Ballets have to be recorded accurately so that they can be passed on from generation to generation. Written descriptions are cumbersome and easy to misinterpret. Video can be very useful, but even video can only show a dance in two dimensions, and is not completely reliable. In addition video gives one particular interpretation of a ballet rather than a record of the choreographer’s intent. Dance notation is one tool that can be used to help dancers learn a ballet more quickly and accurately.

Historically there have been various systems developed to try to accurately record movement in both space and time. Many dance companies, including the Royal Ballet, use dance notation to record their repertory so that it can be accurately revived in the future.

Video Link > Making sure that the steps are exactly as the choreographer intended

In the 15th century dance makers first experimented with giving a name to every movement, and writing them beneath the notes on a musical score, but there were many features, including the direction of the movement, that this could not show. It took nearly 300 years before French choreographers began drawing stick figures directly on a musical stave. Another approach, developed by the Russian Vladimir Stepanov in 1892, used modified musical notes to represent the movement of the body - many of the Royal Ballet’s greatest masterpieces, including Swan Lake, came here from St Petersburg in Stepanov notation. Today, however, the Royal Ballet records its dances in Benesh notation, which was invented in the 1950s by Rudolf Benesh. This uses a five-line musical stave, but instead of modified notes or stick figures, each line of the stave represents a different part of the body, and abstract symbols show how each part moves during the dance. Benesh is not the only notation system in use today. Another widely used system is Labanotation, invented by the Hungarian Rudolf von Laban in 1928,and further developed by others.

The Royal Ballet has a team of three notators who have two main roles in the Company. The first is to notate ballets, acting as assistants to the choreographer and recording ballets as they are created or taught. This involves attending all the rehearsals and keeping track of any changes that are made. From this work a master score will be produced that is kept for future reference. The notators’ other main role is to remount ballets using an existing score. This involves teaching ballets to new dancers, making sure that the choreography is exactly as the choreographer intended.

Notators may come from many different backgrounds, but in order to work with a ballet company a notator has usually had professional dance training in addition to completing a course in dance notation.

Web Link > The Benesh Institute