is most widely used in the recording and restaging of dance works.[2]
In 1958, Eshkol and Wachman published an exposition oftheir movement notation.[3]
In 1969, Romanian choreographer Theodor Vasilescu published a dance notation system for Romanianfolk dances.[4]
In the 1970s,North Korean choreographer U Chang-sop developed a system of dance notation forKorean dance called the Chamo System of Dance Notation, which uses pictorially based symbols.[5]
In 1975,Ann Hutchinson Guest reconstructed choreographerArthur Saint-Léon'sPas de Six from his 1844 balletLa Vivandière, along with its original music by composerCesare Pugni, for theJoffrey Ballet. The piece was reconstructed from Saint-Léon's work, which was documented using his own method of dance notation, known asLa Sténochorégraphie.
In 1982, the first computerized notation system—theDOM (Dance on Microprocessor) dance notation system—was created byEddie Dombrower forApple II computers.[6] The system displayed an animated figure on the screen that performed dance moves specified by the choreographer.
In 2017, Felipe Hsieh createdTango Notation, a dance notation system specific to Argentine tango.
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