Colleagues’ recollections depict Rudolf Laban as a man possessed by creative energy, proliferating rough ideas and then rushing on without completing a line of thought, leaving the elaboration of his creations to someone else.

Laban’s private papers reveal a different picture. Archival traces show that Laban was steadily developing a grounded theory of human movement and utilizing consistent methods to develop hypothetical models. Moreover, archival materials also show that Laban was concerned to control the sheer number of elements in the systems he was building.… Read More

Rudolf Laban‘s creative genius has given rise to the illusion that he was not systematic. But as I explain in The Harmonic Structure of Movement, Music, and Dance, his personal papers present a different picture.

Initially, Laban’s notes appear disorderly. Fragmentary writings and mysterious geometrical sketches abound, giving witness to Laban’s tendency to rush ahead with ideas without finishing them. Over time, however, themes recur and the thrust of Laban’s fertile mind begins to emerge. Moreover, the mysterious drawings begin to have meaning.… Read More

In recognizing movement as a psychophysical phenomenon, Rudolf Laban also perceived that human movement has two major aspects. One of these is the physical, visible motion of the material body through space. The second aspect is psychological – the thoughts and feelings that motivate the physical action.

The physical motion of the human body is readily perceptible and open to objective study. What motivates physical action is more subtle. We cannot “see” thoughts and feelings. Instead, the psychological aspects of movement must be inferred from how a physical action is performed.… Read More

According to his colleague Lisa Ullmann, Rudolf Laban’s formulations of the inherent laws of natural movement came to light gradually through his professional activities. Laban’s long and varied career provided ample opportunities to observe people in motion in a variety of settings: dance classes, theatrical rehearsals and performances, factories, schools, clinics, and other venues. If Ullmann’s comments are correct, Laban was a naturalist, studying nonverbal behavior in a number of real-life settings.

Nowadays, naturalistic inquiry is regarded as a legitimate form of research, one suited to the study of human behavior in complex social settings.… Read More

Creativity is composed of four elements: originality, fluency, flexibility, and elaboration. Originality depends upon the novelty of an individual’s ideas. Fluency represents the sheer number of ideas that an individual can fabricate. Flexibility reflects difference in the kind of ideas produced. Finally, elaboration has to do with follow up – working out the details or perhaps seeing additional ways in which new things can be carried to the next level.

Arguably, Rudolf Laban possessed the first three attributes in abundance. His original notation and movement analysis systems provide inventive ways to capture and study the ephemeral phenomenon of human movement.… Read More

“All of Rudolf Laban‘s life,” Irmgard Bartenieff writes, “was an unending process of defining the inner and outer manifestations of movement phenomenon in increasingly subtle shades and complex interrelationships.” The result of his relentless observing and categorizing is a grounded theory of human movement.

Grounded theory develops explanations of a phenomenon from an analysis of patterns, themes, and common categories discovered in observational research. Laban’s delineation of elements of human movement and relationships among these elements are the explanatory substance of his grounded theory.… Read More