The Value of Choreutic Practice

Posted on by

Untitled design (1)“Why are we learning this?”  Anyone who has ever taught Space Harmony will have heard this question from students.  In fact, many Certified Movement Analysts have themselves struggled with this part of Laban’s work.   But the study of Choreutics is worthwhile, and in blogs across the next two months I will explain why.

To begin with, performing well-known sequences — the Axis, Girdle, and A and B Scales — helps to develop many body-level skills.  These peripheral and transverse sequences follow oblique trajectories in the space around the body. To reach the signal points in the kinesphere prescribed by Laban, the mover must abandon the security of remaining vertically aligned (i.e., in plumb with gravity) and tilt the whole body, shifting between the cardinal planes in big movements that sweep through space.

To do so necessitates active mobilization of weight shifting through the lower body, as well as a full range of motion and the use of gradated rotation in the upper body.  And that is not all.  To execute these sequences well, the mover must establish a good upper/lower connection, integrate three-dimensional shaping through the torso, and utilized active counter-tension among the limbs.

When Laban designed these sequences nearly a hundred years ago, he wanted dancers to break out of the stasis of ballet, with its emphasis on the cardinal directions.  He certainly succeeded, for his Choreutic sequences require a synthesis of bodily skills.  Rather than finding and maintaining a fixed placement, the dancer is asked to develop a mobile balancing capacity. The reward is full access to three-dimensional space!

Challenge your own understanding of Choreutics in MoveScape Center’s “Advanced Space Harmony Workshop” in New York City in December.  Find out more….

“Advanced Space Harmony” Workshop Coming in December

Posted on by

This year I set out to challenge my own understanding of Laban’s Choreutics.  I learn best when I teach others.  Thus my own Red Thread journey began in March with the Tetra seminar “Decoding Laban’s Choreutics,” a reading and correspondence course.  This close look at Part I of Laban’s mysterious masterpiece yielded new insights into the depth and scope of his theories of human movement.

Untitled designIn July, with the Octa workshop, “Bringing Choreutics to Life,” I took these theories forward into practice.  During this intimate three-day workshop, we reviewed well-known Choreutic sequences to illuminate their rational structure and to explore how Laban’s ideas can be transformed into rich kinesthetic and expressive experiences, integrating body and mind.

In December, the journey of discovery continues with the Ico workshop, “Advanced Space Harmony: New Choreutic Forms for Movement Invention.” In this two-day seminar in New York City, Cate Deicher and I will be teaching little known Space Harmony forms from Part II of Choreutics.  Intriguing forms such as mixed seven rings, five rings, tilted planes, diminished three rings, snakes, and shears challenge mind and body, providing rich ideas for movement invention.

Find out more…

Navigating the World of Movement Analysis

Posted on by

labanby Kathie Debenham

The wonderful world of Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals is  “foreign territory” to most university students who encounter it for the first time as dance majors at Utah Valley University where I have taught Introduction to Laban Studies and Bartenieff Fundamentals for 20 years. I am always on the lookout for resources that can help students enter and successfully navigate the world of movement theory and practice. My goal as a teacher is to provide the students with many opportunities to embody the concepts of Body, Effort, Shape and Space and to make meaning and discover personal application of these concepts in both their “dancing life” and the world beyond the dance studio.

When Meaning in Motion became available several years ago, I was excited to find a text that gave not only clear examples of theoretical concepts but also included suggestions for creative exploration that the students could do on their own outside of class. After using the text since it first became available in 2012, I have found it to be an invaluable resource for my classes.

Carol-Lynne writes with clarity about the LMA theory, placing it in both historical and contemporary contexts. Overall the level of writing is accessible to my students and gives them a reference to return to when preparing assignments for class.

Last Spring when we were studying and exploring the Effort category, I asked the students at midterm to fully embody one of the Effort Drives and the surrounding States.  The students approached the assignment in varied ways; some of them used the prompts in the Effort section of Meaning in Motion, others used those prompts to create their own Effort-laden scenarios, others came at it kinesthetically from their own Effort-full exploration and then named the most salient States and Drives.

