Laben

Laban was a Hungarian dancer, director a theorist. He was born into a rich family that governed provinces within the Austro-Hungarian empire. He originally moved to Paris in order to study architecture, but then gained an interest in the relationship between human movement and space, as you do. It wasn't until Laban was 30 that he began to study the art of movement, known as Ausdruckstanz,

Labanotation is a systematic way of noting down movements. So, as all great minds do, he created his own method. Unlike using stick figures and words, he used a series of shapes and shades, as shown in the above picture, lovingly displayed by Laban himself. 

Laban used his notation for the following:

• To show the direction and level of the movement
• Which part of the body was actually doing the movement
• How long the movement occurred for
• The Dynamic quality of the movement

Changing The Scene Of Dance

Rudolf Laben Changed the way that dance was recorded on paper by adding complex diagrams and structures to his pieces. Degrees were put in place to encompass the being of the notation. Larben dedicated 20 years on finding ways to translate movements into diagrams.

Labennotoation diagrams constructed the foundations of a piece of choreography, the diagrams also included the Speed of an action - Whether this movement was to be made quickly or slowly - Space, how much space is required to ensure this movement is done safely

Laben used his notation to ensure the following:

To Show the Direction and Level of the movement, How long the movement occurred for, Which part of the body was actually doing the movement and finally the dynamic of quality of the movement.

Motif

Motif

We had two lessons on Motif, 

On Day one we looked at several Motifs. We also learnt that Motifs are a small sequence of dance moves put together that transitions into one another.

As we made our own Motif, this included 24 beats, Claire then brought each student to the whiteboard and gave us a Motif to study. 

Below is the video (In 2 parts) of the whole group putting their dance Motifs together.

Part 1

Part 2