Beyond Mechanical Movement

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In discussing the actor who is an artist, Laban writes “this kind of performer concentrates on the actuation of the inner springs of conduct preceding his movements, and pays little attention at first to the skill needed for presentation.”  In other words, this actor focuses on the inner intention to move.

For Laban, this inner intention manifests through visible behavior as EFFORT.  Effort reveals itself as a fighting or indulging attitude towards one of the four motion factors of flow, weight, time, and space.  … Read More

Mastery of Movement Takes Off

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I launched the new MoveScape Center correspondence course, Mastering Rudolf Laban’s Mastery of Movement, with 19 reading companions on five continents (North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia).  In early April we plunged into the first chapter.

In his Introduction, Laban covers a dizzying array of topics, addressing animal and human movement; playing, dancing, and acting; humane effort; movement thinking; dance as a civilizing force; and more.  Yet how he delineates virtuosity and artistry seems to have provoked the most heated responses from my fellow readers.… Read More

Effort Shape and Individual Difference

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Lamb affirmed that “effort goes with shape organically.”  Yet careful study of an individual’s movement pattern will reveal an emphasis on effort more than shape, or vice versa.   Lamb came to feel that this difference was fundamental and significant.

For example, he observed that an emphasis on effort reflected an Assertion-oriented approach to decision making.  Such a person is driven, applying his or her energies, both physical and mental, to make things happen.  This decision-maker gets results by focusing, applying pressure, and setting the pace.… Read More

Lamb and Embodied Cognition

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Laban correlated physical efforts with mental efforts, relating Space effort to Attention, Weight to Intention, and Time to Decision.  Warren Lamb added shape to this scheme, noting  that “We cannot move in making an Effort without an accompanying movement of Shaping.”

The paths traced by the moving parts of the body lie predominately in one of three planes – in the horizontal or table plane, in the vertical or door plane, or in the sagittal or wheel plane.  Lamb related these movement patterns to cognitive processes in the following way.… Read More

Laban and Embodied Cognition

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Rudolf Laban’s use of movement-based observational techniques anticipated the notion of “embodied cognition” by several decades.  In his writings in the 1940s and 50s, Laban already had identified “mental efforts” — namely those of giving attention to what must be done, forming an intention to act, and finally taking decisive action — as stages of “inner preparation for outer action.”

Laban went on to associate each of these mental efforts to one of the motion factors, according to the following scheme:

“The motion factor of Space can be associated with man’s faculty of participation with attention.… Read More

Assertion and Perspective in Making Decisions

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A Movement Pattern Analysis profile reflects how an individual balances Assertion (the exertion of tangible movement effort to make something happen) with Perspective (positioning oneself to get a better view of the situation).  In the pilot study group, some individuals emphasized Assertion, while others favored Perspective.

The hypothesis was that those high on Assertion would need less information and come to a decision more quickly than those high in Perspective.  And this proved to be the case.  With regard to these two dimensions, the MPA profile showed predictive validity.… Read More

Testing Movement Pattern Analysis

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Over the past six years, I have been part of an interdisciplinary research team testing Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA).  The team consists of movement analysts, political scientists, and psychologists.  We have been comparing the Movement Pattern Analysis profiles of a participant group of military officers with their performance on a set of decision-making tasks completed in a laboratory situation.  Our aim is to assess how well their MPA profiles correlate with their decision-making behaviors in the lab.

Existing research has highlighted two dimensions representative of individual differences in decision making – how much information a person needs and how long it takes for the individual to come to a conclusion.  … Read More

Movement Study at the Cutting Edge

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Movement Pattern Analysis is based on the premise that patterns of body movement reflect cognitive processes involved in making decisions.  This premise usually is met with skepticism, for at the level of popular consciousness, mind and body are still separate entities.

However, mind and body are no longer being viewed as separate entities in many academic disciplines.  “Embodied cognition” – the notion that moving and thinking are intertwined – is gaining traction among philosophers, linguists, developmental specialists, and neuroscientists.

The interconnectedness of thinking, feeling, and moving has long been obvious to movement specialists – at least experientially.  … Read More

A Life for Dance

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Laban’s autobiography, A Life for Dance, is a curious book, but one that reveals a great deal about his creative vision and theatrical activities.  As he notes in the letter to his publisher that opens the book:

“I recount in my book how a human being makes his way through thousands of circumstances and events.  Since this person happens to be a dance master or even a dance-poet, the book will frequently speak about the precious little-known art of dance. … Read More

Observing Movement, Observing Life

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In Mastery of Movement, Laban asks readers to observe a person in everyday life, a person portraying a character in a mime scene, and a dancer performing a national or period dance.  Observers are to analyze the use of the body, along with the use of space, time, and weight.

This is a useful exercise for any actor; it is also a task that Laban set for himself.  In his autobiography, Laban describes his first experiences as a young and very idealistic artist-to-be. … Read More