Joan Benesh
Joan Benesh | |
|---|---|
 photographed in Liverpool before her marriage by E. Chambré Hardman | |
| Born | Joan Rothwell 24 March 1920 |
| Died | 27 September 2014 (aged 94) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | ballerina, choreographer |
| Employer | Royal Ballet |
| Known for | Benesh Movement Notation |
| Spouse | Rudolf Benesh |
Joan Benesh née Rothwell (1920–2014) was a ballet dancer who, with her husband Rudolf, invented the Benesh Movement Notation, which is the leading British system of dance notation.[1]
She was born Joan Rothwell in Liverpool in 1920. She studied dance for three years there at the Studio School of Dance and Drama and then studied with Lydia Sokolova. She then worked as a dancer and choreographer in commercial theatre where, in 1947, she met the artist and musician, Rudolf Benesh. He devised a notation to help her record her dances and they developed the system together. They married on 3 December 1949 and she then joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company.[2]
Their notation system was presented to the Royal Ballet, fully published in 1956 and exhibited at Expo 58 in Brussels. In 1960, the Royal Ballet recruited a notator who had been trained in the Benesh system. The Benesh Institute of Choreology was then created in 1962 with Joan as principal, Rudolf as director and Frederick Ashton as president. The Institute established a library of dance scores in London and a residential training college in Sussex. Rudolf died of cancer in 1975 and Joan then retired as principal. She published a history, Reading Dance: The Birth of Choreology, in 1977 and was recognised with the Queen Elizabeth II award of the Royal Academy of Dance in 1986.[1]
The notation uses a five bar stave to record the position of the limbs and body. Above the stave, additional signs record the facial expression and the position of the eyes and fingers. These details arose from Joan's special interest in Odissi – the classical dance of Eastern India.[3]
References
- ^ a b "Joan Benesh - obituary", Daily Telegraph, 5 December 2014
- ^ Current Biography Yearbook, H. W. Wilson Co., 1958, p. 58
- ^ E. Mirzabekianz (2015), "Benesh Movement Notation for Humanoid Robots", Dance Notations and Robot Motion, Springer, p. 305, ISBN 9783319257396
External links
- Benesh International – the Benesh Institute is now part of the Royal Academy of Dance
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