- Original name:
- Kinetography Laban
- Key People:
- Rudolf Laban
- Related Topics:
- dance notation
- kinesiology
labanotation
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What is labanotation?
Labanotation is a system for recording human movement, created by Rudolf Laban, a Hungarian dance theorist. It uses symbols to represent movement components, "spelling out" each pattern. A vertical, three-line staff represents the performer, divided into right and left columns for the main body parts. The shape, shading, and length of symbols indicate direction, level, and duration of movement, respectively.
The Dance Notation Bureau promoted labanotation, and it was included in dance studies in colleges and universities. It can record movement at a general level or with specific detail. Labanotation has been applied to industrial work studies, physiotherapy, sports analysis, and zoological studies.
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Why was labanotation created?
Labanotation emerged from Rudolf Laban's interest in movement, stemming from his early travels and work in performing arts, architecture, and philosophy. He sought to analyze the spatial structure of movement itself.
In 1928, Laban published Schrifttanz (āWritten Danceā), which became the foundation for labanotation. This system uses symbols to represent movement components, differing from other notation systems that use symbols for established movement forms. Labanotation is able to record the positions of the body and the pattern of the steps, and also how movements should be executed. The Dance Notation Bureau further solidified labanotation by finding it to be solidly based and versatile for all movement needs.
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How does labanotation represent dance movements?
Labanotation, or Kinetography Laban, is a system that uses abstract symbols to record dance movements. Developed by Rudolf Laban, the system uses a vertical three-line staff to represent the dancer's body, with the center dividing the right and left sides.
Movement symbols indicate direction and level through their shape and shading, while their length signifies timing. The symbol's placement on the staff specifies the moving body part. Labanotation is applicable to all forms of movement and can capture spatial nuances, dynamic variations, and temporal relationships between individual movements.
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What do the symbols in labanotation mean?
Labanotation is a system for recording human movement, developed by Rudolf Laban. It uses symbols to represent movement components, spelling out each pattern. A vertical three-line staff represents the performer, with the center dividing it into right and left columns for body parts. Read from bottom to top, the staff reflects the performerās viewpoint.
Each direction symbol is a rectangle indicating four movement factors:
* Shape indicates direction.
* Shading indicates level.
* Length represents duration.
* Placement on the staff indicates the body part in action.Additional signs denote details modifying the main action. This system can record movement at a general level or with increasing specificity.
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How is labanotation read and written on paper?
Labanotation is a system for recording human movement using symbols that represent movement components. A vertical, three-line staff represents the performer, and is read from bottom to top from the performerās point of view. The center line divides the staff into right and left columns, representing the main body parts. Each direction symbol is based on a rectangle, and indicates four movement factors: its shape shows the direction of the movement; its shading indicates level; its length represents duration; and its placement on the staff indicates the part of the body that is in action.
Labanotation can record movement at a general outline level or with increasing specificity to clearly state every spatial nuance, dynamic variation, and temporal relationship between individual movements. Shorthand devices are used by practitioners, but final scores include all necessary detail.
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How is labanotation used by dancers and choreographers today?
Today, dancers and choreographers use labanotation, a system for recording human movement, to preserve and analyze dance. Developed by Rudolf Laban, it uses symbols on a three-line staff to represent body parts and movement direction.
Labanotation is utilized in dance studies at colleges and universities and is being further developed with computer software like LabanWriter and Calaban to improve access to scores and teaching materials. It is also used for physiotherapy exercises and analyzing movement in sports. The International Council of Kinetography Laban meets to explore new ideas and usages.
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labanotation, system of recording human movement, originated by the Hungarian-born dance theorist Rudolf Laban.
Labanotation grew from Labanās interest in movement, which stemmed from his early travels. He studied architecture and philosophy in Paris and worked as an illustrator before becoming involved in the performing arts. His architectural interests led to his analysis of the spatial structure of movement itself. After publishing a shorthand system for his theories (Choreographie, 1926), he developed a more detailed and more widely applicable notationāone that spelled out the elements that produce the movement patternāand published it in the book Schrifttanz (āWritten Danceā) in 1928. This work provided the basis of the system that bears his nameālabanotation. From the 1930s to the ā90s, the system was refined, given a more universal basis, and developed to a high level by research practitioners in Germany, England, and the United States. In time, textbooks on the Laban system were published in English, French, German, Dutch, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish, and Swedish. Many other publications of notated dance techniques, dances of different cultures around the world, and significant choreographic scores have appeared.
The Laban system is an āalphabetā system in that symbols represent movement components through which each pattern is āspelled outā (unlike some other notation systems, which use distinct symbols to represent established movement forms). In standard labanotation a vertical three-line staff represents the performer. The centre line divides the staff into right and left columns, which represent the main body parts. The staff, read from bottom to top, is written from the performerās point of view. Each direction symbol is based on a rectangle and indicates four movement factors: its shape shows the direction of the movement; its shading indicates level; its length represents duration of the movement (the shorter, the quicker; the longer, the more extended in time); and its placement on the staff indicates the part of the body that is in action. Families of signs represent the minor body parts, and additional signs such as pins and hooks denote details modifying the main action.
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The Dance Notation Bureau in New York City was established in 1940 to further the art of dance through the use of notation. Existing notation systems were studied, and labanotation was found to be the most solidly based and the most versatile for all movement needs. The notation of choreographic works was undertaken to provide a literary heritage for dance. As interest developed in recording historical, national, ballet, and contemporary dances in both Western and non-Western cultures, labanotation centres were established in China, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, and the United Kingdom. From the 1950s labanotation was included in dance studies in colleges and universities in the United States and around the world.
Labanotation can record movement at a general outline level or can become increasingly specific so that every spatial nuance, dynamic variation, and temporal relationship between individual movements can be clearly stated. Shorthand devices are used by practitioners, but final scores include all necessary detail. A simpler form, named Motif Notation, was developed later by Ann Hutchinson Guest and others as a dance education tool with which both children and adults might explore basic movement actions and concepts. It is also used as a tool for movement observation. In 1952 a labanotation score was the first dance notation score to be accepted for copyright registration.
Labanotation continues to be developed worldwide. The International Council of Kinetography Laban, established in England in 1959, meets biennially to investigate new ideas and usages; computer-aided labanotation software, in particular LabanWriter and Calaban, enables better preservation and access to labanotation scores and teaching materials; dance documentation has taken on new life as software allows the viewing on CD-ROM of a particular labanotation score alongside a video recording of a performance of the recorded work; and research continues into how computers can be used to translate labanotation into movement.
Whereas labanotation has been used primarily to record dance, it has had other applications as well. Labanotation has been used in industrial work studies as well as for recording physiotherapy exercises and analyzing movement in sports such as swimming and ice skating. It also has been used in zoological studies to describe, for example, the mating dance of the jumping spider and to study albatross movement. (See also dance notation.)
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