Dance Notation Systems
Dance notation is a visual representation of dance and other kinds of human movement used to record or document sequences of motion so that others may learn and perform them. There isn't one notation system but a few prominent systems in western cultures are Labanotation and Benesh Movement Notation.
For an overview, see the entry on Dance Notation in the The Oxford Dictionary of Dance (login via the institutional login link). If you're interested in a more detailed historical account of the development of Labanotation and Benesh movement systems, see Victoria Watts' 2015 article Benesh Movement Notation and Labanotation: From Inception to Establishment (1919–1977).
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Choreo-graphics : A Comparison of Dance Notation Systems from the Fifteenth Century to the Present by Ann Hutchinson Guest, 1998
Covers thirteen historical as well as present-day systems, indicating body movement, time, space (direction and level) and other basic movement aspects. A one-to-one comparison is made of how the same simple patterns, such as walking, jumping, turning, etc. are notated in each system.
Labanotation
Labanotation, a system for analyzing and recording human movement, was created by Austro-Hungarian choreographer and dancer Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958). He developed the system in the 1920s. The word Labanotation comes from the joining of Laban's name with the word "notation". Labanotation continues to be favored by those working in non-classical dance, while Benesh is typically used for ballet.
Dance Notation Bureau
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The Dance Notation BureauThe Dance Notation Bureau’s (DNB) mission is to advance the art of dance through the use of a system of notation. Much like musical scores, DNB creates dance scores using a symbol system called Labanotation, which allows for precise documentation of how a dance should be performed. The DNB's Extension for Education and Research is located at The Ohio State University.
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Dance Notation Bureau's Notated Theatrical Dances CatalogThe Dance Notation Bureau (DNB) Library maintains the world's largest collection of original Labanotated dance scores. This catalog is not a complete inventory of the DNB’s holdings but does include information regarding the most frequently requested materials used by stagers and researchers worldwide. It includes scores in Labanotation but not scores in other forms of notation, e.g., Benesh.
Labanotation Software & Tutorial
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Labanotation Software from The Ohio State University, Department of DanceOffers:
* Labanwriter is a Labanotation editor for the Macintosh.
* Labanlens is a dance scoring application developed for the Microsoft HoloLens
* KineScribe is an iPad app that displays and edits scores in Laban movement notation. -
LabanotationAn interactive tutorial on Labanotation from The Ohio State University's Department of Dance.
Labanotation Books
The below are recommended books for acquiring certifications at the at the elementary and intermediate Labanotation theory levels from the Dance Notation Bureau (DNB). For more information, see the DNB education page.
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Labanotation: The System of Analyzing and Recording Movement (4th) by Ann Hutchinson Guest, 2011
A definitive book for students of dance and movement studies. Initiated by Rudolf Laban, dance artist, choreographer and dance theorist, and refined through fifty years of work by teachers around the world, Labanotation is a system for recording human movement.
Elementary Labanotation
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Elementary Labanotation: A Study Guide by Muriel Topaz, 1996
Published by the Dance Notation Bureau (DNB), this, and the intermediate study guide, are required texts for studying notation in DNB courses. -
Study Guide for Elementary Labanotation by Paggy Hackney, Sarah Manno, and Muriel Topaz, 1977
Another key study guide, published by the Dance Notation Bureau. A scan of this book is available for anyone to read on the Internet Archive. It is out of print and not available for purchase.
Intermediate Labanotation
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Study Guide for Intermediate Labanotation by Muriel Topaz, 1972
Published by the Dance Notation Bureau (DNB), this, and the elementary study guide, are required texts for studying notation in DNB courses.
Benesh Movement Notation
Created by husband and wife team Rudolf and Joan Benesh in 1955. They began teaching it in 1956 at the Royal Academy of Dancing. In 1962 the Beneshs founded the Institute of Choreology, later called the Benesh Institute, which was eventually absorbed into the Royal Academy of Dancing. The Benesh Institute professionalized the work by training choreologists and working to preserve notated scores. Benesh notation is used on ballet scores around the world while Labanotation is typically used in non-classical dance.
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Reading Dance : The Birth of Choreology
"Although this work could not serve as a textbook for the system as a whole, it did go further than previous publications in sharing the basic principles of BMN and offering some context for its many developments and applications in diverse contexts." From page 297 of Victoria Watts (2015) Benesh Movement Notation and Labanotation: From Inception to Establishment (1919–1977), Dance Chronicle, 38:3, 275-304, https://doi.org/10.1080/01472526.2015.1085227
Other Notation Systems
Laban Movement Analysis
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Laban Movement Analysis - a search in JMU Library Search"Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) is a method and language for describing, visualizing, interpreting and documenting all varieties of human movement. Also known as Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis, the method uses a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating contributions from anatomy, kinesiology, psychology, Labanotation and many other fields. It is one type of Laban Movement Study, originating from the work of Rudolf Laban, developed and extended by Lisa Ullmann, Irmgard Bartenieff, Warren Lamb and many others." Taken from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies website.
The Institute is also listed on the "Staying Current" page of this guide regarding their Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) program and other educational endeavors.
Stepanov Notation System
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Nikolai Sergeev Dance Notations and Music Scores for BalletsThis collection at Harvard uses the Stepanov notation system, designed by Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov. While no longer in use, it was used to record the choreography of the Imperial Russian Ballet. Dance scores that preserve the choreography of classics, such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker are available to view in this archive. Note the "Digital Material" link on the page.
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Alphabet of Movements of the Human Body: A Study in Recording the Movements of the Human Body by Means of Musical Signs, by Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov (1892), 2019
The problem of recording movements of the human body is almost as old as the art of dancing: it has been said that the ancient Egyptians had a system of notation, but there is no real evidence to prove that this was so. The present system was developed by the Russian dancer Vladimir Ivanovich Stepanov at the end of the 19th century. It is based on existing music notation, and although basic is certainly practical: one has only to read the official testimonial, signed by such people as Petipa and Johanssen, to realise this. Lessons in the system were given at the Imperial Ballet Schools, and many ballets of the period were notated in it. Stepanov's book is no more than a skeleton key, showing the general principles of his system and their application, yet even as it stands it can be used to decipher old notations - it was by means of notations made in Stepanov's system that Nicolai Sergeyev was able to reproduce The Sleeping Princess for Diaghilev, and other ballets for the Sadler's Wells Ballet and International Ballet. More recently, other hands have used the system to revive ballets long thought to have been irrevocably lost. -
Two Essays on Stepanov Dance Notation, by Alexander Gorsky (1978), 2019
The Russian dancer and teacher Vladimir Stepanov (1866 - 1896) developed a system of human movement notation based on the principles of music notation, details of which he published in French as Alphabet des Movements du Corps Humain, in Paris in 1892. It was accepted as a system of notation in both the Mariinsky and Bolshoi ballet schools and much repertory was notated in it. The dancer, choreographer and teacher Alexander Gorsky was a friend of Stepanov and an advocate of his system. In 1899 he published two long essays explaining the system in considerably more detail and with specifi c relevance to the notation of classical ballet, for use as textbooks by the students in the Mariinsky and Bolshoi schools. It is these two essays, translated and edited by the Russian ballet historian Professor Roland John Wiley which are reproduced here.
