The Dance Typewriter: IBM, the Labanotation Element, and “Women’s Work” in 1973

Abstract

A typing element released in 1973 promised to mechanize the transcription of dance. The new typeball applied symbols from Labanotation, a twentieth-century graphic language for recording movement. Though the dance typeball was a commercial and technical flop, its story uncovers cultural attitudes about bodily expression, technology, work, and womanhood during the 1970s. This article analyzes archival documents to determine why the Labanotation ball was produced, how it was developed and marketed, and how it challenged dance notation document production. The evidence demonstrates that people believed that the typewriter ball would do more than streamline their copying processes; it would be a key to the future of physical computing. IBM’s strategy for marketing the dance typewriter was flippant; print advertisements exploited the novelty and feminine sex appeal of the dancing body and aligned both dance and typing with low status “women’s work.” The history of the Labanotation typeball suggests its creators’ failure to fully apprehend the discursive capacity of the dancing, working female body. Comparison with musical notation history reveals similarities in how emerging technologies for document copying and production were shaped by gender roles in office work and the performing arts.