SESSIONS -
PAPER
Notator, Reconstructor, who are we?
The process of defining professional standards in France
Marion Bastien, Pascale Guénon, FRANCE
Set these things down in writing to enable me to learn this art […].
Capriol to Arbeau, Orchésographie, 1589
There is in France a long, rich and complex tradition of notation. Five centuries after the “Orchésographie” dance treatise, several notation professionals are setting ‘these things down in writing”, contributing by their work to the preservation of our dance heritage.
Notation is starting to be more known and more used in France. One of the landmarks for us was the opening in the 90’s of a course training professional notators and reconstructors in the National Conservatory in Paris. Since then several people graduated, either in Laban notation or in Benesh notation.
Another landmark was the creation by the Ministry of Culture in 2006 of annual grants for financing the notation of choreographic works.
But the recognition, or integration, of the notators and reconstructors within the field of the performing arts still need to improve. And one aspect of it is the needs for clarifying and formalizing the definition of a notation professional, its role, its place within its working environment, and other related career aspects.
Since the 90’s a few initiatives started to organize our field: the creation in 1993 of a “Federation” of the notations (this organization is not in operation anymore), and concurrently the redaction of a “sample contract” for hiring a notator, which was written by a jurist of the Society of Authors (SACD) in close collaboration with the Federation previously mentioned.
In 2008 the French Ministry of Culture initiated a working group, in order to define clearly what the notators and reconstructors are, and in order to draw the guidelines of a Code of Practice.
Several notations’ associations were invited to join this working group as well as a few people from professional organizations (such as Union Trades, Commission certifying diplomas’ levels, a Performing arts’ careers observatory).
The Association nationale des notateurs du mouvement – Envol des signes (ANNM), which we are member of, is currently contributing to the Ministry’s working group.
In this presentation, we will present the many points that arose from the discussions as well as the thoughts and positions of ANNM.
Marion Bastien studied notation in France and at the Dance Notation Bureau, New York. She has notated works by Appaix, Bagouet, Bounonville and Decouflé, has taught notation at Conservatoire de Paris, Université Paris VII and Paris X, and has restaged solos or choral works. Member of the European Seminar for Kinetography (1985-1994), and ICKL fellow since 1995. She followed multimedia studies in 1997. She is now working half of her time at Centre national de la danse, in the “Memory and research” department, and works aside as freelance webmaster as well as on a few projects related to notation and dance.
Pascale Guénon - Graduated in notation at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris (1998), she has notated works by Ashley Page, the Crowsnest Trio as well as variations from the ballet repertoire.
She is currently working on the notation score of an evening-length piece of Taiwanese choreographer: Tsao-Pi and Chen-Mi.
She is chair of Association nationale des notateurs du mouvement- Envol des Signes.
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