Laban Movement Analysts – A “Cognitive Minority”

Laban-based movement professionals belong to a “cognitive minority,” a term coined by sociologist Peter Berger. Berger points out that all human societies are based on knowledge. However, most of what we “know” has been taken on the authority of others. For example, I’ve never personally attempted to verify that the earth travels around the sun, but I accept this view as genuine knowledge of how our solar system functions.  Such socially-shared concepts define our world and allow us to move through life confident that we know what is real and meaningful, and what is not.

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A cognitive minority is a group of people whose view of the world differs significantly from the one taken-for-granted in a society. For example, in our materialistic, scientific society, individuals who seriously base life decisions on astrology belong to a cognitive minority.  The idea that objects in distant space influence individual human affairs is generally seen as an unscientific notion, and therefore a deviant one.

Similarly, the Laban community is oriented around “deviant” knowledge. We believe that movement is meaningful and may be studied in all its dynamic variations, yielding valuable insights into human behavior. This is not the prevalent view in our society. Knowledge comes from one’s head, not one’s body. And movement is perceived, if at all, as nothing more than “body language” – a simplistic code of isolated actions conveying fixed meanings.

The status of a cognitive minority is uncomfortable, not because the cognitive majority is repressive or intolerant, but because this majority refuses to accept the minority’s definition of knowledge. Any member of the cognitive minority foolish enough to voice his or her views will be met by shocked surprise or tolerant amusement. Recent press regarding the movement analysis of Putin met with just such reactions – the whole idea that movement study could possibly yield any knowledge was simply laughable.

I do not really expect to the cognitive majority to embrace the view that movement is meaningful. Nevertheless, the Laban community has had some good friends who  come from other disciplines and walks of life. These friends are not “converts.” They seldom become movement analysts themselves. Yet, they appreciate something in our worldview. The following series of blogs are dedicated to these “friends of movement study.”