Laban |

According to Rudolf Laban, space is a superabundance of simultaneous movements. He’s right, of course. Empty space is full of air. And air is full of molecules and atoms, each a bundle of energy and particles that orbit and pulse.

Space isn’t empty for artists. It has shape. Artists learn to see this shape through drawing exercises. Rather than sketching the object, they draw the shape of the space around the object.

Space isn’t empty for architects. Like a surgical suture, space connects a building with the other objects in the environment. Without empty space, an architectural design has no context. What isn’t there allows us to see what is there.

Space isn’t empty for dancers, either. As a young student at the American Dance Festival, I spent free time walking patterns in the Connecticut College gym. Sometimes I walked blindfolded. And over the course of the summer, I sensitized myself to space. I began to be able to tell where I was in the gym, how near or far from the wall. And when I took the blindfold off, space had texture and a faint bluish hue. It wasn’t empty anymore.

Space had structure and meaning for Rudolf Laban. And he devised some very clever ways for dancers and movers of all types to think about space, so that what once seemed empty comes alive.

In the forthcoming Tetra seminar, we will explore the structure of space to tap its expressive power. Click here to find out more.

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.

Laban’s identification of very basic and general elements of movement allows his system to describe a wide variety of movement events. As a result, however, Laban Movement Analysis functions at a high level of abstraction. By this I mean that the same effort quality – take increasing pressure for example – can be present in hammering and passionately hugging someone. That is, increasing pressure can be present in two actions that are nothing alike.

Consequently, learning to analyze movement means not only learning to see; it also involves being seen. Observation skills and confidence develop best when the novice analyst can work with a more experienced observer who can confirm – yes, there is increasing pressure in that hug.

MoveScape Center’s Tetra seminar in March provides a lot of opportunities to see and be seen. Click here to find out more.

Empty Space Does Not Exist

Seeing Movement More Precisely with Laban