Rudolf Laban
Encyclopedia
Rudolf von Laban aka Rudolf Laban (15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958) was a dance artist
and theorist
whose work laid the foundations for Laban Movement Analysis and other more specific developments in dance notation
. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of dance and fencing.
, Austro-Hungarian Empire, into an aristocratic
family. His father's family had come from the French nobility
(De La Banne, from a French crusader stranded in Kingdom of Hungary in the 13th century) and Hungarian nobility, and his mother's family was from England
. His father was a field marshal
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the governor
of the provinces of Bosnia
and Herzegovina
.
He spent his childhood in the courtly circles of Vienna
and Bratislava
, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina
, in the towns of Sarajevo
and Mostar
.
Laban initially studied sculpture
at the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris
and became interested in the relationship between the moving human form and the space which surrounds it. He moved to Munich
at age 30 and under the influence of seminal dancer/choreographer Heidi Dzinkowska began to concentrate on Bewegungskunst, more commonly called Ausdruckstanz, or the movement arts.
Laban established the Choreographic Institute in Zürich
in 1915, and later founded branches in Italy
, France
, and central Europe
. One of his great contribution to dance was his 1928 publication of Kinetographie Laban, a dance notation system that came to be called Labanotation and is still used as one of the primary movement notation systems in dance. His theories of choreography and movement served as one of the central foundations of modern European dance. Nowadays, Laban's theories are applied in diverse fields, such as Cultural Studies, Leadership development, Non-Verbal Communication, and more.
In addition to the work on the analysis of movement and his dance experimentations, he was also a proponent of dance for the masses. Toward this end, Laban developed the art of movement choir, wherein large numbers of people move together in some choreographed manner, but that can include personal expression.
This aspect of his work was closely related to his personal spiritual beliefs, based on a combination of Victorian Theosophy
, Sufism
, and popular fin de siecle Hermeticism
. By 1914 he had joined the Ordo Templi Orientis
and attended their 'non-national' conference in Monte Verità
, Ascona
in 1917, where he also set up workshops popularizing his ideas. Laban had founded a summer dance program in Ascona in 1912, which continued until 1914, when World War I broke out.
From 1930 to 1934 he was director of the Allied State Theatres in Berlin
, Germany. In 1934, he was promoted to director of the Deutsche Tanzbühne, in Nazi Germany. He directed major festivals of dance under the funding of Joseph Goebbels' propaganda ministry from 1934-1936. Laban even wrote during this time that "we want to dedicate our means of expression and the articulation of our power to the service of the great tasks of our Volk. With unswerving clarity our Führer points the way". Several similar allegations of Laban's attachment to Nazi ideology have been made, for instance that as early as July 1933 he was removing all non-Aryan pupils from the children's course he was running as a ballet director. However, some Laban scholars have pointed out that such words and actions were necessary for survival in Germany at that time, and that his position was precarious as he was neither a German citizen nor a Nazi party member. His work under the Nazi regime culminated in 1936 with Goebbel's banning of Vom Tauwind und der Neuen Freude (Of the Spring Wind and the New Joy) for not furthering the Nazi agenda.
He was allowed to travel to Paris in 1937 and from there he went to England. He joined the Jooss
-Leeder Dance School at Dartington Hall
in the county of Devon
where innovative dance was already being taught by other refugees from Germany. He was greatly assisted in his dance teaching during these years by his close associate and long-term partner Lisa Ullmann
. Their collaboration led to the founding of the Laban Art of Movement Guild (now known as The Laban Guild for Movement and Dance) in 1945 and the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester
in 1946. Laban was a friend of Carl Jung
.
Whilst in the UK, he re-directed his work to industry, studying patterns of movement, the time taken to perform tasks in the workplace and the energy used. He tried to provide methods intended to help workers to eliminate "shadow movements" (which he believed wasted energy and time) and to focus instead on constructive movements necessary to the job in hand. After the war, he published a book related to this research entitled Effort (1947). He continued to teach and do research, exploring the relations between Body and Spatial tensions until his death in the UK. But his work lives and grows through the work of his followers around the world.
