Book review: Kinesemiotics: Modelling How Choreographed Movement Means in Space

Abstract

Kinesemiotics: Modelling How Choreographed Movement Means in Space introduces and makes an argument for a new way to understand and analyse dance as movementbased communication. Maiorani pioneers this emerging field of Kinesemiotics, and explains that it differs from previous dance notations and recording styles because it understands dance as inherently social, interactive and contextual. Kinesemiotics understands dance as both physical performance and semiotic system. In Maiorani’s own words, Kinesemiotics is ‘a new linguistics-based socio-semiotic approach to the analysis of the meaning-making processes through which dance discourse is created and communicated’ (p. 2). Of course, Kinesemiotics is not the first attempt to analyse and record dance, and more specifically, ballet. Rudolf Laban’s written dance notation system offers a way of documenting the flow of movement enacted by ballet and classical dancers, yet this form of notation is complex and can only be used and understood by small numbers of people (see Laban and Lawrence, 1974). Video recordings of dance are another way to archive and reproduce choreographed movement. However, video recordings are a rudimentary tool for understanding the meanings made by individual dancers in specific contexts. Although video recordings are accessible to many, they are also highly determined by the point of view of the camera and the compilation of edits. Video recordings of dance are thus a translation of the form, and not a direct representation. Most importantly, neither Labanian notation nor video recording show the discursive interaction between dancers or between dancers and their audiences. Unlike these, Maiorani’s text maintains that dance is primarily interactive. Her Kinesemiotics positions dance as an evolving conversation rather than a pre-prepared monologue. It reads body movements in relation to objects, other bodies, and fundamentally foregrounds the expressive role of the dancer. As a trained dancer, Maioroni is well-equipped to pioneer the field of Kinesemiotics. She is a ballet dancer and linguist originally from Italy and now living in London, where she works as a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at Loughborough University. With her dayMultimodality & Society