When the students performed their Effort studies, the rest of the class practiced observing and naming  (and symboling if they could add that layer of complexity!) what they saw. Each student was also assigned to share their observation of a fellow student so that I could “see” what the students were seeing. It was delightful to see the students developing their “Effort chops” both as performers and as observers, and it was clear they were excited to have language to describe what they were seeing.

The Challenge of Teaching LMA

Posted on by

labanby Laurie Cameron

It is always a challenge to create a syllabus for Laban Movement Analysis.  At Pomona College, my goal is to cover the theoretical bases of LMA while encouraging embodiment of the material through regular practice of the Bartenieff Fundamentals and creative explorations that lead students to an understanding of the material within their own physical capabilities.  This has to happen in two one-hour and 15 minute sessions per week for 14 weeks.

Meaning in Motion has become an anchor for my course.  The opening chapters (History and Development and Overview of LMA) provide context and introduce the important characters.  As I move through the Space material, the students read all of Part 5.  I generally do not assign creative exercises for them to do on their own, simply because there are always students who need immediate reinforcement before confusion sets in.  I do plan to modify a few of the suggested exercises to try in class, possibly in groups.  For instance, students (in groups) might be given a simple score:  one group will be asked to interpret it through peripheral pathways, while the other group uses only central pathways.

I always seem to run out of time and wish that students could concentrate more on Effort.  I am determined to push us faster during the first third of the course so they can play more.  Students with strong interests in Psychology, Sociology, and Neuroscience often become really engaged as they observe Effort Drives.  I do plan to include creative explorations derived from those suggested in Part 4.

I am grateful to have this book as a way of keeping me on track.  Students who want more information can refer to it and be led to original source material.  It is an excellent study guide in preparation for quizzes and tests and provides more material than I am able to deliver.

LMA and the “Vaccination Theory” of Education

Posted on by

labanIn the Vaccination Theory of Education, students are led to believe that once they have “had” a subject, they are immune to it and need not take it again.

Though Postman and Weingartner proposed the vaccination theory in 1969 as a criticism of educational practices, it is hardly a dated critique.  Courses in higher education and professional training are still arranged as seemingly finite subjects.  Laban Movement Analysis is no exception.

Certainly there is more to movement analysis than can be gleaned in a one-semester course.  Yet far too many students are inclined to feel that they have “had” Laban once the course of study is complete.

For this reason, I have put more material in Meaning in Motion: Introducing Laban Movement Analysis than can be covered in a single semester.  I’m hoping that some students at least will see that there is more to learn about movement.  Four separate bibliographies in Appendix A are also there to show that the field of study is deeper than one slim text.

The textbook is also designed so instructors can tailor courses.  In the next blog, see how Laurie Cameron uses selected parts of Meaning in Motion in her LMA classes for dance majors and non-majors at Pomona College.

Meaning in Motion at Lesley University

Posted on by

movementby Nancy Beardall

At Lesley University we use Carol-Lynne Moore’s book, Meaning in Motion: Introducing Laban Movement Analysis in both our Dance Movement Therapy masters program and the Laban/Bartenieff Certificate program housed at Lesley. Students are introduced to and read the primary source material written by Laban, Bartenieff, Dell, Lamb, North, etc., however, students appreciate the concise and clear text as presented in Meaning in Motion. Moore’s guidebook was one I was pleased to offer students as many of them are learning the material for the first time.

Carol-Lynne’s expertise is vast and the LMA system is described comprehensively making it accessible for the students. There are also experiential exercises that assist them in their overall understanding of the material helping to integrate “meaning in motion.” The students find the book helpful in applying the LMA material to specific dance/movement therapy case studies or projects.

Students speak highly of Moore’s relatable style and often quote Moore in papers they write, an indication of their comfort and confidence in her mastery of the Laban Movement Analysis system. I highly recommend, Meaning in Motion.

