Laban first perceived effort mutation among the eight basic actions employed while working.  These changes occurred as spontaneous replacements of one effort quality with another, for example, resulting in Punching become Pressing or Floating becoming Flicking.

In studying expressive actions, Laban began to perceive how the motion factor of Flow changed an action.

For example, he writes: “When Flow replaces Weight, the drive becomes ‘vision-like’, because it is now not supported by active weight effort and is therefore reduced in bodily import.”… Read More

Laban’s notions of effort crystallized during the 1940s, through his observations of workers using tools and manipulating materials. While his perspective was that of the third person, objective observer, Laban remained aware of the other side of movement – the somatic, first person perspective.

He also saw a relation between functional and expressive actions and was convinced that the four motion factors and the eight effort qualities were always at play, regardless of the type of activity.

Yet he perceived a difference, writing “while in functional actions the movement sensation is an accompanying factor only, this becomes more prominent in expressive situations where the psychosomatic experience is of utmost importance.”… Read More

Laban’s observations of the organic nature of effort mutation, in which one motion spontaneously changes to its polar opposite, occurred through his study of practical physical actions. This study led him to identify two aspects of effort – “one which is operative and objectively measurable, and the other, personal and classifiable.”

In a functional action, such as driving a nail, the mover’s focus is on an objective and measurable outcome.  Am I hitting the nail hard enough?  Is the nail going straight into the wood? … Read More

Laban introduces the notion of “effort mutation” in Mastery of Movement.  Discussing the basic actions (such as Punching and Floating), he writes “by taking away one element at a time and replacing it by a foreign one, the original action is mutated into another basic effort.”

For example, Punching (strong/quick/direct) can become Dabbing when the strong weight factor is replaced by a light quality.  Similarly, Punching can become Pressing when the quick time factor is replaced by a sustained quality.… Read More

Laban developed his effort theory by transforming the basic actions, or, we could say, by allowing them to mutate. These mutations change practical actions into emotional and intellectual expressions, linking body and mind.

In addition to the eight practical actions that compose the Action Drive, Laban identified eight analogous compounds of a more emotional nature.  He dubbed these the “Passion Drive.”  He found eight more compounds of an imaginative nature, and named these the “Vision Drive.”  Finally, he discovered eight additional Spell-binding mutations.… 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

This month I am taking a page from H.L. Mencken, the journalist and humorist.  In the 1920s he penned an essay “On Being an American,” noting that “There are those who find it disagreeable – nay impossible.”  In the rest of the essay, Mencken explains why he remains in the United States, “wrapped in the flag,” while other intellectuals set sail for fairer lands.

There are those who now find it disagreeable to be a Laban Movement Analyst.  Yet here I stand, wrapped in notation symbols, devoted to movement study through a Laban lens.… Read More

Everything we do requires effort.  And since human activities seem limitless, it would also appear that human effort is equally without limits.  But not according to Laban.

In examining patterns of effort change, Laban detected what he called a “Law of Proximity” or what could perhaps better be termed degrees of similarity and difference.  He writes that certain “action-moods” (combinations of effort qualities) are closely related, some are loosely linked, while “others are diametrically opposed.”

This leads Laban to make the following observation: “Man has complete freedom in his choice and employment of action-moods. … Read More