ANY MOVEMENT (action)

When reading the staff from bottom to top, a vertical line (action stroke) indicates simply that some motion, change, or action is happening.

NEW MOVEMENT ON COUNT 1. (phrasing)

This notation was devised for this project, with any movement following a bar line (count 1) indicating a new movement beginning on count 1 of each bar.

ARRIVING AT

The small linking bow at the ending of the movement indicates that it arrives at the same place as a subsequent pose or the next movement.

BEGINNING FROM

The small linking bow at the beginning of the movement indicates that it begins from the same place as a previous pose or the last movement.

POSITION (design, shape)

This sign for a shape or visual design is used in this study to indicate a body position in the pose catalogue.
With a small linking bow this sign can also specify a beginning position, or
an ending position.

BEGINNING FROM A POSITION

The linking bow at the top of the position sign indicates that the next movement begins from the same place as this body position.

ARRIVING AT A POSITION

The linking bow at the bottom of the position sign indicates that the previous movement arrives at the same place as this body position.

ROTATION

The rotation symbol indicates any movement which turns around a longitudinal axis. This rotation is implied by the angular shape of the symbol, as if turning.

JUMPING

The jumping symbol indicates how the entire body goes into the air, implied by the break in the action stroke, when the body does not have any support on the floor.

TRAVELLING

The travelling symbol indicates any movement which transports the entire body through space, implied by the linear shape of the symbol, giving the idea of a pathway across the floor.

FLEXION & EXTENSION

These symbols for flexion and extension can indicate the shortening (flexing) and lengthening (extension) of the limbs.

THEME BOW; Families of steps.

The theme bow is used to indicate how symbol(s) written inside the bow act as guiding principals, topics, or themes.

A ROTATION FAMILY STEP

In this study the theme of rotation indicates a dance step classified in the Rotation family.
These may also occur as phrases.

AN ALLEGRO FAMILY STEP

In this study the theme of jumping indicates a dance step classified in the Allegro family.
These may also occur as phrases.

A TRANSITION FAMILY STEP

In this study the theme of travelling indicates a dance step classified in the Transition step family.
These may also occur as phrases.

A FRAGMENTARY FAMILY STEP

The theme of flexing & extending is used in this study for motions classified as Fragmentary steps.
These may also occur as phrases.

PHRASE BOW

The phrase bow is used to show how single movements are linked together into short continuous series of steps.

PHRASE OF ROTATION STEPS

In this study a rotation family step within a phrase bow is used to indicate a short series (phrase) of rotation family steps.

PHRASE OF ALLEGRO STEPS

In this study an allegro family step within a phrase bow is used to indicate a short series (phrase) of allegro family steps.

PHRASE OF FRAGMENTARY STEPS

In this study a fragmentary step within a phrase bow is used to indicate a short series (phrase) of fragmentary steps.

ADDITION BOW

The addition bow indicates that whatever symbol(s) written inside the bow should be added to the current movement.

OPTION TO ADD

This symbol was created for this study from an addition bow and the similar, add lib sign, and indicates an option to add something (symbols to be added must be written inside the bow).

ALTERNATE PARTS (1st & 2nd endings)

Notation of 1st and 2nd endings in music are adopted by Labanotation to indicate a performance 1st one way, and then 2nd another way.

PREFERENCES in alternative parts

SIMILAR (ad lib)

This symbol can be stated on its own or with other symbols indicating a freedom of interpretation or choice.
It this study it has been used in the option to add bow and in certain repeat symbols.

REPEATS
Symbols for repeats are borrowed from music and used in Labanotation, others have been created for this project. These can indicate exact repetitions or can allow certain variations on each repeat.

= Identical repeat (same movement performed again).

= Symmetrical repeat (in this study, defined as being a repeat in the same sub-family).

= Similar repeat (derived from the similar sign, in this study defined as indicating a repeat in a different sub-family, same family.

= Any type of repeat (derived from the similar sign, in this study defined as a choice of any type of repeat in the same family.

SECTIONAL REPEATS
Any of the repeat symbols can be placed between two bar lines to indicate a repeat of that section. The number of performances for multiple repeats can also be specified.

NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES
In a sectional repeat, a number (or 'similar') can be used to indicate the total number of performances of that section.

CANCEL (previous state disappears)

Similar symbols are used in music for crescendo < and decrescendo >, and in mathematics for less than < or greater than >, while in Labanotation the symbol is rotated vertically and read bottom-to-top, indicating decreasing or cancellation.

DYNAMICS (energy, exertion, 'effort')

This 'effort graph' is used for indicating particular qualities of movement dynamics analysed according to Laban's 'effort'.

DEGREES OF EXERTION

For this study, arbitrary units were assigned to each movement step to indicate its required degree of effort exertion. These numbers are then totalled to derive the total effort degrees for an entire sequence.