Restaging

When it comes to restaging a dance on a new company or simply on a new cast, there is no substitute for the human connection. A dance and its legacy are passed on directly from person to person, aided by notes and videotape. Deciding what is true to the original choreography – what is “correct” – depends very much on the circumstance.

Of the arts, dance is at a disadvantage because it does not have a simple system of notation legible by most people. We learn to read as youngsters, and from that early point, the canon of literature is ours for the consuming.

Shortly thereafter, many of us are taught musical notation, which – while not as pervasively known – is still relatively simple to learn and unlocks vast troves of musical literature.

Dance has Labanotation, but it is a highly specialized system that takes a fair amount of studying. The most relied-upon (but certainly not optimal) way to learn dance – from videotape or dvd – is somewhat like listening to a CD to learn a piano concerto. Written notes – the layperson’s version of notation – made by choreographers, rehearsal directors, and performers, can be very helpful and often supplement videotape. And most importantly, as it ...