Matching and Clashing in Laban Terms

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Warren Lamb set out to use his skills in movement observation and analysis to tease out differences in how men and women perform the same physical tasks. Before discussing what he observed, it is necessary to review some core concepts in Laban theory.

Rudolf Laban delineated four motion factors:  space, weight, time, and flow. Each motion factor varies between contrasting dynamic qualities that Laban conceptualized as having either a fighting or indulging quality.

Fighting effort qualities include directing (space), increasing pressure (weight), accelerating (time), and binding (effort flow).… Read More

Men and Women: Equal But Not Identical

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Carol-Lynne Moore

In an unpublished manuscript, Warren Lamb recalled: “When I was at the Art of Movement Studio in the late 1940s Laban taught that women did light movement and men strong movements. This seemed to me at the time to be completely wrong and symptomatic of thousands of years of conditioning which set up men as ‘macho’ and women as ‘little flowers.’”

Lamb continues: “There were plenty of women, fellow students, around and my observations revealed that they did do strong movement as much and to as great a degree as men, only their strength of movement looked different; it was performed  differently from men.”… Read More

Yin and Yang in Laban Movement Analysis

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Laban Movement Analysis is an objective system for describing human movement, and in this sense it is gender-blind. However, certain male and female associations arose as Laban developed his Choreutic and Eukinetic theories and created space and effort sequences.

Some of the sexual associations can be found in Part II of Choreutics. This section of the book was written by Gertrud Snell Friedburg in the late 1920s and presented as a gift to Laban. Much later, when Lisa Ullmann edited Laban’s original Choreutics manuscript, she translated and added Friedburg’s section to the book.… Read More

The Mysterious Mobius

Posted on October 12, 2017 by Carol-Lynne Moore

The mobius strip, also known as a lemniscate, is a unique shape having only one side and one edge.  The shape was invented almost simultaneously by two German mathematicians in 1858.  It became popular as a prop for magical parlor tricks in the late 19th century, and perhaps this is how Laban encountered it.

 

You can make one yourself by twisting a strip of paper and joining the ends.  A normal band (think of a rubber band or a simple bracelet) has an inner surface and an outer surface and two edges.  … Read More

Laban’s Alphabet of Human Movement

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Carol-Lynne Moore

In the early 20th century, before there were video cameras and smartphones, Laban recognized that dance, like music, needed a notation system to allow choreographies to be recorded.  Developing a movement notation system necessitated two steps. First, the elements that make up the “alphabet of human movement” had to be identified. Secondly, symbols to represent these elements and their combinations and sequences had to be invented.

Like all good theoreticians, Laban wanted to control the number of elements so as to make his notation system as economical as possible.  … Read More

Psychological Dimensions of Effort 1

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Rudolf Laban recognized that the four motion factors (Space, Weight, Time, and Flow) characterize both physical and mental effort.  He associated Space with attention, Weight with intention, Time with decision, and Flow with progression.

Laban saw these mental efforts as both preceding and accompanying “purposive actions.”

Warren Lamb went on to refine these correlations of physical and mental effort in relation to a decision-making process.  He found that through the careful observation of an individual’s movement patterns, a unique decision-making profile can be discerned.… Read More

Effort Range: Home Base and New Territory

Posted on July 4, 2017 by Carol-Lynne Moore

“A healthy human being can have complete control of his kinesphere and dynamosphere,” according to Rudolf Laban.   This suggests that a wide range of motion is both desirable and achievable.

And yet, each of us has effort and shape preferences that define our way of being in the world. These familiar movement patterns anchor us; they provide a “home base.” 

On the other hand, it’s fun to move beyond this comfort zone and experience novel dynamic moods and places.  This summer, MoveScape Center workshops provide both — a chance to revel in the comfort of home base and/or the opportunity to explore unfamiliar movement landscapes.  … Read More

Effort Shape and Individual Difference

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Lamb affirmed that “effort goes with shape organically.”  Yet careful study of an individual’s movement pattern will reveal an emphasis on effort more than shape, or vice versa.   Lamb came to feel that this difference was fundamental and significant.

For example, he observed that an emphasis on effort reflected an Assertion-oriented approach to decision making.  Such a person is driven, applying his or her energies, both physical and mental, to make things happen.  This decision-maker gets results by focusing, applying pressure, and setting the pace.… Read More

Lamb and Embodied Cognition

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Laban correlated physical efforts with mental efforts, relating Space effort to Attention, Weight to Intention, and Time to Decision.  Warren Lamb added shape to this scheme, noting  that “We cannot move in making an Effort without an accompanying movement of Shaping.”

The paths traced by the moving parts of the body lie predominately in one of three planes – in the horizontal or table plane, in the vertical or door plane, or in the sagittal or wheel plane.  Lamb related these movement patterns to cognitive processes in the following way.… Read More

Testing Movement Pattern Analysis

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Over the past six years, I have been part of an interdisciplinary research team testing Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA).  The team consists of movement analysts, political scientists, and psychologists.  We have been comparing the Movement Pattern Analysis profiles of a participant group of military officers with their performance on a set of decision-making tasks completed in a laboratory situation.  Our aim is to assess how well their MPA profiles correlate with their decision-making behaviors in the lab.

Existing research has highlighted two dimensions representative of individual differences in decision making – how much information a person needs and how long it takes for the individual to come to a conclusion.  … Read More