By the time I was studying Effort/Shape at the Dance Notation Bureau with Irmgard Bartenieff, the Laban taxonomy had a third component – Body. This makes sense – there is no visible movement from place to place or mood to mood without the dancer.
Moreover, the integration of Bartenieff Fundamentals into the Laban canon added the essential element of functional action and connectivity to support full expressivity in Effort and Space.
So when did Shape come into its own? Find out more in the next blog.