“All of Rudolf Laban‘s life,” Irmgard Bartenieff writes, “was an unending process of defining the inner and outer manifestations of movement phenomenon in increasingly subtle shades and complex interrelationships.” The result of his relentless observing and categorizing is a grounded theory of human movement.
Grounded theory develops explanations of a phenomenon from an analysis of patterns, themes, and common categories discovered in observational research. Laban’s delineation of elements of human movement and relationships among these elements are the explanatory substance of his grounded theory.
Like all grounded theories, Laban’s ideas should be seen as reverse engineered hypotheses – as explanations that provide a starting point for further investigation. I want to encourage contemporary movement analysts to view Laban’s ideas not as “given wisdoms” but as hypothetical explanations worthy of additional study.
To foster further inquiry, MoveScape Center will offer advanced seminars. The first Octa seminar, Discovering the Dynamosphere, is scheduled for August 7-9 this year. This movement workshop introduces little known theoretical models of effort patterns that Laban developed but did not publish. It is meant to plant a seed for extending his grounded theory.
