The Nazi government’s tightening grip on all the arts and media brought an end to Laban’s dance career in Germany. And it nearly brought an end to Laban before he was found, ill and destitute in Paris, by members of the Jooss Ballet.
Through his old friends, Laban secured an invitation to the Dartington Hall, where the wealthy Elmhirst family was engaged in an ambitious project – the economic, social, and cultural regeneration of a rural community. Though deeply depressed on his arrival, Laban found new energy to continue his increasingly diverse studies of human movement through the Dartington circle.
My final summer reading recommendations are two books that chronicle Laban’s English Renaissance and developments linked to his final years. The first is Dancing in Utopia, by Larraine Nicholas. This work focuses on Dartington Hall and its role in fostering the evolutions of contemporary dance in the U.K. from 1925 to 2006.
My second recommendation is In Just Order Move, by F.M.G. Willson. This book chronicles the later evolution of the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance as it was relocated from Dartington to Manchester to Surrey and to London, focusing on the years 1946-1996.