Movement is not simply physical – thoughts and feelings move too!  We cannot observe another person’s thoughts and feelings directly, but we can infer what they are thinking and feeling from how they move.

For example, imagine a student bursts into the classroom and slams their book bag on the desk.  In contrast, another student slumps into the classroom and drops their books casually.  No observer would assume both students are feeling the same way.

Effort is the term Rudolf Laban coined to capture the dynamic variations in how physical movements are performed. … Read More

Both Laban and Maslow agree that many intangible needs also motivate human behavior.  For both theorists, these intangible motivators include both psychological and spiritual needs.

Laban theorized the efforts involved in satisfying both psychological and spiritual needs as being different in nature from those used when working with things and tools.  He conceived these effort combinations as both “incomplete efforts” and “transformation drives.”

Find out more about these dynamic motivators in the upcoming MoveScape workshops, “Incomplete Efforts (Mostly)” and “The Transformation Drives” scheduled for late summer and autumn.… Read More

According to Maslow, sleep, food, water, and shelter are necessary to sustain personal existence.  Since humankind was cast out of the Garden of Eden, we have had to labor to obtain these tangible necessities.  In other words, work requires effort.

Laban conceived the dynamic energies utilized in working as combinations of three motion factors – Space, Weight, and Time.  Based on his studies of work movement during the Second World War, he identified 8 Basic Actions.

These combinations of Space, Weight, and Time can be designated with action verbs – Floating, Punching, Gliding, Slashing, etc. … Read More

“Man moves to satisfy a need,” Rudolf Laban wrote. “It is easy to perceive the aim of a person’s movement if it is directed to some tangible object. Yet there also exist intangible values that inspire movement.”

Laban’s comments remind me of the motivational theory of psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow proposed a Hierarchy of Needs. This hierarchy has two parts. First there are the things we must have to sustain personal existence. These needs include food, water, sleep, and shelter – what Laban would call tangible needs.… Read More

“Transitions from one effort quality to another are either easy or difficult,” Laban observed.  He then created harmonic effort scales or sequences in which changes in quality are easy.

Laban modeled these sequences using the eight “Basic Actions.”  For example, he modeled a natural effort change in which a Pressing Action can change to its contrast, a Flicking action, one quality at a time.

Laban’s modeling of harmonious effort changes goes beyond the Action Drive.  Find out more in the upcoming MoveScape workshops, “Incomplete Efforts (Mostly)” and “The Transformation Drives.”… Read More

Laban based his effort theory on the eight “Basic Actions” (aka Action Drive combos).  Then he positioned each Basic Action at a corner the cube, making a nifty model of effort/space affinities and creating the Diagonal Scale that every Laban student has practiced.

Most study of the Action Drive stops there, however, leading to some very stereotyped ways of embodying the basic actions.

In the workshop that I will be teaching during the LIMS Conference in July, participants can join me in liberating the Basic 8 – freeing them from the diagonals, finding new ways to Float and Punch and Glide, and practicing some little-known “effort scales” that Laban designed.… Read More

“Man moves to satisfy a need,” Laban writes.  He goes on to note, “It is easy to perceive the aim of a person’s movement if it is directed to some tangible object.”

This is why the eight “Basic Actions” identified and named by Laban are fundamental – they deal with practical actions involving tools and material objects.  They are obvious.

Moreover, these eight combinations of Space, Weight, and Time factors are the only named effort combinations.  And everyone who has ever studied Laban’s work will know their names – Float, Punch, Glide, Slash, Dab, Wring, Flick, and Press.… Read More

The notion of four motion factors with contrasting qualities dates from Laban’s Eukinetic studies of dance in Germany.  However, his effort theories only really crystallized after he began observing physical labor in British factories during World War II.

These observations led to the publication of Effort in 1947.  This book, co-authored with management consultant F.C. Lawrence, introduces the four motion factors, eight effort qualities, and eight “Basic Actions” that provide the foundation of Laban’s conceptualization of the dynamics of movement.

Laban continued to develop his theories, introducing “incomplete efforts” as well as “transformation drives.”… Read More