Sunday, July 27, 2008

New(ish) Theory Meeting Minutes

Two more sets of minutes from DNB theory meetings went on the Theory Bulletin Board in July:

  • The November Open Theory meeting covered Dance Forms software and several possible ways that the DNB and notators in general could use it, as well as possible ways to notate not just nearness but degrees of nearness.
  • The June Motif Theory meeting covered numerous Motif topics, including phrasing bows, indications of "the same" and "different," and diagonal paths.
No point trying to summarize here. The really interesting stuff is in the minutes!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Two More Tidbits

Tidbit #1: The DNB just made a major sale of books to Singapore. There are still some great finds left -- and still 50% off -- check the book sale list to see if there's anything to tempt you!

Tidbit #2: Congratulations to Gwendolyn Arbaugh of Elverson, PA, who just completed and passed her Intermediate Correspondence Course in Labanotation. Not an easy feat!

Farewell, Patricia Nanon and Georgette Weisz Amowitz Gorchoff

The Dance Notation Bureau mourns the recent deaths of two dear friends and steadfast supporters: Patricia Nanon, who passed away in February, and Georgette Weisz Amowitz Gorchoff, who passed away in May. We are also deeply grateful that they continued to think of the DNB with monetary gifts at their passing. We shall miss them.

Here's more about Patricia Nanon's amazing life and accomplishments, from the New York Times.

And here's more about Georgette Amowitz Gorchoff's remarkable life and achievements, from the Lynchburg News Advance.

Friday, July 4, 2008

CMAs Look at Presidential Candidates

The New Yorker recently published a short article about the body language and movement styles of presidential candidates as observed by people who really know what they're observing: Certified Movement Analysts.

Be sure to read to the end, where there's a nice surprise about Chelsea Clinton's aptitude for movement analysis!

We Had a Bit of a Blog Break, But We're Back...With an Article from Dance Teacher Magazine

There's a nice article about the Tudor Centennial Celebration on the Dance Teacher Magazine website. By Elizabeth McPherson, author of the Martha Hill book I mentioned in my last post, the article includes Labanotation for two Tudor class combinations, tendus for barre and grands battements for center. The notation is paired with word descriptions of the combinations, so they're good practice for beginning Labanotation students and a good introduction for Labanotation newbies.