Beyond the Oral Tradition in Movement Studies

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

It seems weird to refer to an “oral tradition” in relation to dance and movement.  After all, isn’t dance a “nonverbal” art? And isn’t movement hard to talk about?

The answer is yes and no.  Dance and movement are nonverbal and devilishly hard to capture in words.  Consequently, dance and other movement arts have depended heavily on an “oral tradition” for transmission.

An analogy can be drawn to the oral tradition in music.  It is possible to learn to play a song simply by hearing it – through oral, rather than written transmission. … Read More

Dance – An Art in Space and Time

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

The arts are sometimes divided into spatial arts and temporal arts.

The visual arts – painting, sculpture, and architecture – are space arts. They exist as material objects that occupy two- or three-dimensional space. They are more or less enduring. And much of their appeal has to do with how they portray and/or create shapes of different kinds.

The temporal art forms – music, dance, theatre, and film – have a beginning and an ending. They occupy an instantaneous present and must be recreated afresh.… Read More

Form and Color in Painting and Dance

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

The artist Wassily Kandinsky and the dancer Rudolf Laban were contemporaries and moved in the same bohemian circles in Munich in the early 20th century. Interesting parallels run through their theoretical works.

Kandinsky observed that “painting has two weapons at her disposal: 1) colour, 2) form”. He goes on to note that there is an “essential connection between colour and form”.

An analogous delineation of elements can be found in Laban’s notions of effort and shape. Effort – qualities of dynamic energy – give expressive color to bodily actions.… Read More

Bartenieff Fundamentals and Healing through Movement

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Recent encounters with physical therapy have given me a new appreciation of Irmgard Bartenieff, my first Laban teacher. Bartenieff was a dancer when she studied with Laban in Germany. After immigrating to the U.S. she became a physical therapist, initially working with polio victims. If facing the challenge of helping clients recover from paralysis, she drew on everything she had learned from Laban. The result crystallized in a somatic practice known as Bartenieff Fundamentals, which I studied with Bartenieff in the 1970s.… Read More

Empty Space Does Not Exist

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

According to Rudolf Laban, space is a superabundance of simultaneous movements. He’s right, of course. Empty space is full of air. And air is full of molecules and atoms, each a bundle of energy and particles that orbit and pulse.

Space isn’t empty for artists. It has shape. Artists learn to see this shape through drawing exercises. Rather than sketching the object, they draw the shape of the space around the object.

Space isn’t empty for architects. Like a surgical suture, space connects a building with the other objects in the environment.… Read More

Dancing from Mood to Mood

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

According to Rudolf Laban, “The dancer moves, not only from place to place, but also from mood to mood.” His perceptive comment illustrates a point that neuroscientists are beginning to recognize – nothing is purely mental or purely physical. Bodily movements accompany thoughts and feelings; and thoughts and feelings accompany movements.

In his unpublished papers Laban also observed, “inner becomes outer and outer becomes inner.” That is, movement not only reflects what a person is thinking and feeling, it also affects one’s inner psychological state.… Read More