Week 3 - European Studies (Laban Movement Analysis)

On week three we were taught about Laban and effort actions (Laban Movement Analysis) which is a big part of modern European dance. The Laban method was devised by Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958), a dancer, choreographer and theoretician who is considered one of the most influential and important figures in the history of dance. LMA offers "a large vocabulary for describing where in space the body is moving and the quality of the movements themselves." (Giguere, 2014: p. 48). It is "used to provide a common vocabulary for understanding the way humans move ..." (Giguere, 2014: p. 48)

We warmed up by moving accordingly to Laban, using the different effort actions (dabbing, flicking, wringing, slashing, thrusting, punching, floating and gliding).

An example of dancing using Laban effort actions:

Reference List

http://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/about-us/our-history/rudolf-laban

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSShj74qcwo

Giguere, M. (2014) Beginning Modern Dance. United States, Human Kinetics.

https://youtu.be/S21UKIEd0I0

http://www.laban-analyses.org/laban_analysis_reviews/laban_analysis_notation/overview/summary.htm