Benesh Movement Notation

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>Benesh Movement Notation was created by <a href="/facts/Joan_Benesh/KQQ60jpg">Joan Benesh</a> and her husband Rudolph Benesh.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> In 1955, Rudolf Benesh publicly introduced Benesh notation as an "aesthetic and scientific study of all forms of human movement by movement notation". In 1997, the Benesh Institute (an organisation focused on Benesh notation) merged with the Royal Academy of Dance.
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<h2 id="notation-system">Notation system</h2>

<p>Benesh notation plots the position of a dancer as seen from behind as if the dancer is superimposed on a staff that extends from the top of the head down to the feet. From top to bottom, the five lines of the staff coincide with the head, shoulders, waist, knees and feet. Additional symbols are used to notate the dimension and quality of movement[<i>clarify</i>]. A <i>frame</i> is one complete representation of the dancer.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
</p><p>A short horizontal line is used to represent the location of a hand or foot that passes through the <a href="/facts/Coronal_plane/JeB18qFE">Coronal plane</a> which extends from the sides of the body. A short vertical line represents a hand or foot at a plane in front of the body, whereas a dot represents a hand or foot at a plane behind the body. The height of the hands and feet from the floor and their distance from the mid-line of the body are shown visually. A line drawn in the top space of the staff shows the position of the head when it changes position. A direction sign is placed below the staff when the direction changes.
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Choreomusicology/aAvx7Xdw">Choreomusicology</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Eshkol-Wachman_Movement_Notation/QKfQcg1u">Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Labanotation/2r8qD6nr">Labanotation</a>, another dance notation system</li></ul>

<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li>Benesh, R. and  Benesh, J. (1983) <i>Reading Dance: The Birth of Choreology</i>. McGraw-Hill Book Company Ltd, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-285-62291-9</li>
<li>Neagle, R.J. and Ng, K.C. (2003) <i>Machine-representation and Visualisation of a Dance Notation</i>. in Proceedings of Electronic Imaging and the Visual Arts - London July 2003.</li>
<li>Ryman-Kane, Rhonda, and Hughes Ryman, Robyn (2014) <i>Benesh for Ballet, Book I: Basic Ballet Positions in Word Definitions, DanceForms Images, and Benesh Movement Notation</i>, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-63102-603-4 (iBooks)</li>
<li>Ryman-Kane, Rhonda, and Hughes Ryman, Robyn (2015) <i>Benesh for Ballet, Book 2: Jumps Without Travel</i>, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-944170-11-0 (iBooks)</li>
<li>Ryman-Kane, Rhonda, and Hughes Ryman, Robyn (2017) <i>Benesh for Ballet, Book 3: Centre Work and Repeated Sequences</i>, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-63535-842-1 (iBooks)</li>
<li>Ryman-Kane, Rhonda, and Hughes Ryman, Robyn (2018) <i>Benesh for Ballet, Book 4: Stage Plans, Locations, and Travelled Sequences</i>, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-77518-270-2 (iBooks)</li>
<li>Hughes Ryman, Robyn (2019) <i>Kingdom of Locations</i>, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-77518-271-9 (iBooks)</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li>The <a href="http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb71-thm/91">Benesh Dance Notation Collection</a> is held by the <a href="/facts/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum/vUMjeHBn">Victoria and Albert Museum</a> Theatre and Performance Department.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Joan Benesh – obituary", Daily Telegraph, 5 December 2014 <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11275833/Joan-Benesh-obituary.html" target="_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11275833/Joan-Benesh-obituary.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Ryman-Kane, Rhonda; Hughes Ryman, Robyn (2014). Benesh for Ballet: Book 1. DanceWrite. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-63102-603-4. <a href="978-1-63102-603-4" target="_blank">978-1-63102-603-4</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Benesh Movement Notation open-in-new

Benesh Movement Notation