Inside Meaning in Motion

Posted on by

Capture“Meaning in Motion is one of the few, if not the only, contemporary texts to integrate historical, theoretical, and creative frameworks for understanding and studying Laban Movement Analysis,” writes Dr. Andrea Harris, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. Harris has been using the text for several years now.  Her comment highlights key features of the book.  For example, Part 1 – History and Development of Laban Movement Analysis – discusses Laban’s career, the contributions of Irmgard Bartenieff and many others who have added to the Laban legacy.

Theory is covered with sections on Body, Effort, Space, Shape, and Movement Harmony.  Each of these sections incorporate Creative Explorations for use in the studio during class time or for individual study.

The book is richly illustrated with photographs, charts, and effort and space phrases.  Five different appendices provide additional material for study. These include bibliographies of various works by Laban, Bartenieff, and other major applications of Laban theory, along with more advanced space and effort sequences, and a section on relationship.  As Harris notes, “ I like that the polar triangles, girdles, axis, A and B scales are in the appendix, in case an instructor would want to incorporate them.”

She adds, “I have always wished for more information about Relationship (Appendix E).  I appreciate that you’ve fleshed out how the various Laban communities conceptualize relationship.”

In the next blog, learn how Dr. Nancy Beardall uses Meaning in Motion in two programs at Lesley University.

Rudolf Laban – Symmetry Freak

Posted on by

 

Rudolf Laban was crazy about symmetry. His first career as a visual artist spanned the period from 1899 to 1919. During this period, Art Nouveau, with its focus on two-dimensional pattern, was in fashion.   Surviving works show that Laban worked in this style and was familiar with symmetry operations as a means of generating pattern.

Rudolf Laban – Symmetry Freak via Movescape

When Laban turned his artist’s eyes to dance, he realized the power of symmetry for generating three-dimensional patterns.   Virtually all his Choreutic forms and scales are highly symmetrical.

 

In “Bringing Choreutics to Life” we will look at Laban’s use of symmetry from two perspectives. First, understanding the underlying pattern makes it much easier to remember the sequence of movements in choreutic forms. Secondly, the symmetry of Laban’s mobile oscillations foster an enhanced sense of balance in three-dimensional space.

 

Choreutics is exercise for the body and the mind. Find out how in the forthcoming Octa seminar, “Bringing Choreutics to Life.”

 

 

Space Games

Posted on by

I have space toys, but Laban liked to play space games. He played one game over and over and over and over again and again ….

 

His favorite game went something like this: start at one corner of a polyhedron – it can be a cube, octahedron, or icosahedron. Then trace a line touching every corner only once and return to the corner where you began.

 

Unpublished drawings in the Laban Archive in  England show that Laban played this game over and over again. When he found a pattern that he liked and one that made bodily sense, it became a Choreutic sequence.

 

 

Too often, Choreutic forms are taught through imitation and students are expected to accept the sequence as something “good for you.” Where is the fun in that?

 

In “Bringing Choreutics to Life” we approach Laban’s geometrical sequences with a sense of play. We will work with props and music; we will sing while we do them; we’ll turn them into folk dances and swordplay; and we will search for fragments of Choreutic forms in dance, mime, and circus acts. In short, we will have serious fun!

 

Find out more about the Octa….

 

 

 

 

Space Toys

Posted on by

Mel Brooks had Spaceballs (a Star Wars parody); I have Space Toys.

I’m not kidding. One way to bring Choreutics to life is with good geometrical models. Whenever I’m in a toy shop (or the children’s section of a museum shop), I’m always on the lookout for the newest geometrical toys.

Space Toys via Movescape Center

To be honest, I’m always on the lookout. At the moment, geometrical forms are fashionable as decorative items. I just went to Hobby Lobby to buy pastel paper and walked out with a stellated icosahedron….

 

In “Bringing Choreutics to Life” I will share some of my “finds.” I will also show participants how to make models out of inexpensive materials.

 

Come play with my space toys.

 

Find out more….