“Choreutics” is the term Laban invented to describe the spatial aspects of human movement. The term is a combination of two Greek words — “chor” meaning circle and “eu” meaning “good.” According to Laban, embodying the “good circles” that he designed “can have a regenerating effect on our individual and social forms of life.” I’m looking for a few brave explorers to put Laban’s claims to the test.
In the forthcoming MoveScape Center seminar, “Decoding Choreutics: Part 2,” I reconstruct Choreutic forms that Laban developed in the 1920s. My aim is two-fold: 1) to recover these seldom-taught forms, and 2) to assess their value in relation to the better-known corpus of Laban’s work.
This correspondence course cannot be done in an armchair. Rather, each week I ask my correspondents to move the forms assigned and to keep notes about their experiences. At the end, of course, I will compile and share these notes among the participants.
I don’t believe that Laban wanted his ideas to be accepted docilely as “given wisdoms.” Discoveries are waiting to be made because Choreutics is a worthwhile field of study. Find out why in the following blogs.