Overview
Welcome to DanceStepper app for iPhone and iPad. If you are a student of Ballroom Dances, you can use the app to create notated dance scores by Labanotation with few simple taps on your iPhone/iPad screen. If you are an enthusiast and considering to enroll in dance classes, the app provides you with an introduction by sample dance scores. The app has easy to use visual interface to notate the movements of the dancers. The app helps you to record the instructions from your teacher as Labanotation symbols and save them for future reference and recollection. If you are an amateur choreographer and creative you can experiment with different movements of the body and steps. The app helps you to visualize the dance score you created in Augmented Reality view by virtual humanoid characters stepping to your creation and examine if the notations represent the movements and dance poses you intended.
Labanotation
Labanotation was invented by the Hungarian choreographer Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958). Any form of human movement can be recorded by Labanotation. Labanotation uses abstract symbols to define the direction and level of the movement for each part of the body doing the movement, duration of the movement, dynamic quality of the movement. Labanotation is a record of movements of each part the body, so that it can be reproduced. The DanceStepper utilizes Labanotation to notate Ballroom Dances.
Ballroom Dances
Ballroom dances are partner dances. Examples are Foxtrot, Waltz, Cha Cha, etc. The student learns the dances as Dance Figures which are short sequence of poses and steps. Examples are Basic, Cross-Body-Lead, Under-Arm-Turn, etc. The Figures describe the steps and poses for the leader (man) and follower (woman) that are to be performed in a sequence of time intervals. The dance teacher trains and practices the students by providing verbal instructions on the following elements of the dance movements.
- Step timing
- Step directions and foot gestures
- Hand movements
- Turns
- Position on dance floor Connection to the partner
DanceStepper app helps the student to organize the lessons. The verbal instructions from the dance teacher are transformed into visual Labanotation symbols. The shapes of the symbols indicate different directions in space and the shading of the symbol specifies the level of the movement. The symbols are placed on a vertical staff with a number of columns. Symbols in a column of the staff represent the movement of one part of the body, and the vertical dimension represents time passing by. The centre line of the staff represents the centre line of the body, symbols on the right represent the right side of the body, symbols on the left, the left side. The staff is read from bottom to top and the length of a symbol defines the duration of the movement. Think of the columns as "Audio Channels" in music where each instrument gets is own channel. Similarly, each column in the Labanotation staff represent the movements of a part of the body. The app saves the dance scores in digital format for future reference and recollection. The scores are reproducible at any future date without loss of details.
Augmented Reality
DanceStepper utilizes Apple’s Augmented Reality technology to create animations of the dance scores created by the user. The movements notated by Labanotation for each part of the body are passed on to move and animate parts of the humanoid characters in the Augmented Reality views. The animations help the user to examine if the notations produced intended movements.