The Problem of Recording Human Motion

Abstract

For centuries, various essays have been written that attempted to devise a proper notation for recording dance practices and aimed at preserving them as an artistic heritage. With the increasing interest in human behaviour over the XX century, new trials were proposed to solve the recording of human movements, generally speaking, versus specific dance events. Among these various systems, the so-called «Kinetography Laban/Labanotation», invented by Rudolf Laban (a prominent figure of modern dance in Europe) offers a solution, which will be briefly exposed: built primarily on human behavior in its «ordinary» motion, a natural way, the notion of encompassing space, body and time elements simultaneously is at the heart of its conception. This notation tries to enhance the very basic notion of changing processes as opposed to position writing. Until now it has been widely used mostly in theatrical dance fields as a means of building a dance literature as well as preserving ethnic dances, but also as a tool for research and creation in dance. Its simple but broad basis definitely offers a possible development in many other research domains.