HOW CAN WE RECORD DANCE MOVEMENT?

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Recording dance movement performances is no easy task. People throughout the ages have tried to make a permanent record through drawing, paintings, photographs and written descriptions.

If your answer to the above question is "use a video camera" then you have come up with a good solution. Modern day technology is certainly a great help in recording this artistic form. As with most methods of recording it has its drawbacks.

The search for an accurate method of recording and analysis began in the 1900's. Some of the solutions were good at analyzing the artists movements in great detail. Others recorded only the floor pattern made by their feet and their relationship to the music.None of these methods could capture the quality of the movements nor how a particular performer had interpreted them.

Video has certain advantages over written recordings. Camcorders these days are relatively inexpensive to buy, easy to operate and with immediate playback are useful in many different situations. For example historians, choreographers and anthropologists can use the video for analysis. In addition this method offers the advantage of viewing at 1/2 speed, frame by frame and at fast forward, all of which make analysis easier. This is also an excellent means of preserving a complete theatre performance by a distinguished cast.

But there are certain disadvantages. Viewing a recording is never the same as watching live. The angle of the shot and editing can lead to distortions of the choreographers intent. Recordings should take place in front of a live audience. In viewing a large cast who are not dancing the same step sequence it can be difficult to distinguish what is going on. Mistakes are also recorded. Another disadvantage of recording dance movement performance through video or conventional film is that it does not show how a step or a lift is executed and this could be very important from the point of view of safety.

When accuracy is paramount notation is the best recording option. Perhaps the very best solution is a combination of notation and film. The major drawback with the former is that it is complicated. Many forms exist but I shall mention just a few of them.

One of the most important is Labanotation. Laban, who died in the Fifties, was able to look at physical actions and form general laws of movement. He developed a form of analysis and recording. Labanotation is not associated with any particular dance form. Laban wanted to record using the language of symbols. His symbols are placed on vertical and horizontal staffs. The centre line represents the centre of the body. Symbols placed to the left represent the left hand side of the dancers' body and vice versa. The symbols are read from bottom to top.Other people have developed and adapted Labans' methods.

Labanotation has allowed anthropologists to record choreography in the field.

A very interesting development is using Labanotation with animation software and hardware of the type used to create "big budget " films. The artist performs wearing a special body suit and/or facial mask. This enables any change in position to be recorded to a computer which should then be able to output the information in Labanotation.

Other recording methods are those of Rudolf and Joan Benish and Sutton Dance Writing. The Benish System first appeared in 1956. The Benish Movement system when written looks rather like a page from a musical manuscript. This form of recording is written on five lines, as in music, and is read from left to right, and from the top of the page to the bottom. All information regarding the position of the body, arms,and legs is shown on these five lines. Positions are recorded in frames as in a cartoon film.This system is based on English classical ballet.

Sutton Dance Writing is also notated on five lines. This system uses stick figures. Each of the five lines represents a specific level. The bottom line is the Foot Line and represents the ground. The next line up is the Knee Line. This is at knee level when the stick figure stands upright. The following line up is the Hip Line and the one after that is the Shoulder Line. The symbols are written from left to right. The performance is recorded position by position as if making a film frame by frame.

There is also a new system called Litefoot. A specially constructed floor records the dancers movements to a computer. Their is no need for the person to wear special clothes for this proceedure.

All of the latest methods of recording open up fascinating possibilities for dance and movement to combine with other media in new and exciting forms.


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Dr Judith Lynne Hanna, Senior Research Scholar at the University of Maryland writes: "Cudjoe's manual for parents to help their children through dance is a welcome gift to be cherished and used. Trying Dance Movement Therapy at home or forming groups that meet outside is feasible for any parent. ... experience is not needed. Cudjoe's rich experience and sensitivity in working with children with special needs shines throughout the valuable manual. ... she wisely urges individualizing dance movement activity to fit one's child's own situation".

Judith Lynne Hanna, Ph.D. is author of Dancing for Health: Conquering and Preventing Stress (AltaMira Press,2006)

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