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.… Read More

When I began to study with Irmgard, she was 75 – well past retirement age.  But she was not retired.  She remained actively engaged with the study of movement in many different ways.

Irmgard’s primary job was teaching in and directing the Effort/Shape Program at the Dance Notation Bureau in New York City.  In addition, she maintained a small connective tissue massage practice and was quietly writing a book, which would finally be published when she turned 80.

During the winter, Irmgard went to Hawaii, where she did research on Asian dance forms with colleagues at the University of Hawaii. … Read More

Although Rudolf Laban was a polymath, his reputation today remains siloed in the discipline of dance. This is not the case for Irmgard Bartenieff. Her set of unique and wide-ranging interests led her to understand movement analysis as both an art and a science. Her career reflects a similar diversity.

Irmgard worked as a dancer, creating and performing works; as a massage and physical therapist, treating physical problems; as a dance/movement therapist, addressing psychological issues; and as a dance ethnographer, studying cross-cultural patterns of movement.… Read More

Irmgard Bartenieff was 33 when Hitler came to power in Germany. Two years later, she and her Jewish husband were forced to close their dance company. Although they immigrated to the US in 1937, they found the American dance community did not want European ideas. Consequently, Irmgard and her husband had to find another way to earn a living.

Rudolf Laban’s career followed a similar trajectory. After he immigrated to England in 1937, he too had to find other ways to earn a living beyond dance.… Read More

Irmgard Bartenieff entered university as a young adult just as Germany entered a new period. As she recalled, “Germany had experienced a disastrous defeat.  The monarchy was abolished. The radical groups of socialism and communism came in, and it was really all these very factors that attracted everybody in the arts”… including Rudolf Laban.

Irmgard did not encounter Laban’s work until 1922, when, quite by accident, she began studying dance with one of his students.  As Irmgard’s interest deepened, the teacher encouraged her to work directly with Laban.… Read More

Irmgard Bartenieff (1900-1981) has come to personify the far-ranging applicability of Laban-based movement analysis.  Her 60-year career spanned two continents, two languages, and multiple disciplines.  Her work continues to inspire the growing community of professionals who must grapple with understanding the ephemeral phenomenon of human movement.

In preparation for the upcoming MoveScape Center seminar, “Irmgard Bartenieff: In Her Own Words,” my July blogs survey the life and times of this remarkable woman.

Let’s begin at the beginning.

During Irmgard’s childhood, Germany was a peaceful monarchy. … Read More