Vladimir Stepanov (dancer)

His book, The Alphabet of Movements of the Human Body (French: L'Alphabet des Mouvements du Corps Humain) was published in Paris in 1892.

The book describes a notation that encodes dance movements using musical notes instead of pictographs or abstract symbols.

Once it was adopted by the St. Petersburg school, Stepanov was given the title Instructor in Movement Analysis and Notation; however, he died at age 29.

In his publication of Stepanov's method, Alexander Gorsky stated: “Poses or Movement lasting two units of time we notate with signs called halves (½) as they are made up of two quarters.

With Stepanov notation, arm movements are written as symbols similar in appearance to music notes with streaks around them.