Appendix B
Motif Description

Motif Description is a symbol system which notates the outline of movement. Motif writing, developed by V. Preston-Dunlop, is based on Labanotation. Symbols are written in columns and read from the bottom upwards, left to right. The following are action symbols which will help teachers and students get started. There are also symbols for other aspects of movement including the body, dynamics, space and relationships. For further information, please refer to resources on notation listed in Arts Education: A Bibliography for Grades 6 to 8.

an action occurs		jump
travel		contract
pause		expand
gesture		transfer weight
fall		twist either way
turn right		twist right
turn left		twist left

Here is an example of a dance phrase written in Motif Description. The phrase is in 2/4 metre and read from bottom to top as follows: travel, fall, twist to the left, jump, pause, turn to the right, expand, contract. When executing this phrase, the actions could be done in any way; for example, travelling could be crawling, hopping, rolling; twist to the left could be an arm twisting or the whole body twisting.