ULLET-L

MOTIF ISSUES FROM

THE LANGUAGE OF DANCE® ASSOCIATION
Issue No. 15 January 2001

The following items have arisen during Language of Dance® courses. If you have any
comments on these discussions or wish to submit items to be discussed here or teaching ideas,
they would be very welcome. Please write to: Bullet-In-Stead!, Language of Dance® Centre, 17
Holland Park, London Wl 1 3TD; fax on: 020-7792-1794; email on: info@lodc.org

1. A Little Meandering
1.1 What is more rewarding than having searching questions land on your desk, questions
which have never been asked before? The following come from Amara Burke, Oona
Haaranen, Sharlene Jenkins and Jessica Lindberg who have recently completed the
Deliver Language of Dance® Course, Stage HI of the LOD programme. The first
question is: "Can you meander and arrive at a destination?" The lack of intent the
feeling we associate with meandering is of going, but on an unplanned path. Is it
appropriate if we build in a planned destination?

1.2 We need to digress here a moment. While we like to emphasise the unplannedness of
meandering, its aimlessness. Some of our Motif Notation colleagues focus more on the
path, even drawing it on the board or on a piece of paper ahead of time. The underlying
feeling, sensation we believe to be important - why do you travel on a straight path? what
impels you to do so? why do you circle? and so on, are felt by some colleagues to be
less important. In looking at the question in 1.1, why is it not possible at the end of
meandering (or toward the end) to become aware of where you are and to plan to end at
a particular location?
1.3 With this thinking, I see la as possible, meander until
arriving at the centre of the room. The suggestion that
Ib could be used, i.e. meander and then take any path
(any mode of travelling) to end in the front area, is a
logical idea, but the 'any travelling' would need to be
only near the end, a short duration. This rather clouds
the meandering intention, it is a different message.
la Ib
2. Timing for Making a Shape
2.1 Amara, Oona, Sharlene and Jessica
also asked: "How best can timing be
indicated for making a shape? Is it as
2a, where the shape is stated and
followed by the duration line? Or
should the duration line (action
stroke) come first and be linked at the
end to the shape sign, as in 2b? And
should that action stroke be indicated
as being 'any action', as in 2c? And 2a 2b 2c
where does one put the drawing of the
2.2 For this need it is better to put the shape at the end, as in 2b, linking it to the duration
line. I would read 2c as any movement ending in the shape; this allows more
improvisation than 2b, for which I would understand an 'appropriate' movement into
taking the shape. What exactly 'appropriate' means depends on where you came from
and what the shape is. Note that, as yet, we have not indicated what the shape should be.
2.3 Statement of the form the shape takes is more easily
placed when 2b or 2c is used. In 2d the shape is a
vertical arc. However, our questioners proposed that
the drawing of the shape be placed next to the shape
sign and tied to it, as in 2e. In the interests of showing
timing, the placement of 2e is better than 2d. It is true
that in Motif Notation and its performance, an
exactness in timing is not usually stressed, but the eye 2d 2e
is more satisfied with the timing of 2e. We look
forward to hearing from everyone on this.

3. Statement of Ranks and Files

3.1 A further question: "Must the facing for a rank, 3a, be shown, or is it assumed that the
placement of the pin in 3a indicates 'facing front' and that 'facing back' is shown as in
3b?" On a stage plan 3a certainly means face front, the audience, and 3b means face
upstage. When placed on the movement staff one assumes the same message, the same
placement. For the half circle of 3c all performers are facing in to the center of the
circle. Similarly, 3d shows a similar half circle in which each person is facing out. To
show that everyone is facing 'front' while in a half circle, two pins are needed, 3e; the
same is true for a full circle, 3f. How can you show that the rank may be facing
anywhere? For this you need the sign for 'any front', 3g. Thus 3h shows a rank of
unstated facing direction.

6
3a 3b 3c 3d 3e 3f 3g 3h

3.2 The same is true for indicating a file. In the statement of 3i the file is understood to be
facing stage left. For 3j the file faces stage right. A file can be drawn as in 3k, but on
paper this placement is space consuming and does not help the indication of timing.
Therefore the drawing of 31 is used with the facing direction placed alongside, here the
file is facing the front of the room. In 3m the file may be facing any direction.

