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Dear ICKL Members and ICKL Friends,
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In 6 weeks, we will open our 34th Biennial Conference of ICKL in Ohio – at The Ohio State University (Columbus), and, for one day, at Kenyon College (Gambier). Information is available at https://ickl.org/conference/conference-2025/. Detailed information like the daily program will be posted as soon as possible. It is still possible to register.
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The Laban Bartenieff Movement Studies (LBMS) will immediately follow the ICKL conference, with the last day of the ICKL conference overlapping with the first day of the LBMS conference to allow for exchange between participants. The LBMS program is available at https://labaninstitute.org/conference-on-lbms/. It is also still possible to register for this conference. Attendees of the ICKL conference will benefit from a daily rate. Please register first for the ICKL Conference to access this option.
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In March of 2025, the Proceedings of the 32nd Biennial Conference (Budapest, 2022) were sent to all members registered in 2023. The PDF version is available in the Members’ Zone.
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Notations
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Raphaël Cottin is working on the score of the piece Quel est ce visage ? (2001), notating the 11-minute solo of the red mask, by French choreographer Christine Gérard. The introduction will be in French and English. The publication is planned for 2025.
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In the spring of 2025, dancer/researcher Clarence Brooks set Talley Beatty's seminal solo Mourner's Bench (1947) on Kenyon College senior dance major Cat Mori. Julie Brodie documented the process and is working on a score for the solo in collaboration with Eve Currens.
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To be released: A book of exercises in Labanotation by Siân Ferguson, Labanotator for the Dance Notation Bureau. The exercises were created by Ernst Meisner, Associate Director of Talent Development, and Artistic Director of the Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company. The project began during the pandemic when the Dutch National Ballet released a series of ballet barre classes online. These ballet exercises are at an intermediate level, and can easily be simplified if you are teaching beginners. The book will be available for purchase at the ICKL conference in Ohio in July 2025.
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A series of gigue steps from the Canadian area of Lanaudière (Quebec) has been documented by Pierre Chartrand (information, video, Laban notation).
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Publications
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An article by Henrik Kovács: “Examining the Spatial Orientation of Folk Dancers,” waspublished in Tánc és Nevelés [Dance and Education], vol. 5, no. 2, 2024.
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Movement Machines, a team project led by Rose Breuss, is a multimodal, user-centered web platform for dance showing different dance-choreographic working strategies. In five micro-studies, the team explores largely unknown (archive) material by/about Vaslav Nijinsky, Gertrud Bodenwieser, Olga Szentpál, Andrei Jerschik and Isolde Klietmann.
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One Document / One Story
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Sitting, from right to left: Igor Stravinsky, George Balanchine, Billie Mahoney. Dancers rehearsing: Arthur Mitchell, Diana Adams. See photo credit below.
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In April 1957, Igor Stravinsky sent George Balanchine the completed score for Agon, a ballet that would become one of the most significant collaborations between a composer and a choreographer in 20th-century history. As a choreographer with a strong musical background — Balanchine had studied at the Petrograd Conservatory — he felt a profound affinity with Stravinsky's intricate neoclassical style. This connection led him to attend almost every orchestral rehearsal in preparation for the work's premiere on 17 June 1957. His dedication extended beyond mere observation: Balanchine made an audio recording of the premiere, revealing his desire to internalise the music’s structural and rhythmic nuances in order to align them precisely with his choreographic intent.
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Balanchine’s engagement with the score was analytical as well as interpretive. He annotated the score extensively, adding his own markings to Stravinsky’s notations. These annotations focused on sections of rhythmic density and contrapuntal complexity — features that posed both choreographic challenges and opportunities. During studio rehearsals, he often returned to the piano reduction to verify that he and his dancers could “hear the music and see the dance,” emphasizing his conviction that dance must arise organically from musical structure.
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The original notation of Agon was undertaken by the Dance Notation Bureau in 1957, at the time of the work's creation. The notation team, led by Ann Hutchinson Guest, comprised Muriel Topaz, Billie Mahoney, Margaret Abbie Denton, Myrina Shedlin and Allan Miles. This early effort laid the foundation for transmitting Agon to subsequent generations. In 1987, Virginia Doris created a revised score based on lessons with New York City Ballet dancer Sara Leland, who had taught the choreography to Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1985.
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On 29 May 1992, Stephanie Jordan interviewed Guest, who offered valuable insights into the choreographic process and the challenges of recording Agon in notation. In Jordan's article “Agon: A Musical/Choreographic Analysis” (Dance Research Journal 25.2, 1993) Guest recalls Balanchine's experimental rehearsal method, noting that he would often 'try things out to see where they might lead'. Despite occasionally working independently of the musical form during these experiments, Balanchine always re-established connections between the dance and the score, which is particularly evident in the celebrated pas de deux. Guest also remarked that “Balanchine’s rhythms were simple to notate,” suggesting that, while his choreographic phrasing was often visually intricate, it was founded on musical clarity rather than complexity for its own sake. This observation highlights Balanchine’s remarkable ability to translate musical ideas into kinetic movement with transparency, making Agon a landmark of music-driven choreography. It is also worth mentioning that Balanchine wrote the preface to the first edition of Guest's main reference book, Labanotation, in 1954.
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Text on Agon: Sungu Okan, June 2025.
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Photo: Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "(2R-R) Choregrapher George Balanchine and composer Igor Stravinsky watching dancers Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell rehearsing New York City Ballet production of "Agon" (New York)" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1957. Photographer: Martha Swope. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/85415eb0-4e90-0133-09a9-00505686d14e
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Sungu Okan is the ICKL newsletter Editor, with contributions from Marion Bastien and Julie Brodie.
If for some reason you are not involved anymore in notation activities and/or want to unsubscribe, send a mail to webmaster@ickl.org
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