Harmony and Individuality

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While Laban identified relationships between body, space, effort, and shape, he did not prescribe particular movements as inherently harmonious.  Instead, he writes that “there are considerations such as individual expressiveness or taste which can influence the personal conception of harmony in movement.  Graceful movements will suit one person more than vital or bizarre movement, or the contrary may be the case.”

Individual expression depends upon the individual having a rich range of motion. Balance comes into play again here.  According to Laban,“the essential thing is that we should neither have preference for nor avoid certain movement because of physical or psychical restrictions.” … Read More

Elements of Movement Harmony II

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In addition to proportion, balance, and symmetry, Laban identified order, kinship, and unity of form as elements of movement harmony.  

Order is particularly important in spatial sequences.  For example, if a series of continuous movements were to be filmed, then cut apart and randomly spliced back together, a dream-like sequence would result, full of unexpected jumps, overlaps, and repetitions.  According to Laban, a movement makes sense only if “it progresses organically,” with phases following in a natural order of directional change.… Read More

Beyond Movement Analysis to Movement Harmony

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Recently the question has arisen as to what the body of Rudolf Laban’s work should be called.  The most commonly used moniker – Laban Movement Analysis – omits the integrative aspects of Laban’s ideas.  This is where harmony comes in.

Harmony brings things that are different into relationship with one another.  In music, harmony is heard as a relationship of different tones. In painting, harmony is seen as a relationship among different colors.

In movement, harmony unites the distinctive human faculties of thinking, feeling, willing, and doing. … Read More

The Movement Harmony Project Continues

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Although Rudolf Laban is best known for his notation and movement analysis systems, I believe that his notions of movement harmony may ultimately be the most valuable part of his legacy.  That’s why I am dedicated to articulating, exploring, and expanding Laban’s ideas.

Hence, the Movement Harmony Project!

Part 1 – a comprehensive explanation and exploration of space harmony – launched in June.  Movement Harmony ALIVE is next, coming to New York City December 7th and 8th.

Led by Cate Deicher and myself, this advanced weekend workshop is designed to take Certificated Laban Movement specialists into new territory.  … Read More

In Praise of Planar Movement

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When every third point of a Primary Scale is connected, the Cardinal Planes (Door, Table, and Wheel) appear.  However, Laban didn’t like these spatial forms. They were too “stable” for him.  He even found their oblique diameters unappealing! 

Nevertheless, I encouraged Movement Harmony participants to explore the planes and their diameters and to think about how these forms might be used.  I was vindicated by their responses!

“The planes and their diameters are truly an important aspect of our movement potential. … Read More

Cutting Through Space

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Transverse movements cut through the space between the edge of the kinesphere and the center of the kinesphere (which is occupied by the mover’s body).  In the Movement Harmony Project, we worked with several transverse spatial sequences, notably the Axis Scales.

These forms are notable because they have a companion peripheral form.  The Axis Scales share the harmonic interval of the second with Girdles, yet evoke a quite different kinesthetic feeling.

 Some participants characterized the transverse Axis Scales as “reeling and chaotic,” “sharp,” “dynamic,” “goofy,”  “playful and unpredictable.”… Read More

At the Edge of the Kinesphere

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The Primary Scales, Girdles, and Polar Triangles are all peripheral scales – spatial pathways that maintain their distance from the center of the mover’s body.  As participants explored these sequences, they reported a variety of responses to “being on the edge.

One student admitted that she “liked the loopiness” of the peripheral forms. Another participant reported the following:  “What I enjoy most about moving around the periphery is just the thing that makes me crave the return to center. The swooping, whirling ‘out there’ feeling is exciting, but too much of it makes me feel a bit crazy.” … Read More

Kinespheric Space and Bodily Feeling

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The kinesphere is not an empty space, for it has a visceral center that is occupied by the mover’s body and enlivened by his/her desires and needs.  When we move, we feel space. Literally. We have sensory systems that signal where our limbs are, our relationship to gravity, and whether we are in balance, or not.

There is a very close relationship between body and space.  Laban investigated this relationship carefully, first as a visual artist representing the human figure in motion; then as a dancer and movement theorist. … Read More

The Movement Harmony Project Blasts Off

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During the summer, fifteen explorers on four continents participated in MoveScape Center’s new offering – the Movement Harmony Project Part 1.  This unique correspondence course combined reading, writing, moving, and coloring as inroads to understanding the harmonic intervals of Laban’s Primary Scales.

Laban identified four Primary Scales.  These are twelve-sided “rhythmic circles” that meander peripherally around kinesphere. They are complex, counter-intuitive sequences that test the mover’s memory.  Yet Laban considered these scales to be foundational.

Part 1 of the Movement Harmony Project demonstrated how each Primary Scale can be partitioned to derive other Choreutic forms. … Read More

Have a Vicarious Adventure

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My last recommendation is The Lunatic Express by journalist Carl Hoffmann.  In the midst of a mid-life crisis, he decided to take a long journey.  But rather than opting for a pleasure trip, he wanted to “travel around the world as most of the people in the world did, putting their lives at risk every time they took off on overcrowded and poorly maintained conveyances because that was all they could afford or there were no other options.”

His personal “lunatic express” took him on passenger buses along the treacherous mountain roads of the Andes, on overcrowded ferries among the islands of Indonesia, on minibuses in Africa and trains in Mumbai and China  — to name a few of his adventures and misadventures.… Read More