As noted in the previous blog, Laban characterizes choreutics in many ways: as harmonized movement, as the integrative study and practice of movement, and as a regenerative antidote to the social upheavals of our times.
What he does not do is to return to the Greek roots of the word he seems to have coined – choros meaning circle and the prefix eu meaning good. Literally, choreutics is the study and practice of good circles.
What characterizes a good circle? … Read More
According to Laban, the third branch of choreosophy is choreutics – “the practical study of the various forms of (more or less) harmonized movement.” More recent interpretations have characterized choreutics as “space harmony.” Laban’s original formulation, however, appears to be more integrative.
For example, he also writes that choreutics “comprehends all kinds of bodily, emotional and mental movements and their notation.” Laban goes on to suggest that choreutics goes beyond movement analysis to an integrative physical practice with social implications.… Read More
Laban defines choreology as “the logic or science of circles.” Lest it be seen as a purely geometrical study, he explains that choreology is the “grammar and syntax of the language of movement, dealing not only with the outer form of movement but also with its mental and emotional content.”
Contemporary readings of choreology are more varied. For example, Benesh notation is also known as choreology. The Trinity Laban Conservatory in London offers a specialist diploma in Choreological Studies, billed as a contemporary development of Laban’s praxis.… Read More
Based on its original Greek words, choreography is the designing and writing of circles. In contemporary use, choreography emphasizes design – in particular, the composition of dance steps and sequences.
While acknowledging this common understanding of choreography, Laban adds that the term has been employed “to designate the drawings of figures and symbols of movement which dance composers jotted down as an aid to memory.” In this sense, Laban’s own efforts to find a way to record movement in symbols is choreography, although he preferred the term “kinetography.”… Read More
In the Preface of Choreutics, Rudolf Laban introduces the word “choreosophia,” explaining it comes from the Greek words choros, meaning circle, and sophia, meaning wisdom. Combining these ideas, Laban notes that Choreosophy concerns the “wisdom to be found through the study of all the phenomena of circles in nature and in life.”
I have never thought of circles as phenomenal. Yet according to Laban, the circle plays an extraordinary role “in harmony, life, and the whole of existence.” … Read More
In Chapter 7 of Choreutics, Laban introduces the “Standard Scale” (a.k.a. “Primary Scale”). This is a wonderful and challenging spatial sequence. And a really fruitful one, because many other scales can be derived from it.
So what is so troublesome about the Standard Scale??
The problem lies with how it is presented in Chapter 7. Errors in the illustrations and notations make it very difficult to discern how Laban created the Standard Scale and how it can be partitioned to generate other spatial patterns.… Read More
Laban uses the cube two ways in Choreutics. He introduces it as a model of the kinesphere, using its corners to identify diagonal lines of motion that promote mobility.
He also uses the cube as a model of what he calls the “dynamosphere,” which he defines as “the space in which our dynamic actions take place.” This sounds like the dynamosphere is a real space, like the kinesphere.
To further confound discussion of dynamosphere and effort, Laban uses direction symbols to stand for the Eight Basic Actions (float, punch, etc.).… Read More
For Laban, human movement unfolds in a sphere of space surrounding the body. He called this orb of movement space the “kinesphere.” Then, to provide landmarks in this trackless sphere, Laban gave it a familiar geometrical form.
Or I should say, forms. For in Choreutics, Laban’s discussion of the kinesphere proceeds from a cubic model to an octahedron, a cuboctahedron, and then the icosahedron.
This is a logical progression, but also one with deeper meaning. For cubes, octahedrons, and cuboctahedrons occur naturally in lifeless, inorganic crystals. … Read More
“Space harmony” has been used as a synonym for the term “choreutics,” coined by Rudolf Laban. Yet his book by that title also addresses Body, Effort, and even Shape.
For example, only five chapters of the twelve chapters Laban wrote concentrate on space. Three chapters focus on effort, another three on body (in relation to space), and one chapter lightly touches on shape. Laban disperses chapters dealing with the same topic throughout the book, making for a rich, but also difficult read.… Read More
When I trained, movement analysis was meant to be descriptive, not interpretative. But no one wants a movement analysis. Clients want to dance better, eliminate back pain, or understand their own movement patterns. In other words, they want our movement analyses to yield meaningful results.
Consequently, I have come to believe that the job of the analyst is not over until he/she has made sense of what has been observed.
In fact, we do this all the time, for our movement impressions inevitably influence the informal judgments we make about other people (whether we are aware of this or not).… Read More