Orchesography

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The skill of systematically recording dance steps and movements through a notation system
2. A method used to document and write down dance routines and steps for preservation or teaching
3. A system designed to capture the precise motions in a dance using symbols or written instructions

Etymology: Orchesography is built from the Greek "orchēsis", meaning dancing, and "-graphia", meaning writing or recording, so the word literally names the art of writing down dance. The French form "orchésographie" was the source English borrowed from. The word is a learned coinage from classical roots, not an ancient Greek term: the Greeks had no system of dance notation under this name. The word's most notable association is with Thoinot Arbeau, the pen name of the French priest Jehan Tabourot, whose treatise on dance is the book most often linked to the term. Its title, "Orchésographie", tells readers exactly what the book offers: a method for recording the steps and figures of dances on paper so that others could learn them.