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A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

ibm.com

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Re: A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

#11

Post by rbanffy »

jaclaz wrote: post #2

The sad thing is that I actually vaguely remember them in the office and that earlier, as a kid, few things were cooler than the TV UFO series: SHADO SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ...... ALIEN DEFENCE ORGANIZATION ... SECRET LOCATION .... BENEATH FILM STUDIO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya_9fUNstvc

The distant future of 1980...

Re: A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

#13

Post by gorgoiler »

It’s still amazing that a printing element with this radius could achieve accurate character registration.

I remember the type all’s being such a part of pop culture that a televised game show, involving contestants identifying objects in a black bag by touch alone, were expected to identify a typeball as a common, everyday object.

Re: A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

#14

Post by Stratoscope »

lisper wrote: post #6

An entire article about dance notation and not a single example of what the notation looks like. Disappointing.

There is an example in the corner of the picture of the dancer leaping over a typeball. But yeah, it is just a small example and there is no explanation of what the symbols mean.

Re: A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

#15

Post by jacquesm »

Amazing mechanics, there is a lot to learn by just examining the mechanism of these. As a kid I had access to one, my mom had one at home. I distinctly remember how fast the ball moved because I got a nice 'J' imprint on my pinkie trying to see what would happen. That hurt (predictable). That taught me not to mess with live machinery and to have respect for things that move faster than you can follow with your eyes.

Re: A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

#19

Post by wiseleo »

Labanotation is very interesting as a tech-savvy choreographer. I am looking at taking it to the next level with Unreal. :)

For those interested in dance transcription, there is a formerly commercial but now freeware Windows product called Danceforms. http://www.charactermotion.com/df-download.html

Re: A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

#20

Post by wiseleo »

seltzered_ wrote: post #16

I'd love to know if labanotation has actually been effective in dance. It might work for choreographed works, but I feel like it might fail for a newer person relying on it over practice. Any social dancers on HN?

Yes, it works great and not difficult to read. There are limitations, mostly because of symbol overload when expressing more complex movement. Ballet is simple to read because ballet consists of mostly well-defined upright movement. Modern dance, of which ballet is a subset, has a lot of floor work. That becomes difficult to express.

There's one source of truth, Ann Guest, and some people are frustrated at not getting the most precise answers.

The system encompasses the entire body up to fingertips.

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