Beyond Postures and Gestures

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Body language tends to focus on postures and gestures. Postures are still configurations of body parts. A military bearing involves a stiff uprightness. A bored adolescent will slouch. When sitting, the alpha male assumes the “power spread,” with legs apart and elbows out to the side. Thus postures are said to convey a person’s attitude.

Gestures are isolated actions of individual body parts. Some gestures are iconic, such as pointing the finger to indicate direction or shaking the head to indicate “no.”… Read More

Seeing Movement More Precisely with Laban

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Laban Movement Analysis allows the observer to see movement more objectively and precisely. But after 35 years of teaching LMA, I can safely say that learning to observe accurately and developing confidence as an observer takes time. And there is a reason for this.

The beauty of Laban’s taxonomy is its parsimony. Laban worked hard to develop a finite number of descriptive terms for movement. Effort is a good example. There are only four motion factors (flow, weight, time, and space) and eight effort qualities with which to capture the enormous variation of motion dynamics.… Read More

Warren Lamb, Creative Pioneer

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Warren Lamb is one of the most creative people I have ever known.  His creativity is likely to escape the casual observer, for Lamb is very much the proper Englishman and his long and successful career as a management consultant has led him to adopt a conventional façade.  Moreover, he is inclined to stand modestly in the shadow of his mentor, Rudolf Laban, who is widely recognized as a creative genius.

However, without Lamb’s contribution to the study of human movement, Laban’s own reputation would be diminished. … Read More