According to Rudolf Laban, “Between the harmonic life of music and that of dance, there is not only a superficial resemblance but a structural congruity.” Laban’s insistence that movement has a harmonic structure is usually interpreted as a wishful by-product of his mystical worldview. But this is a misinterpretation.
Instead, Laban is employing harmony as an analogic metaphor. An analogic metaphor is a controlled comparison in which the analog model (in this case, dance and movement) shares with the original (in this case, musical harmony) the same structure and pattern of relationships. If music is governed by ratio, so must movement be. If an orderly pattern separates the melodies and harmonies of music from random sounds, dance must also have an order, a pattern, and particular interrelationships of elements.
The essence of modeling through analogy is to explain a phenomenon, not by looking at it in isolation, but by comparison and contrast to other things. Through this controlled comparison, Laban aims to get at the deep structure of movement, elucidating the means through which distinctively different elements of movement – body, effort, space, and shape – cohere in meaningful human actions.
Laban’s notions of movement harmony are among the least understood but most fascinating of his ideas. Find out more in The Movement Harmony Project: Part 1, coming this summer.