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{{Short description|British ballet dancer (1920–2014)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
|name = Joan Benesh
|name = Joan Benesh
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|spouse = [[Rudolf Benesh]]
|spouse = [[Rudolf Benesh]]
}}
}}
'''Joan Benesh''' (née '''Rothwell'''; 24 March 1920 – 27 September 2014) was a British [[ballet]] dancer who, with her husband [[Rudolf Benesh|Rudolf]], developed the [[Benesh Movement Notation]], which is the leading British system of [[dance notation]].<ref name=DT/>
'''Joan Benesh''' (née '''Rothwell'''; 24 March 1920 – 27 September 2014) was a British [[ballet]] dancer who, with her husband [[Rudolf Benesh|Rudolf]], created the [[Benesh Movement Notation]], which is the leading British system of [[dance notation]].<ref name=DT/>


==Early life, education, and marriage==
==Early life, education, and marriage==
She was born Joan Dorothy Rothwell in the [[Wavertree]] district of Liverpool in 1920.<ref name=DNB/> She studied dance for three years in Liverpool at the Studio School of Dance and Drama and then studied with [[Lydia Sokolova]].<ref name=RD/> She won the ballet prize of the All England Dance Competition in 1937 and the Parker Trophy for Dance in 1938.<ref name=WW/>
She was born Joan Dorothy Rothwell in the [[Wavertree]] district of Liverpool in 1920.<ref name=DNB/> She studied dance for three years in Liverpool at the Studio School of Dance and Drama and then studied with [[Lydia Sokolova]].<ref name=RD/> She won the ballet prize of the All England Dance Competition in 1937 and the Parker Trophy for Dance in 1938.<ref name=WW/>


She then worked as a dancer and choreographer in commercial theatre where, in 1947, she met the accountant, artist and musician, Rudolf Benesh, who noticed that she was having trouble: "During a break while I was painting Joan's portrait, I mused at her struggle to get down on paper her choreographic ideas for a ballet".<ref name=DNB/> He devised [[Benesh Movement Notation|a notation]] to help her record her dances and they developed the system together.<ref name=DNB/> The couple married on 12 March 1949 and she then joined the [[Sadler's Wells Ballet Company]].<ref name=DNB/><ref name=CBY/>
She then worked as a dancer and choreographer in commercial theatre where, in 1947, she met the accountant, artist and musician, Rudolf Benesh, who noticed that she was having trouble: "During a break while I was painting Joan's portrait, I mused at her struggle to get down on paper her choreographic ideas for a ballet".<ref name=DNB/> He began [[Benesh Movement Notation|a notation]] to help her record her dances and they developed the system together.<ref name=DNB/> The couple married on 12 March 1949 and she then joined the [[Sadler's Wells Ballet Company]].<ref name=DNB/><ref name=CBY/>


==Benesh Movement Notation==
==Benesh Movement Notation==
The notation uses a five bar [[staff (music)|stave]] to record the position of the limbs and body.<ref name=DNB/> Above the stave, additional signs record the facial expression and the position of the eyes and fingers.<ref name=EM/> These details arose from Joan's special interest in ''[[Odissi]]'' – the [[Indian classical dance|classical dance]] of Eastern India.<ref name=EM/> Their notation system was presented to the [[Royal Ballet]], fully published in 1956 and exhibited at [[Expo 58]] in Brussels.<ref name=DNB/>
The notation uses a five bar [[staff (music)|stave]] to record the position of the limbs and body.<ref name=DNB/> Above the stave, additional signs record the facial expression and the position of the eyes and fingers.<ref name=EM/> These details arose from Joan's special interest in ''[[Bharatanatyam]]'' – the [[Indian classical dance|classical dance]] of South India.<ref name=EM/> Their notation system was presented to the [[Royal Ballet]], fully published in 1956 and exhibited at [[Expo 58]] in Brussels.<ref name=DNB/>


