In his studies of repetitive physical labor in British factories, Rudolf Laban identified eight basic effort actions: floating, punching, gliding, slashing, dabbing, wringing, flicking, and pressing. Almost anyone who has ever had an introduction to Laban’s work will have practiced these combinations of space, weight, and time factors. This is usually where the exploration of the Action Drive ends.

The upcoming MoveScape Center course explores the Action Drive more deeply through embodied phrases, video observations, and self-observation and reflection.

If you think the Action Drive is boring – think again.… Read More

The COVID epidemic has sharply curtailed most social and recreative activities. But we can still use effort rhythms to restore vitality and balance. The “incomplete efforts” (a.k.a. effort states) hold the key.

Hopping mad about something, or everything? Chill out with the Space and Flow combos of the Remote State.

Exhausted by too much disembodied screen time? Get down with some Weight and Time combos of the Near State.

Is life just one task after another? Dream a little with Flow and Weight combos.… Read More

Laban refers to effort states as “incomplete efforts,” yet these combinations of only two motion factors have many vital functions.

Laban actually identifies four functions for these subtle movement moods:

– Effort states “appear as transitions between essential actions.”
– They “have a recovery function.”
– These incomplete efforts are “expressive of a variety of inner attitudes.”
– Effort states can appear on their own, as “cardinal movements.”

In MoveScape Center’s Excursion #1, we explore these vital effort combinations through dance, movement, visual art, and theatre.… Read More

My choice of title for the upcoming MoveScape Center course, “Incomplete Efforts (Mostly)” is tongue-in-cheek. I don’t feel the six effort states are “incomplete.” Instead I see these less-intense effort compounds as vital “connective tissue” in the ongoing stream of movement.

This is because the effort states – awake, dream, near, remote, stable, and mobile – serve as preparations for the more intense drives, allowing the mover to build up to a peak expenditure of energy.

Within a drive, effort states serve to connect different effort compounds.… Read More

 I have been describing the Dynamosphere as a floating world whose only solid landmarks are the mysterious islands of Action, Passion, Vision, and Spell. How then does one travel in this fluid environment?

Fortunately, six “incomplete efforts” connect the floating islands of the drives. These “incomplete efforts” are constructed of only two motion factors. Yet they provide vital transportation links for travellers wishing to explore the Dynamosphere.

Also known as “effort states,” the six incomplete efforts are as different as the Action, Passion, Vision and Spell islands they connect.… Read More

Laban identified four floating islands in the watery world of the Dynamosphere. He called these “effort drives.” These effort islands surface in the fluid continuity of movement when three motion factors cohere.

Each effort island has a unique landscape. The Action Drive island is hardscaped. Here the residents are always working, toiling, and building – never giving in to softer feelings.

The landscape of the Passion Drive island is softer, yet also rugged and threatening. Here the residents sometimes bump into each other, because they can’t be bothered to focus or pay attention to where they are going.… Read More

Laban defined bodily motion as the “flow of weight in time and space.” These four motion factors provide the basic landmarks in the kinesphere.

Each motion factor is colored by the mover’s intention, resulting in contrasting qualities of movement.

Flow, the effort to control movement, can result in binding, the effort to restrain and stop a movement, or freeing, the effort to relax control and let the movement go.

Weight, the effort to apply the right amount of pressure, can result in a strong movement in which forcefulness prevails, or a light motion, in which a delicate touch is used.… Read More

Just as Laban provided landmarks for the kinesphere, he also conceived a geography for the inner landscapes of the Dynamosphere.

The geography of the Dynamosphere, however, is neither solid nor fixed. Rather it is a floating world of shifting vistas and mysterious islands that surface and then disappear.

Nevertheless, Laban has conceived some fixed points that help us navigate in this fluid environment.

These fixed points are the four motion factors, the four effort drives, and the six effort states.

With only these few fixed points to guide us, we can tour the Dynamosphere.… Read More

Rudolf Laban defined the Dynamosphere as “the space in which our dynamic actions take place.” This virtual “space” is the companion domain to the “kinesphere,” the real bubble of space adjacent to the body in which visible movements occur.

The Dynamosphere is the realm of energy and effort. It can be thought of as a motivational area in which the inner need to act arises and becomes visible in how effortfully a movement is done.

Any movement can be performed with many different effort qualities.… Read More