Kinetography

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A system of symbols used to write down and record the steps and movements of a dance so it can be reproduced later
2. The method of notating choreography through a set of written signs that capture the motions of dancers
3. A written notation for dance, a way of recording bodily movement on paper so that performances can be preserved and reconstructed

Etymology: Kinetography is a compound built from two Greek-derived parts: "kineto-", from the Greek "kinētos", meaning "moved" or "movable", and "-graphy", from "graphia", meaning "writing" or "recording". Put together, the word means the writing or recording of movement. The suffix is the familiar one found in words like photography and choreography, so the formation is transparent. The first element, "kineto-", is the combining form that appears in other technical coinages about motion, such as kinetic and kinetoscope. Its presence in kinetography signals a term built deliberately from classical building blocks rather than one that grew naturally in everyday speech. The word names a system for recording human or animal movement in symbols, most often associated with dance notation. Its meaning is therefore literal: a way of writing down motion, as the name's parts promise.

Synonyms: labanotation