Noa Eshkol

Noa Eshkol creator of Eshkol-Wachmann movement notation (1958), died on 14 Oct. at the age of 84. The temperamental and charismatic daughter of Israel's third Prime Minister Levi Eshkol studied music and dance in her early 20s, with a period in London with Rudolf von Laban, theoretician and creator of Labanotation.

Having familiarized herself with Benesh, the most popular form of notation for recording ballet, and Labanotation, used mostly to record modern and contemporary dance, Eshkol became aware of their limitations.

Back in Israel she founded her own dance group “Chamber Dance” based on her notion that dance is a tremendous spiritual entity that can and should do without music, costumes, lighting or set. Her dances and those of her avid disciples tolerate only a clicking metronome to establish the rhythm.

Eshkol believed that pure movement can evoke the deepest feelings and she strived toward an abstraction similar to that found in classical music. In 1958 she realized her efforts to create a more comprehensive and abstract system of notation with the help of architect Avraham Wachmann, who was responsible for the practical side. Their system is based on the universality of ...