In 1960, the Royal Ballet recruited a notator who had been trained in the Benesh system.<ref name=DNB/> The [[Benesh Institute of Choreology]] was then created in 1962 with Joan as principal, Rudolf as director and [[Frederick Ashton]] as president.<ref name=DNB/> The Institute established a library of dance scores in London and a residential training college in Sussex.<ref name=BI/>
In 1960, the Royal Ballet recruited a notator who had been trained in the Benesh system.<ref name=DNB/> The [[Benesh Institute of Choreology]] was then created in 1962 with Joan as principal, Rudolf as director and [[Frederick Ashton]] as president.<ref name=DNB/> The Institute established a library of dance scores in London and a residential training college in Sussex.<ref name=BI/>
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<ref name=CBY>{{citation |page=58 |title=Current Biography Yearbook |publisher=H. W. Wilson Co. |year=1958}}</ref>
<ref name=CBY>{{citation |page=58 |title=Current Biography Yearbook |publisher=H. W. Wilson Co. |year=1958}}</ref>
<ref name=WW>{{citation |page=67 |title=World Who's Who of Women 1990/91 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1990}}</ref>
<ref name=WW>{{citation |page=67 |title=World Who's Who of Women 1990/91 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1990}}</ref>
<ref name=DNB>{{citation |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |title=Benesh [née Rothwell], Joan Dorothy (1920–2014)|author=Liz Cunliffe |date=15 February 2018 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-108147 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
<ref name=DNB>{{citation |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |title=Benesh [née Rothwell], Joan Dorothy (1920–2014)|author=Liz Cunliffe |date=15 February 2018 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-108147 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.108147 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
<ref name=RD>{{citation |title=Reading Dance: the birth of choreology |first1=Rudolf |last1=Benesh |first2=Joan |last2=Benesh |publisher=Souvenir |year=1977 |pages=104}}</ref>
<ref name=RD>{{citation |title=Reading Dance: the birth of choreology |first1=Rudolf |last1=Benesh |first2=Joan |last2=Benesh |publisher=Souvenir |year=1977 |pages=104}}</ref>
<ref name=BI>{{citation |url=https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/documents/benesh-docs/HistoryofBeneshInst.pdf |title=The history of Benesh International (formerly the Benesh Institute) |year=2018 |publisher=Benesh International}}</ref>
<ref name=BI>{{citation |url=https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/documents/benesh-docs/HistoryofBeneshInst.pdf |title=The history of Benesh International (formerly the Benesh Institute) |year=2018 |publisher=Benesh International}}</ref>
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[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:English ballet dancers]]
[[Category:English ballerinas]]
[[Category:English women choreographers]]
[[Category:English women choreographers]]
[[Category:People from Liverpool]]
[[Category:People from Wavertree]]
[[Category:Entertainers from Liverpool]]

Latest revision as of 17:15, 30 December 2023

Joan Benesh
photographed in Liverpool before her marriage by E. Chambré Hardman
Born
Joan Dorothy Rothwell

(1920-03-24)24 March 1920
Wavertree, Liverpool, England
Died27 September 2014(2014-09-27) (aged 94)
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)ballerina, choreographer
EmployerRoyal Ballet
Known forBenesh Movement Notation
SpouseRudolf Benesh

Joan Benesh (née Rothwell; 24 March 1920 – 27 September 2014) was a British ballet dancer who, with her husband Rudolf, created the Benesh Movement Notation, which is the leading British system of dance notation.[1]

Early life, education, and marriage[edit]

She was born Joan Dorothy Rothwell in the Wavertree district of Liverpool in 1920.[2] She studied dance for three years in Liverpool at the Studio School of Dance and Drama and then studied with Lydia Sokolova.[3] She won the ballet prize of the All England Dance Competition in 1937 and the Parker Trophy for Dance in 1938.[4]

She then worked as a dancer and choreographer in commercial theatre where, in 1947, she met the accountant, artist and musician, Rudolf Benesh, who noticed that she was having trouble: "During a break while I was painting Joan's portrait, I mused at her struggle to get down on paper her choreographic ideas for a ballet".[2] He began a notation to help her record her dances and they developed the system together.[2] The couple married on 12 March 1949 and she then joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company.[2][5]

Benesh Movement Notation[edit]

The notation uses a five bar stave to record the position of the limbs and body.[2] Above the stave, additional signs record the facial expression and the position of the eyes and fingers.[6] These details arose from Joan's special interest in Bharatanatyam – the classical dance of South India.[6] Their notation system was presented to the Royal Ballet, fully published in 1956 and exhibited at Expo 58 in Brussels.[2]

In 1960, the Royal Ballet recruited a notator who had been trained in the Benesh system.[2] The Benesh Institute of Choreology was then created in 1962 with Joan as principal, Rudolf as director and Frederick Ashton as president.[2] The Institute established a library of dance scores in London and a residential training college in Sussex.[7]

Later life[edit]

Rudolf died of cancer in 1975 and Joan then retired as principal.[2] She published a history, Reading Dance: The Birth of Choreology, in 1977 and was recognised with the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award of the Royal Academy of Dance in 1986.[1] She retired to Wimbledon where her hobbies included gardening, sewing and philosophy.[4] She subsequently moved to Skelmersdale to be near her only son Anthony.[2] She died in a nursing home there of pneumonia in 2014, aged 94.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Joan Benesh – obituary", Daily Telegraph, 5 December 2014
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liz Cunliffe (15 February 2018), "Benesh [née Rothwell], Joan Dorothy (1920–2014)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.108147, ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8
  3. ^ Benesh, Rudolf; Benesh, Joan (1977), Reading Dance: the birth of choreology, Souvenir, p. 104
  4. ^ a b World Who's Who of Women 1990/91, Taylor & Francis, 1990, p. 67
  5. ^ Current Biography Yearbook, H. W. Wilson Co., 1958, p. 58
  6. ^ a b E. Mirzabekianz (2015), "Benesh Movement Notation for Humanoid Robots", Dance Notations and Robot Motion, Springer, p. 305, ISBN 9783319257396
  7. ^ The history of Benesh International (formerly the Benesh Institute) (PDF), Benesh International, 2018

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joan_Benesh&oldid=1192664266"