Labanotation provides vast resources for expressing movement. When you notate something, chances are good that you'll have a broad array of different ways that you might approach the task. How do you pick which movement symbols are the most appropriate? Does it matter at all?

The answer is that it does matter. All Labanotation symbols contain an inherent double meaning. The first is their instructional meaning - move this body part in this way. The second is an acknowledgement that the movement should include the flavor of the way itself. If I express a movement in terms of direction, the double meaning is that the movement I'm notating is inherently directional in nature; and the performer should express the idea of Direction when they make that movement. If I express the very same movement in terms of folding, the double meaning is that the movement I'm notating is inherently about folding; and the performer should express the idea of Folding when they make that movement.

This emphasis on intention helps to bridge the gap between the person writing the score, and the person reading it. If a Labanotation score were performed strictly, with no interpretation of the intention of the movements, but only as a raw adherence to the movement symbols themselves, the performances would all appear wooden and lifeless. Labanotation can't carry the living elemental quality of a performance through the paper and into the performer. Like music notation, something must be added to the final performance; technique, phrasing, a sense of the meaning and emotion behind the raw symbolic representation.

To truly compose a dance in Labanotation, you must remain aware that the symbols you select to describe each movement will influence the interpretation of that movement on a deeper level than merely instructing the performer in which body part to move, and in how to move it.

That's not the only way to communicate a deeper intention. You can also write margin notes explaining what you're trying to get at. You can really do whatever will work, whatever will convey your intention. But when considering all that, you should remain aware of the fact that the symbols themselves will also be part of the reader's interpretation of your intention.