3i 3j 3k _L 31 3m
 BULLET-IN-STEAD! No. 15, January 2001 3
4. Making a Shape/Stillness
4.1 Movements which have the intention, the aim, the destination of 'making a shape' must
have a pause, a stop, once the shape is made so that it is registered visually. Other
movements may need just a pause, a break in the flow of the movement, indicated usually
by a gap between movement symbols. If the pause is longer it can be a stillness.
4.2 We say that a stillness should 'vibrate', some kind of energy should emanate outward,
usually with the quality, the expression of the movement which preceded it. Stillness
contains the idea of a movement continuing, without physically actually doing so.
Making a shape tends to conclude with bound flow, the result of intentionally stopping
the movement when the right position, the pose, has been reached. If one drifts into a
shape, that intention is not clear. It is not usual for a very slow movement to be used for
making a shape; the aim of the movement will not be clear. Also a little use of emphasis
helps to register the shape more clearly when the movement stops.
4.3 In the examples here we have the following: 4a, a shape is produced and there is a slight
break before the next movement (a scattering) occurs. In 4b, a shape is made and the
indication is to hold it during the pause and the turn that follows. In 4c, a shape is made
and followed by stillness. How will this be performed? Can the dynamics of the rest of
the body produce the effect of stillness? Can the limbs (perhaps the hands, or arms)
which produce the shape express a suspension which can be called stillness?

T »

4a ^ 4b 4c

4.4 When students are using the Your Move book, they often question the gap between
movement indications. Should there be a stillness sign there? Our thinking is that if the
break is too short there is not time to establish and express stillness. A gap between
movement symbols does not have to have either a hold sign or a stillness sign, it can just
be a slight breather before continuing to move.

5. Flexion, Extension - Open Degree

5.1 As discussed in Issue 10/11, any degree of flexion (contraction) is \V/
shown as in 5a , the 'any' sign being placed vertically where the dots /\\r specific degree are placed.
degree is shown as in 5b. 5a 5b
5.2 The sign for any form of folding (i.e. into any body >/, St/
direction) is 5c. Therefore any degree of folding ^
should be 5d. Any degree of any form of folding 5c 5d 5e
would be 5e. The sign needs to be carefully drawn.
For folding to the right side, 5f , the open degree would
be written as 5g. For a right-forward fold, 5h, the any ¥ H^- \L_
degree would be written as 5i.
5.3 Applying these to spreading and closing, we have: 5j meaning any form of abduction
(spreading); 5k being any form of adduction (closing). The statement of any degree
would be 51 for any degree of lateral spreading; 5m for any degree of lateral closing; 5n
for any form and any degree of abduction, opening, with 5o being any degree of any
form of adduction, closing. For those who want to cover every possible variation in
indicating movement possibilities, these combined symbols will be welcome.

5f 5g 5h 5i 5j 5k

5.4 Applying the above, means that the indications for adduction and abduction given in the
Motif at a Glance publication will now need to be changed. This is, however, necessary
in order to provide all the variations required in using the Motif indications.
5.5 To conclude let us thank our Stage HI course participants for their questions - we look
forward to more of them.

MOTIF SYMPOSIUM

Entitled Symbols of Our Community, Moving Forward with Motif, a Motif Symposium is
being held August 2-4, 2001, at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA. This
conference, organised by Tina Curran (of the LODC-USA), and Jimmyle Listenbee (of Motus
Humanus) is the response to several years of requests for such a gathering to bring together the
many users of Motif Writing. We have been aware for many years of differences in
understanding, in terminology and the use of signs. In the Laban Movement Analysis program,
Motif Writing is introduced mainly as an observation tool, it is used in a more general way in
comparison with its more integrated use in LOD teaching. However, much in-depth work has
been done by Charlotte Wile, a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) who, during the past
several years, has been compiling a book on Motif Notation. Charlotte has sought to find
generic signs for each basic form of movement, for instance, her invention of the generic sign
for 'relationship' which had not existed before. How often such signs are needed may be a
question, on the other hand a complete system must include all possibilities. Through Bullet-in-
Stead we have conducted Motif discussions and presentations, but there are many people we do
not reach. This coming Motif Symposium is an excellent start in bringing people together and
sharing understanding and usage. A list of discussion topics is being drawn up and details on
each chosen topic will be available on the Dance Notation Bulletin Board, which can be found at
www.dancenotation.org

ISSN: 1464-474