the notes indicate on which beat each arm movement is to occur. A space on the paper specifies the audience's location. Advantages Stepanov’s system does not require the study of many symbols to understand it. This system makes it possible to show more than a single movement at a time. Overall, it has been claimed to be a good approach to describing body movement. Disadvantages Stepanov notation encounters difficulty in describing body direction as it utilizes a system of relative "greater than" and "less than" positions relative to the current facing of the dancer, requiring them to memorize the meanings of these terms in relation to every position in the dance. Some might also call the translation from some manuscripts for ballet steps crude due to the difficulty of translating an anatomical movement onto the paper. References Guest, Ann Hutchinson. Choreographics: A Comparison of Dance Notation Systems from the 15th century to the present. London : Routledge, 2014. Gorsky, Alexander. Two Essays on Stepanov Dance Notation (Translated from Russian into English by Roland John Wiley). New York 1978. Stepanov, Vladimir Ivanovich. Alphabet of Movements of the Human Body (Translated from French into English by Raymond Lister, 1892). Cambridge 1958. Russian ballet Dance notators Male ballet dancers from the Russian Empire Mariinsky Ballet dancers 1866 births 1896 deaths