Laban’s own visual art background was strongly influenced by Art Nouveau and its focus on stylized patterns and expressive lines. Laban translated this interest in line to his theorizing of dance.
This can be seen in the notion of “trace-forms” – the lines and shapes the moving limbs inscribe in the space around the body. Laban also noted that the body is constructed in such a way that there are four fundamental trace-forms that have the following shapes: straight, curved, twisted, and rounded.
He likened these to the Arabic ciphers: 1, 2, 3 – and here we find the foundation of what is now known as “modes of shape change.” Find out more in the upcoming MoveScape seminar, “Mostly about Shape (and a Little Bit about Effort).”