Labanotation: a universal movement notation language

• Main Author: Barbacci Silvana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sissa Medialab 2002-03-01
• Series: JCOM: Journal of Science Communication
• Online Access: http://jcom.sissa.it/article/art010101.pdf

This paper describes how a universal language for notating dance and, more generally, movement was elaborated, known as “Kinetography Laban”, or rather “Labanotation”. It was devised by choreographer and movement theorist Rudolf von Laban, who outlined it for the first time in 1928, in the journal Schrifttanz. His system differs from precedent notation systems in that Labanotation is rigorous and universal, as it is based not on one particular style or technique but on the general principles of kinetics underlying human motion. Its geometrical and abstract symbols also free it from language constraints, thus making it universally comprehensible. Through his kinetography, Laban freed dance from the transience of individual performances, thereby providing a way to capture and reproduce dance, to hand down choreographic masterpieces for posterity and to simplify movement analysis in other branches of study as well.