The Primary Scales, Girdles, and Polar Triangles are all peripheral scales – spatial pathways that maintain their distance from the center of the mover’s body. As participants explored these sequences, they reported a variety of responses to “being on the edge.
One student admitted that she “liked the loopiness” of the peripheral forms. Another 
participant reported the following: “What I enjoy most about moving around the periphery is just the thing that makes me crave the return to center. The swooping, whirling ‘out there’ feeling is exciting, but too much of it makes me feel a bit crazy.”
On the other hand, several students found that the peripheral rings were “soothing,” “comforting,” “peaceful,” “languid,” and “calming.” For some, these peripheral forms were more dance-like because of the “gradual shifts required to move from point to point.”
While Laban’s Choreutic sequences are abstract, geometrical patterns, they trigger kinesthetic and emotional responses. Find out more in the next blog.