The Use of Laban Kinetography in Turkish Folk Dances: Introduction to an Applied Workshop

This workshop is a three-hour intensive study that aims to examine the movement structure of Turkish folk dances directly through practice, using the Kinetography Laban Movement Notation system. Rather than focusing on theoretical explanation, the program emphasizes participants’ experience in observing movement, analyzing it, and transferring it into notation.

Folk dances are performative practices transmitted through bodily memory and the master–apprentice relationship. However, there is an increasing need for systematic recording methods to preserve and reproduce the detailed structure of movement. This workshop approaches Kinetography Laban not as a subject of explanation, but as a direct tool of practice, enabling participants to experience the process of translating movement into written form.

During the workshop, participants will attempt to record selected basic steps and movement sequences from Turkish folk dances using the fundamental symbols of Kinetography Laban Movement Notation. The practices are structured around transferring direction, level, duration, and coordination between body parts into notation. Through individual and small group work, participants will experience both writing notation and re-reading written movement.

By the end of the workshop, participants are expected to gain the ability to express selected folk dance movements at a basic level using kinetographic symbols and to apply this notation within practice.

This applied workshop aims to strengthen the possibilities for systematically recording and reproducing the movement knowledge of Turkish folk dances.