Last fall, a dozen brave explorers and I delved into Part 2 of Laban’s masterwork on spatial aspects of movement – Choreutics. We needed to be brave, because this part of the work presents many transverse and peripheral space harmony forms that are seldom taught today. But that is not the only, or most daunting, challenge.

Part 2 is based on a compilation of forms that Gertrud Snell Friedburg prepared as a birthday present for Laban in 1929. By this date, Laban had published the rudiments of his dance notation system.… Read More

When Laban was a military cadet, the Austro-Hungarian Empire stretched over the whole of southeast Europe and into the Balkans, embracing peoples of diverse races, nationalities, customs, and religions. To escape from his duties in the dreaded machine shop, Laban volunteered to direct a festival of cadets. This would include national dances of the various groups represented in the military academy – Germans, Hungarians, Slovaks, Poles, Bohemians, Styrians, Tyrolese, Italians, Ruthenian Russians, and Herzegovinians.

According to Laban, this idea was met with great enthusiasm, and all the cadets “wanted to bring their national characteristics into the limelight.”… Read More

Construction of Vienna’s Ringstrasse, considered the most beautiful boulevard in the world, was initiated by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1857, when the medieval fortifications were destroyed to make way for a magnificent new city center. By the time Laban entered the Officer’s Training Academy outside the city in 1899, most of the representative imperial buildings would have been complete.

Today the palaces and parks, museums and theatres, civic buildings and coffee houses still convey the quintessential light-hearted Viennese spirit of the fin de siècle period.… Read More

Bratislava sits alongside the Danube, between Budapest and Vienna. Though once the capital of Hungary, it is smaller and less magnificent than its sister cities. Still, the city center is picturesque and charming, with a cathedral and Renaissance and Baroque buildings. Its castle (shown here) overlooks the river, as did the house where Laban was born in 1879.

This fairytale setting and Laban’s imagination provided solace for what appears to have been a lonely childhood. Because there were no suitable schools in the distant border garrisons where his parents were stationed, Laban was left with extended family, where he often felt “my presence was rather superfluous.” … Read More

Our first port-of-call was Budapest, the home of Laban’s maternal grandparents. This magnificent city, often compared to Paris, straddles the Danube, with the imperial palaces in Buda and the iconic parliament building in Pest. Although severely damaged in the final days of World War II, the splendid architecture along the river has been reconstructed and must look now much as it did when Laban visited his grandparents in the late 19^th century.

Laban’s father was a career officer in the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army.… Read More

No theory develops in a vacuum, and Rudolf Laban’s ideas are no exception. His thoughts about movement and dance were conditioned by the places and times in which he lived.

During a recent cruise on the Danube, I had the opportunity to visit the places where Laban grew up – Budapest, Bratislava, and Vienna.  All three had been capital cities within the greater Austro-Hungarian Empire, which once linked Europe and the Middle East. This multi-ethnic empire, governed by the Habsburg dynasty for over 500 years, was in the twilight of its grandeur when Laban was growing up.… Read More

MoveScape Center recently received the 2018 Denver Award for excellence as a local Learning Center. MoveScape is the only winner selected by the Denver Award Program in this category!

Each year, the Denver Award Program identifies companies that have achieved success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community. These exceptional companies help make the Denver area a great place to live, work, and play.… Read More

More tips in our exclusive interview with Santa….

MoveScape Center (MC):  You’ve mentioned the internet. Has technology affected your job in other ways?

Santa (S):  Yes, I used to have quite a struggle controlling the reindeer, especially if they had been sipping eggnog. Now, much of the time I can put the reins on autopilot. I still have to handle roof landings and takeoffs, of course.

MC:  Surely there’s lots of lifting, bending, and stooping when you unload gifts. How do you maintain your strength and flexibility?… Read More

Our interview with Santa continues…

MoveScape Center (MC):  So Clement Moore’s poem changed the way you do business. What else has changed over the years?

Santa (S):  Well, for one thing, I rely a lot more on the internet today. It’s a great way to find out who’s been naughty or nice. (Really, folks should be more careful about what they post on social media!) In addition, most children send their gift requests by email nowadays. So, like many others, I spend hours sitting in front of a computer.… Read More