Rudolf Laban liked to coin new words to designate the movement theories he was developing. During the very fertile period of his career in Germany (1919-1929) he coined two words: “Choreutics” —dealing with the spatial forms of movement, and “Eukinetics” —dealing with qualities of kinetic energy.
Laban spent the final two decades of his career in England (1938-1958). During this period he Anglicized his movement terminology. His Eukinetic theories were presented under the term “Effort,” and Choreutics became known in Laban training programs as “Space Harmony.”
Close examination of Laban’s posthumously published masterpiece, Choreutics, suggests that “Space Harmony” is a misnomer. As presented in this work, “Choreutics” does not deal only with space. It also addresses the body, effort, and shape.
Indeed, only four of the twelve chapters concentrate on spatial form. Three chapters address the body, four chapters discuss effort, and one chapter introduces notions of shape.
When carefully examined, it is clear that Choreutics is a description of movement harmony, not “Space Harmony.” Laban states this clearly in the Preface, where he defines “choreutics” as “the practical study of the various forms of (more or less) harmonized movement.”
In “Decoding Laban’s Choreutics,” the Tetra seminar beginning in March, I take participants on a guided journey through this mysterious book. This journey of discovery can be done without leaving the house, but not without leaving one’s arm chair.