Originally an accountant, Rudolf Benesh and his wife, Joan Benesh (formerly Rothwell, a soloist with the Sadler's Wells Ballet), founded the Benesh Movement Notation (BMN) system in 1955. BMN is a system by which movements may be transcribed into written form, and is used by dancers, choreographers, archivists, and also clinicians studying human movement. One reason for its success is that over twenty-five major dance companies utilised BMN and its use of the musical five-line staff, which made matching up movement to accompaniment straightforward.
BMN is useful not only for remembering past works and re-staging them, but also for movement therapy, and as a way to protect choreographers' copyright. He also coined the term choreology which he defined as the aesthetic and scientific study of all forms of human movement by movement notation .
In 1962 the Benesh Institute of Choreology was founded, with Sir Frederick Ashton as president, Rudolf Benesh as director and his wife, Joan as principal. The Institute aimed to promote, develop and offer education in BMN and to assist in the preservation of dance heritage and in the protection of choreographic copyright.
In 1997 the Benesh Institute was incorporated within the Royal Academy of Dance, which deposits copies of its notational scores with the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Institute acts as an educational centre, training choreologists at varying levels, and also as a library for movement scores and a body for defending copyrights.
From the guide to the Benesh Dance Notation Collection, c.1977-2010, (V&A Department of Theatre and Performance)
