Dr Ann Hutchinson Guest MBE (1918-2022) was a world renowned expert in dance notation, highly acclaimed author and researcher on dance, and the founder of the Language of Dance Centre.

Dr Hutchinson Guest studied Labanotation with Sigurd Leeder at Dartington Hall in England in the 1930s, and trained in modern dance and ballet. In New York she co-founded and directed the Dance Notation Bureau, danced on Broadway and taught at the Juilliard School. Her research into dance notation systems of the past provided revivals of ballets such as the Pas de Six from La Vivandière and Nijinsky’s L’Apres-midi d’un Faune.

Through her exploration and analysis of movement, she evolved the educationally rich Language of Dance teaching method. For her development and practical application of Labanotation, she was awarded two honorary doctorates; Lifetime Achievement Award from Motus Humanus, Outstanding Contribution to Dance Research Award from both the Congress on Research in Dance, and the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). The numerous dance scores and publications Ann Hutchinson Guest has produced include The Bournonville School and the Cecchetti Method and an extensive collection of Language of Dance Books and Materials including ‘Your Move’ and an ‘Introduction to Motif Notation’.

In 2021 she was appointed as an Honorary Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her services to dance.

In 2020, to celebrate Dr Hutchinson Guest’s 102nd birthday, the LODC UK commissioned a short film about her extraordinary life’s work.