In addition to providing landmarks in the kinesphere, Laban designed a number of spatial sequences and patterns as technical movement exercises.
Reason Number Two for studying Choreutics: Laban’s patterns of movement through space enhance range of motion, balance, and coordination.
Choreutic forms – “rhythmic circles and scales” – are a tonic for the body. Range of motion, balance, and coordination are fundamental indicators of physical health. Thus these are concerns, not only for dancer and athletes, but for everybody.
Laban’s Choreutic forms are based upon his understanding of joint structure and bodily proportions. The prescribed spatial trajectories both mirror and challenge range of motion. The emphasis on oblique lines through space stimulate the vestibular canals of the inner ear to develop dynamic balancing capacities. These oblique pathways also require coordination and countertension, stimulating the body’s biotensegrity.
Body and space go together organically. Laban’s space harmony patterns, based on these organic relationships, were designed to be “good for you.” Find out more in “Decoding Choreutics: Part 2.”