Laban Notation Symbols generally refers to the wide range of notation symbols (or signs) developing from the original work of

Rudolf Laban Rudolf (von) Laban, also known as Rudolph von Laban (; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian dance artist, choreographer, and movement theorist. He is considered a "founding father of expressionist dance" and a pioneer of ...

and used in many different types of Laban Movement Study such as

Labanotation Labanotation (grammatically correct form "Labannotation" or "Laban notation" is uncommon) is a system for analyzing and recording human movement (Notation, notation system), invented by Austro-Hungarian choreographer and dancer Rudolf von Laban ...

and Laban Movement Analysis for graphically representing human body positions and movements.

History

see

Notation staff

The concept of a "staff" is borrowed from music and the

musical staff In Western musical notation, the staff"staff" in the Collins English Di ...

. It provides the basic framework for notating.

Body symbols

Spatial symbols

Several different methods have developed for notating space.

General spatial changes

Direction symbols

the direction symbols are organized as three levels: high, middle, and low (or deep): In Laban Movement Analysis and

Space Harmony Rudolf Laban created a movement theory and practice that reflected what he recognized as Space Harmony. The practice/theory is based on universal patterns of nature and of man as part of a universal design/order and was named by Laban: Space Harmon ...

(Choreutics) the same 27 direction symbols are used but they have a different conceptualization. Instead of envisaging the signs on three parallel horizontal planes (high, middle, and low levels), the direction signs are organized according to the

octahedron In geometry, an octahedron (: octahedra or octahedrons) is any polyhedron with eight faces. One special case is the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex. Many types of i ...

cube A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...

(

hexahedron A hexahedron (: hexahedra or hexahedrons) or sexahedron (: sexahedra or sexahedrons) is any polyhedron with six faces. A cube, for example, is a regular hexahedron with all its faces square, and three squares around each vertex. There are seven ...

), and the

icosahedron In geometry, an icosahedron ( or ) is a polyhedron with 20 faces. The name comes . The plural can be either "icosahedra" () or "icosahedrons". There are infinitely many non- similar shapes of icosahedra, some of them being more symmetrical tha ...

Vector motion symbols

In his early German publication ''Choreographie'',Rudolf Laban. ''Chorographie'' (1926), translated by Evamaria Zierach and Jeffrey Scott Longstaff
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used a different group of spatial directional signs which represented orientation of lines of motion (rather than orientations of limb positions). These signs were translated into modern-day Labanotation signs, and referred to as "vector signs".Longstaff, Jeffrey (2001). Translating ‘vector symbols’ from Laban’s (1926) ''Choreographie''. In ''Proceedings of the twenty-second biennial conference of the International Council of Kinetography Laban'', 26 July - 2 August (pp. 70-86). Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. USA: ICKL.

Symbols for quality or dynamics

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Symbols for relationships

"Relationships"' is used in a broad sense to refer to interactions amongst two or more bodies, for example awareness, focus, nearness, contact, physical weight support. Many fine distinctions have been deciphered. These have some relationship to

Proxemics Proxemics is the study of human use of space and the effects that population density has on behavior, communication, and social interaction. Proxemics is one among several subcategories in the study of nonverbal communication, including Haptic co ...

Notes and references

* Hutchinson, Ann. (1970). ''Labanotation or Kinetography Laban: The System of Analyzing and Recording Movement''. 3rd revised edition (1977). New York: Theatre Arts Books. (First published 1954). * Hutchinson-Guest, Ann (1983). ''Your move: A New Approach to the Study of Movement and Dance''. New York: Gordon and Breach. * Hutchinson-Guest, Ann (1989). ''Choreo-Graphics; A Comparison of Dance Notation Systems from the Fifteenth Century to the Present''. New York: Gordon and Breach. * Knust, Albrecht. (1948a). The development of the Laban kinetography (part I). ''Movement''. 1 (1): 28–29. * Knust, Albrecht (1948b). The development of the Laban kinetography (part II). ''Movement''. 1 (2): 27-28. * Knust, Albrecht (1979a). ''Dictionary of Kinetography Laban (Labanotation); Volume I: Text''. Translated by A. Knust, D. Baddeley-Lang, S. Archbutt, and I. Wachtel. Plymouth: MacDonald and Evans. * Knust, Albrecht. (1979b). ''Dictionary of Kinetography Laban (Labanotation); Volume II: Examples''. Translated by A. Knust, D. Baddeley-Lang, S. Archbutt, and I. Wachtel. Plymouth: MacDonald and Evans. * Laban, Rudolf. (1926). ''Choreographie'' (German). Jena: Eugen Diederichs. * Laban, Rudolf (1975). ''Laban’s Principles of Dance and Movement Notation''. 2nd edition edited and annotated by Roderyk Lange. London: MacDonald and Evans. (First published 1956.) * Preston-Dunlop, V. (1969). ''Practical Kinetography Laban''. London: MacDonald and Evans. Laban movement analysis Dance research