The ingredients in Laban’s “effort” theory are simple enough – only four motion factors and eight effort qualities. But these motion factors and effort qualities can be combined in a variety of ways to describe a wide range of movement dynamics.
Laban used the metaphor of effort “chemistry” to describe how different effort combinations are transformative. For example, bread is made with only four ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and salt. Each ingredient has its own flavor, but when combined and baked, bread has a flavor all its own.
Laban said the same thing about effort ingredients. He wrote that combinations of motion factors and effort qualities are not simple additions. Instead, these combinations create new meanings and functions that “none of the single elements alone can claim to possess.”
Experience the “chemistry of effort combinations” in the upcoming MoveScape workshop, “The Transformation Drives.”