Much of Irmgard Bartenieff’s reputation rests on “Bartenieff Fundamentals” – the somatic practice she evolved during her rehabilitation work with polio patients.  In my 20s, Bartenieff Fundamentals altered how I approached dance technique.  Now, as I experience conventional physical therapy in my 70s, I start to see how radical Bartenieff’s practices were, and are.

Irmgard received conventional training in physical therapy, graduating from New York University.  But early in her work with patients recovering from paralysis, she started to see limitations to existing practices.… Read More

When I began to study with Irmgard Bartenieff in 1975, she was 75 years old.  Her age was just a number – what mattered was the depth and breadth of her many experiences.  She was an icon of possibility for her younger students, a living example of the many ways Laban-based movement analysis could be used in artistic creation, therapeutic intervention, and behavioral research.

By 1975, the Effort/Shape program at the Dance Notation Bureau had an established curriculum: theory (effort/space/shape); observation; Bartenieff Fundamentals; and seminar (a weekly reading and discussion class). … Read More

Named for the two-faced Roman god Janus, the wintery month of January invites both reflection and anticipation.  In a spirit of reflection, I find myself thinking about “Afterward,” a ghost story by Edith Wharton.

In this tale, a wealthy American couple purchase an old home in the English countryside, hoping it is haunted.  They are assured the house comes with a ghost – although they will only know this “long, long afterward.”

As months pass, they forget about the ghost.  Then, while the wife is working in the garden, a stranger appears, asking to see her husband. … Read More

Bartenieff has written that movement dynamics are a critical component in understanding movement behavior.  As she notes, “We see not only the design of movement (its direction and timing) but by its specific dynamics we catch its meaning, its impact and expressiveness.”

Notation captures which part of the body moves, where it goes, and how long the action takes.  Space Harmony/Choreutics approaches bodily movement in space from a more theoretical position by prescribing spatial paths and sequences of whole body action.  … Read More