Labanotation
A dance notation system that uses shaped blocks on a vertical staff, read from the bottom up.
Also: Kinetography Laban
Labanotation was devised by Rudolf Laban, a dancer and theorist born in Austria-Hungary, who published it in 1928. The staff runs up the page, and its centre line stands for the middle of the body. Columns to the left and right hold symbols for the left and right legs, torso, arms and head. The shape of a symbol shows direction, its shading shows height and its length shows how long the movement lasts. It can record any kind of movement, not only dance.