Dance writing

[Tini Pel]

Yes Valerie, I'll be honoured.
Tini.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Valerie Sutton" <sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG>
To: <SW-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA>
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: Dance writing


SignWriting List
May 14, 2004

Dear SW List, and Tini!
Thank you for this email message, with photos and an historic
description of your use of DanceWriting, Tini.... This meant a lot to
me to read it. I had not realized that a dancer from the Royal Winnepeg
Ballet had used DanceWriting because of your teaching...and that some
of your students now use it because they are now teachers
themselves...Thank you for teaching both DanceWriting and SignWriting
all these years...Do I have your permission to post this information on
the DanceWriting web site? I could make a summary, and would check it
with you first for your approval?...  Val ;-)

---------------------------


On May 13, 2004, at 6:22 PM, Tini Pel wrote:

Hello Valerie and list.,
Yes we met in Copenhagen around 1974 or '75. I really can't remember, I
have to go back to my files. But that does not matter. I was so
thankful that we were there with our students at the time that you were
there.

I was by then involved with the Benish notation after I had done Laban
for some time. and found Benish a lot quicker. Then I met Valerie
wow.... what a difference. After I took the correspondence course and
started to teach it to our group of serious students training to become
professionals, either in dancing, teaching or related arts, they found
the Sutton system easier to read and quicker to learn as the figures
were so closely related to the body.

I worked with the Sutton notation with the dance company and most of
them new the system and were able to rehearse on their own from the
notations. I still believe it is a good way for dancers and students to
know the system. They can take it home on a piece of paper instead of
having to rely on a video machine

Following are some pictures of young students learning to read and
write dance notation. This was around 1982.




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The girl in the white sweater in picture 2 has used it when she was
dancing with the Winnipeg Ballet Company, to jot down her parts of the
ballets. I have lost contact with her. It would be nice to know if she
is still using it. Three of my former students who are now teachers are
still using the Sutton notation, so Valerie you have made sooooo many
people happy with your work and it is still growing and growing with
the SignWriting as well

  I thought you would like to know about this.

Tini.