The inspirational passages in Choreutics can obscure the systematic way in which Laban introduces and develops a rational geography of space.

To help the mover orient in the trackless kinesphere, Laban begins with simple, readily recognizable trajectories and moves by gradual steps to more oblique and nuanced trajectories.

First Laban introduces the cardinal directions (up/down, across/open, back/forward). Next he moves on to the cardinal planes (vertical, horizontal, and sagittal), and then to the pure diagonals.

The pure diagonal lines of motion connect opposite corners of the cube – a familiar shape related to the rectangular rooms we mostly inhabit.… Read More

In addition to identifying four formal elements of line in dance tradition, Laban also noted two contrasting forms – the arabesque and the attitude.  While these have become stylized motions in ballet, Laban perceives the arabesque more generally as any direct, scattering shape and the attitude as any flexible, gathering motion.

Both forms reveal something about the mover’s relationship to the surrounding environment.   According to Laban, both represent “fundamental urges.”  The direct scattering or pushing away motion of the arabesque expresses repulsion, while the flexible gathering action of the attitude is a gesture of possession.… Read More

As Laban began to study the expressive lines of dance, he perceived relationships between form and the anatomical structure of human joints.

“The tradition of dance,” Laban writes, “enumerates four fundamental trace-forms which have the following shapes:  straight, curved, twisted, and rounded.”  All more complex shapes “are built up by these four formal elements.”

According to Laban, this limitation to four shapes is governed by the body’s anatomical structure, which permits only certain movements to be made by bending, stretching, twisting, and combinations of these actions.… Read More

Zweig’s memoir chronicles the descent into dystopia and the multiple displacements triggered by war —  features of the life of his generation that also impacted Rudolf Laban.  Yet there is another side to the history of this period, one captured in Larraine Nicolas’s chronicle, Dancing in Utopia.

The book focuses on Dartington Hall, a rural estate in southwest England purchased by the wealthy Elmhirsts in 1925.  The couple aimed to create a community where industry and agriculture were carried out scientifically and where the arts would be available to all workers.… Read More

For an insightful look backwards, I recommend Stefan Zweig’s memoir, The World of Yesterday.  Zweig (1881-1942) was a contemporary of Rudolf Laban (1879-1958).  Both were born and educated in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and both became artists – Zweig as a popular writer in the 1920s and 1930s; Laban as a leading dancer during the same period.

In his final book, written in 1942, Zweig provides a first-person description of peaceful European culture before the first world war and the subsequent violent disruptions of the war, the rise of fascism, and the beginning of the second world war.… Read More

The month of January is named after the Roman god, Janus.  Janus, the god of doors, gates, and transitions, is depicted as having two faces – one looking back and one looking forward.

This depiction calls to mind Winston Churchill’s observation:  “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Movement is evanescent, yet by now, movement study has a history, in part due to the seminal work of the 20^th century polymath, Rudolf Laban.   Lest we forget this history, this month’s blogs address books that provide insight into the life, times, and career of this pioneer in the study of human movement.… Read More

MoveScape Center (MSC):  I’m sure readers are eager to know how you manage to enter and leave homes through the chimney. The famous poem by Clement Clark Moore makes it sound easy.

Santa (S):  I know, but it takes more than laying a finger on the nose and nodding to get up a chimney.

MSC:  So what is your secret?

S:  I use Laban’s idea of spatial tension.  He relates diagonal pathways to mobility – I use these to hop in and out of my sleigh. … Read More