Human effort is rich, complex, and quite variable. Nevetheless, every individual develops effort habits over time. One’s effort “personality” is the product of individual temperament. It is shaped by social circumstances and developed through movement training and the other activities one engages in – whether voluntarily chosen or not. Thus nature, nurture, and movement experience combine to generate an individual’s ingrained effort habits.

While much of our movement behavior is habitual, we are also able to think about how we move. “Man’s selection of effort sequences no longer appears to be entirely subconscious,” according to Rudolf Laban. Consequently, man “has the possibility and advantage of conscious training, which allows him to change and enrich his effort habits.” This is due to a special kind of effort, which Laban refers to as “humane effort.”

Humane effort can be described as the energy applied to overcome the influence of nature and nurture, to alter the effect of inherited or acquired capacities. Humane effort is a kind of meta-effort, one that arises from the capacity to reflect on the very habitual motions most commonly taken-for-granted. “With humane effort,” Laban notes, “man is able to control negative habits and to develop qualities and inclinations creditable to man, despite adverse influences.”

As Laban elaborate, humane effort is of paramount importance, not only for movement education but also for self-development. F. Matthias Alexander corroborates Laban’s perspective. In The Use of the Self, Alexander chronicles his own struggles to change speaking habits that kept causing him to lose his voice. He had to study the customary way he held his head and neck and to identify damaging patterns that had come to feel natural. To solve his difficulties, he had not only to embody more effective patterns but also to overcome the feeling of naturalness he had come to associate with a way of moving that was harmful.

Overriding “what comes naturally” requires a special kind of effort, one that unites self-awareness with the will to change. Laban felt this was a uniquely human effort. He used the adjective “humane” because he saw this kind of effort as a civilizing and humanizing force, one bearing the best qualities of mankind.

It takes a special event to awaken us to the awesome variety and potential perfection of human effort. A virtuoso performance on the musical saw did so for me.

A recent concert by the Colorado Symphony included the “Habanera” from the opera “Carmen,” in which the well-known aria (usually sung by a soprano) was performed by soloist Caroline McCaskey on a saw. By holding the handle of the saw between her knees, bending the blunt metal tip with her left hand, and bowing the straight edge, she was able to replicate the tones of the human voice. One can only imagine the hours of practice it must have taken to replicate an operatic melody on a tool! It was marvelous to witness the complicated networks of changing effort qualities employed in this virtuoso performance.

Rudolf Laban describes virtuosity as the “mechanical perfection of movements” in which “the victory of mind over matter appears complete.” He goes on to note that “virtuosity of this kind uses the movements of the body as the skilled laborer uses his tools. The high economy of effort which characterizes skill is common to both the laborer and the virtuoso.”

According to Laban, we are charmed by virtuosity because “the high economy of effort makes the movement look almost effortless.” And this is ironic – such perfection should inspire us to become more aware of how we apply effort in our own endeavors. Yet often it does not.

During my years as a starving artist in New York City, I came to appreciate the range of artistic events available. It was possible to see the very best, and also some of the very worst. Wonderful performances were not always instructive. The artists made it look so easy that I suspended my critical faculties and merely enjoyed the experience. In contrast, the dull dance concert or the struggle of the beginning stand-up comedian on open mic night was often more thought-provoking. The lack of skill provided an opportunity to become more aware of the effort elements needed to sustain interest or get a laugh.

(The following passage continues the introduction to Rudolf Laban’s ideas about human effort. It is taken from my forthcoming book, Meaning in Motion: Introducing Laban Movement Analysis.)

Because movement is a psychophysical phenomenon involving the whole person, how someone moves reveals something about how they are feeling. The individual’s inner attitudes become visible through effort. Rudolf Laban characterizes these inner attitudes as “fighting or resisting” and “indulging or yielding.”

Movements are bound to evolve in space as well as in time, and in this evolution of movement the weight of the body is brought into flow. These four elements – Space, Time, Weight, and Flow – are the building blocks of Laban’s effort taxonomy. They are the four motion factors towards which the mover adopts a fighting or indulging attitude, as follows.

Space is the effort exerted to aim and orient movement. A fighting attitude is expressed in direct motion, in which linear aim with a singular focus is noted. An indulging attitude is expressed as indirect action, in which curvilinear plasticity and continuous changes in the direction prevail.

Time is the effort exerted to pace the movement adroitly. A fighting attitude is expressed as sudden action, in which quickness and acceleration are noticeable. An indulging attitude is expressed in sustained movement, producing a lingering action in which deceleration prevails.

Weight is the effort exerted to apply the right amount of pressure. A fighting attitude is expressed as strong weight, in which firm pressure and forcefulness prevail. An indulging attitude is expressed as light weight, in which delicacy and a gentle touch are noticeable.

Flow is the effort exerted to control movement. A fighting attitude is expressed as bound flow, in which the motion is restrained and easy to stop. An indulging attitude is expressed as free flow, in which the action is relaxed and difficult to stop.