Bauhaus Stage vs Labanotation

バウハウスの舞台 / ラバノーテーション

Bauhaus Stage comes from Stage Design and Labanotation from Notation Systems. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

Bauhaus Stage

Schlemmer's stage workshop turned the body into geometry. Spheres and cones in the Triadic Ballet costumes set the human figure dancing as a form in space, and performance art traces its origin to them.

Labanotation

A notation that turns bodily movement into one vertical staff read from the bottom upward. The shape of a symbol carries direction, its shading carries level, its length carries duration, and its position across the staff says which part of the body moves.

Bauhaus StageLabanotation
Era1921–19291928–
FamilyStage DesignNotation Systems
KindStyleStyle
CuesGeometrized bodies / Costumes of spheres and cones / Three acts by color / Choreography as spatial figureSymbols stacked without gaps on a vertical staff read from the bottom upward / Symbol shapes giving nine directions, with the centre line separating right from left / Shading inside each symbol standing for low, middle or high level / Symbol length equal to duration, with tick marks for beats and bar lines crossing the staff
Best used forStage costume and dance direction that recasts the body as pure geometry · Exhibition or brand film about the relation between figures and moving bodiesRecording choreography so it can be revived without the original cast · Analyzing movement in comparable symbols rather than on video
TypeGeometric sans only, sized by the ratio of circle to squareDirection in symbol shape, level in shading, sizes held constant
CompositionThink in plan and elevation, set positions on a drawn floor gridTime climbs from the bottom, one column for each body part
MaterialSpheres, cones and cylinders in primary color and metallic sheenSymbol length equals duration, so run a beat scale down the edge
CautionGluing spheres and cones onto a costume without choreographing the body as a moving form leaves only a geometric fancy dress party.Bending symbol length to capture how a move feels makes duration unreadable, and the revival comes out as a different dance.

IndexStyle