Tribute to Tudor

As I've mentioned several times before, this year is Antony Tudor's centenary. Here's another newspaper tribute to Tudor, partially focusing on a two-day conference about Tudor and mourning the absence from the conference of Airi Hynninen, notator and former assistant to Tudor:

http://www.nysun.com/arts/tribute-tudor

New Theory Bulletin Board Posting

The minutes of the DNB's November open theory meeting, which benefited from the attendance of Ann Hutchinson Guest, are now available on the DNB Theory Bulletin Board. The minutes capture the meeting's lively discussion, which included palm and thumb facing, the term "front sign," counting issues, Graham hand and torso contractions, entrances and exits, and direction sign progressions.

To access the newest posting, follow the link above and click "Minutes for the Open Theory Meetings" or follow this link.

As always, responses are welcome. Instructions for submitting postings are on the Theory Bulletin Board page.

Four More Martha Graham Works Will Be Notated! (Yes!!!)

Exciting news from the Dance Notation Bureau:

NEA Grant to Preserve Martha Graham's Signature Works Awarded to Dance Notation Bureau

The Dance Notation Bureau (DNB) has been awarded a 2007 Save America's Treasures grant by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to record and preserve four of Martha Graham's signature works. The $94,993 award will be used over the next two years towards notating works including Appalachian Spring and Primitive Mysteries, in Labanotation, a symbol for recording dance.

"For years, it has been our goal to preserve the works of one of the greatest choreographers of all time," said Lynne Weber, Executive Director. "With the NEA grant we will now be able to ensure that four of Martha Graham's greatest works will be preserved forever with all the details and nuances of her artistry." Ms. Weber also noted that this award completes the funding goal for the project, which was initiated with an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant.

The DNB was one of 31 grantees selected from 340 eligible applicant organizations nationwide in the competitive Save America's Treasures Grant Program. Dana Gioia, Chairman of the NEA said, "The NEA is pleased to join our partner agencies in congratulating these awardees whose work helps preserve our national's artistic and cultural heritage. Save America's Treasures grants not only protect the irreplaceable, but also allow us to build our future by preserving our past."

Save America's Treasures guidelines state, "Grants are available for preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts and historic structures and sites." The Save American's Treasures award announcement can be found at http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/treasures/download/2007_SAT_Grant_Awards.pdf

Contact: Nancy Allison, Director of Programs, 212/564-0985, email nancyallison@dancenotation.org

How to Study Labanotation -- and Why

Did you know that the Dance Notation Bureau offers correspondence courses in elementary and intermediate Labanotation?

It does.

And did you know that many college students arrange to take the DNB correspondence courses for college credit?

They do.

And did you know that many of those students don't intend to become notators but nevertheless believe that the ability to read Labanotation is a valuable skill?

It's true.

Learning Labanotation can open a world of dance repertory, history, and research. The ability to stage historic dance repertory from Labanotation score can give dancers an edge over other applicants in the tough dance job market. Furthermore, many universities allow Labanotation to satisfy the foreign language requirement!

Click here to learn more.

"Deception" (another really fine hour of radio from Radiolab)

As I've mentioned before, I am a passionate fan of WNYC's Radiolab. I once recommended the "Where Am I?" episode, which included a segment about a man who lost the ability to sense the location of his body parts.

May I now recommend "Deception," another episode that might interest those interested in dance notation. The "Catching Liars" segment of "Deception" includes an interview with Paul Ekman, a psychologist (a very influential one, to boot) who devised the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), a "muscular scoring system" for describing facial behaviors and expressions.

A bit more, from the FACS website:

A FACS coder "dissects" an observed expression, decomposing it into the specific AUs that produced the movement. The scores for a facial expression consist of the list of AUs that produced it. Duration, intensity, and asymmetry can also be recorded.

Not entirely unlike a notator's work!

Anyway, Radiolab presents all of this in a really fascinating way. The rest of the episode's segments have nothing to do with notation, but if you have a few free minutes they too are well worth listening to.

(If you prefer reading to listening, here's a summary of a New Yorker article about Paul Ekman's work.)

Stagings Past and Future

Here are some stagings from past months, as well as two stagings for future months. Even though most of these performances are over, I think it's worthwhile to list them all, to see which choreographers and choreographies people are interested in:

• February 18: Repertory Dance Theatre of Salt Lake City, UT performed "Chair Pillow Dance" and "Couples" from Yvonne Rainer's Continuous Project - Altered Daily. The performance was staged by Lisa Moran.


• Also on February 18, 2008: Repertory Dance Theatre of Salt Lake City danced Negro Spirituals, choreographed by Helen Tamiris.


• March 5-9: the University of Oklahoma School of Dance danced Jean Erdman's Daughters of the Lonesome Isle. Read a bit more about the production, which was coached by DNB Director of Programs Nancy Allison.


• March 6-9: Utah Valley State College performed Helen Tamiris' Dance for Walt Whitman, which was staged by Linda C. Smith. (More about the performance here.)


• March 7-9: the University of New Mexico performed Hanya Holm's Rota. Donald Redlich served as artistic coach. Here's an article about it.


• March 8: ARKE (a dance company in Turin, Italy) performed Doris Humphrey's Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor. Leslie Mains was the stager.


• March 22: the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT performed Antony Tudor's Little Improvisations, staged by Amanda McKerrow (a little bit about her here).


• April 3: In Bern, Switzerland, Hermesdance will perform Anna Sokolow's Steps of Silence. The piece will be staged by Karin Hermes.


• May 8: The Dance Center of Columbia College will present Doris Humphrey's The Shakers, staged by Gail Corbin.

Great Quotes about Notation, Part 7

So many posts in my head, so little time to post them!

Soon, I hope to write bits about open source dance, notation for facial expressions, and more. Until then, a great quote about notation to tide you over. This time, it's from Laura Dean: