Laban wrote two books in English presenting his concepts of movement dynamics. The first, Effort, focuses on practical actions involving material objects – concepts that crystallized during his studies of repetitive physical labor in British industry.
The second book, Mastery of Movement for the Stage, focuses on movement and the depiction of characters and dramatic situations. This exploration of expressive movement introduces Laban’s expanded notions of effort states and drives, albeit in a cursory fashion.
Delve more deeply into the theory and practice of effort expression in MoveScape Center’s upcoming workshops, “Incomplete Efforts (Mostly)” and “The Transformation Drives.”