MOTIF ISSUES FROM

THE LANGUAGE OF DANCE® ASSOCIATION

Issue No. 19 January 2003

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
Various brains have been at work and the consensus results in a couple of changes from what
has previously been put forward in this periodical. These changes are what will be presented in
the revised edition of Your Move.

NEW WANDERING, MEANDERING SIGN

Without getting into the series of discussions that produced this result,
we hope you will see the new meandering sign, la, as visually more
suitable than what has been used in the past, Ic. Basically, it needed to
relate to the 'any path' sign and, to give the idea of wandering, an arrow
was added at top and bottom, the arrow intentionally going in different
directions. The basic meaning of the arrow is progression, the 'going'
aspect of wandering (meandering), thus it provides greater freedom. la
1.2 Note that the sign for 'any path', 'any form of traveling',
Ib, indicates a choice between a straight path, curving,
circling, or wandering. It is up to the performer to choose.

1.3 The old sign for meandering, Ic, is now much more suitable
to indicate curving, as the sign itself suggests this. Ib Ic A,

2. CURVING - LEFT OR RIGHT?

2.1 Unlike circling, the action of curving has no sense of focal point around
which you are going. You may curve to avoid a person or an object, but
the sense, the movement intention of circling, even for a small amount,
is not there.

2.2 The new general sign for curving, Ic,

leaves open the number of curvings and
their direction. By adding arrows, the
performer can show curving toward the
right or the left. Curving to the left can be
shown by placing arrows on the left hand
side of the bows, 2a, and curving to the
right can be shown by placing arrows on
the right hand side of the bows, 2b.
Thus a more specified curving path can be
indicated, as in 2c. 2a i^rS 2b 2c
 BULLET-IN-STEAD! No. 19, January 2003

3. OTHER CHOREOGRAPHIC STRUCTURES

from Jane Dulieu and Dr. Ann Hutchinson Guest
3.1 My thoughts have also turned to signs that may or may not exist for other
choreographic structures such as unison and contrast. How then to show these
choreographic structures?
3.2 Dr. Ann Hutchinson Guest writes:
Unison movement is shown by using a single staff for all performers. Here we will
deal just with two people, A and B. Ex. 3a shows a single staff. Both A and B
perform the notated instructions, although each may have a rendition which is different.
The equal sign of 3b is used to indicate a separate statement that A and B are the same.
Ex. 3c states that A equals B. The sign for "not equal," 3d, can be used as in 3e
where A and B are not equal, not the same.

3b 3c 3d 3e

3a AB

3.3 These indications can be applied as in 3f. At the start A and B are circling in opposite
directions. For the 'any rotation' that follows, A and B move identically. But this
changes for the next indication of 'any rotation,' for which A and B should choose
different interpretations. After A has flexed and B extended, they are to perform the
movement in the high area identically.

3f

3.4 Jane Dulieu replies: I agree with Dr. Guest's solution but would also like, in the first
instance, to use 3b and 3d in flash card form and without any additional score. This
enables me to introduce the choreographic structure of unison, 3b, and contrast, i.e.
not the same, 3d, with the particpants having the freedom to use any actions they like.
3.5 Mirroring can be defined as performing the lateral symmetry of the movement of your
partner while facing him/her. Facing the focal point, your partner, can be written as
lo nrhvusin? 3h. the sign for'each one', showing that each person is facing the
r BULLET-IN-STEAD! No. 19, January 2003

other. Combined with the lateral symmetry sign of 3i in a score, B mirroring A can
can be indicated as in 3j. Whatever A performs, B will be mirroring A because they are
facing.

©
3g 3h 3i 3j JL B

3.6 Shadowing has been defined by Laurie Booth as "a device in group improvisation in
which one dancer picks up the material of another dancer, performing it in their own
part of space but in the same time span." Dance Words, Valerie Preston-Dunlop,
Harwood Academic Publishers, 1995, p. 369.
3.7 'Shadowing' can take many forms. Ex. 3k states perform the same as A; perform the
same in a passive way would be 31. 3m indicates spatially much smaller shadowing
(the diamond representing spatial aspects). While 3n indicates be the same spatially as
A, 3o states spatially not the same. A circle is used to represent bodily aspects, thus
3p means use different body parts to dancer A. Ex. 3q suggests performing A's
movement in a similar manner with freedom in timing.

3k y.
A
31 3m 3n

3o

4. REVOLVING WHILE TRAVELING

4.1 While traveling forward with, for example, 8
slow counts, as in 4a, it is possible to gradually
turn around oneself. Ex. 4b shows one full turn
taking place over the same time length. Put these
together and you have the slow turn occurring
during the 8 counts as you travel forward. By
placing the turn sign within the path sign in the
same way you do the direction sign, 4c, it is i 1.
understood that the turning takes place all the cts. cts.
time - it is spread evenly throughout the path. 4a 4b
4.2 Note that the path traveled is the same as in 4a
but unlike 4a, where all the steps are forward
from the body (hips), the steps in 4c need to T
change constantly in relation to the body to keep
the feet on the same path because you are slowly
turning. If you take eight steps (one step per
count), then the first will be forward from the
body but the next will be diagonal, the one after
sideward, and so on until you end facing in the
4c
 BULLET-IN-STEAD! No. 19, January 2003

4.3 If you put yourself into a dreamy mood and imagine an

'outside force' to be gently turning you, you will find your
feet will take care of themselves. The question of exact step T
direction and whether to cross behind or in front of the other
leg does not pose a problem. Try the same spatial pattern
b
using only half a turn, as in 4d; you will end facing in the
opposite direction.
4.4 Such revolving can also happen on a circular path. i
In 4e the performer revolves one full turn around 4d
herself while traveling in a 1/4 circular path to the
right. Note the white pin in the floor plan 4f, which
shows the starting position and facing direction, and
the white wedge at the end, which shows that she m-
will end facing the right side of the room or stage.
4.5 When this form of traveling is explored, those with
experience in ballet often ask if the turning can be
quicker. What about pique turns? Or enchainee
turns performed on a straight path or around the
room in a circle? This question brings up an
interesting fact. In enchainee turns (a 'chain' of 6=
turns) there is constant, even rotating, so this would 4e 4f
certainly fit the bill, but pique or pose turns have a
slightly uneven rate of turning. To e.xplain this we
need to go into structured notation.
4.6 In 4g the initial step into the turn is shown to be to the side
in high level. 3/4 of a turn takes place and then the left foot
'cuts' under, taking the weight and continuing the remaining
1/4 of a turn. The impetus from the high step carries the
dancer further around and the coupe is a recovery and
preparation for the next pique turn. The turning is a
continuous action, but it is not actually even. Often a
brilliant dancer will turn so rapidly that the observer may not
be aware of the details in how such a turn is accomplished.
4.7 In contrast, in a series of enchainee turns a 1/2 turn is
accomplished on each step, as in 4h.
4.8 Without such detailed description, how is such fast
turning while traveling expressed in Motif? You
simply indicate the number of turns to be achieved
within the turn sign. In 4i 8 turns are to be
performed while traveling forward for 8 counts,
therefore one full turn needs to be performed on each 1
cts. :
count. 4i
4.9 It does not matter whether the direction sign or the turn sign is placed first within the
path sign. Both actions are understood to last throughout the duration of the path sign.