Among Laban's friends, associates and pupils were Mary Wigman
, Kurt Jooss
, Lisa Ullmann
, Lilian Harmel
, Sophie Taeuber-Arp
, Hilde Holger
.
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and theorist
Dance theory
Dance theory is a fairly new field closely related to music theory and specifically musicality used to describe the nature and mechanics of dance. While musicality deals with finding a particular matching pair of dance and music that fit each other in various respects, dance theory is a broad term...
whose work laid the foundations for Laban Movement Analysis and other more specific developments in dance notation
Dance notation
Dance notation is the symbolic representation of dance movement. It is analogous to movement notation but can be limited to representing human movement and specific forms of dance such as Tap dance...
. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of dance and fencing.
Biography
Rudolf von Laban was born in Pozsony (now Bratislava) in 1879 in the Kingdom of HungaryKingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, Austro-Hungarian Empire, into an aristocratic
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
family. His father's family had come from the French nobility
French nobility
The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...
(De La Banne, from a French crusader stranded in Kingdom of Hungary in the 13th century) and Hungarian nobility, and his mother's family was from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His father was a field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of the provinces of Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
and Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
.
He spent his childhood in the courtly circles of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, in the towns of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
and Mostar
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...
.
Laban initially studied sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and became interested in the relationship between the moving human form and the space which surrounds it. He moved to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
at age 30 and under the influence of seminal dancer/choreographer Heidi Dzinkowska began to concentrate on Bewegungskunst, more commonly called Ausdruckstanz, or the movement arts.
Laban established the Choreographic Institute in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
in 1915, and later founded branches in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and central Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. One of his great contribution to dance was his 1928 publication of Kinetographie Laban, a dance notation system that came to be called Labanotation and is still used as one of the primary movement notation systems in dance. His theories of choreography and movement served as one of the central foundations of modern European dance. Nowadays, Laban's theories are applied in diverse fields, such as Cultural Studies, Leadership development, Non-Verbal Communication, and more.
In addition to the work on the analysis of movement and his dance experimentations, he was also a proponent of dance for the masses. Toward this end, Laban developed the art of movement choir, wherein large numbers of people move together in some choreographed manner, but that can include personal expression.
This aspect of his work was closely related to his personal spiritual beliefs, based on a combination of Victorian Theosophy
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
, Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, and popular fin de siecle Hermeticism
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
. By 1914 he had joined the Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis is an international fraternal and religious organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century...
and attended their 'non-national' conference in Monte Verità
Monte Verita
Monte Verità is a hill in Ascona , which has served as the site of many different Utopian and cultural events and communities since the beginning of the twentieth century.-History:...
, Ascona
Ascona
Ascona is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore.The town is a popular tourist destination, and holds a yearly jazz festival, the Ascona Jazz Festival....
in 1917, where he also set up workshops popularizing his ideas. Laban had founded a summer dance program in Ascona in 1912, which continued until 1914, when World War I broke out.
From 1930 to 1934 he was director of the Allied State Theatres in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany. In 1934, he was promoted to director of the Deutsche Tanzbühne, in Nazi Germany. He directed major festivals of dance under the funding of Joseph Goebbels' propaganda ministry from 1934-1936. Laban even wrote during this time that "we want to dedicate our means of expression and the articulation of our power to the service of the great tasks of our Volk. With unswerving clarity our Führer points the way". Several similar allegations of Laban's attachment to Nazi ideology have been made, for instance that as early as July 1933 he was removing all non-Aryan pupils from the children's course he was running as a ballet director. However, some Laban scholars have pointed out that such words and actions were necessary for survival in Germany at that time, and that his position was precarious as he was neither a German citizen nor a Nazi party member. His work under the Nazi regime culminated in 1936 with Goebbel's banning of Vom Tauwind und der Neuen Freude (Of the Spring Wind and the New Joy) for not furthering the Nazi agenda.
He was allowed to travel to Paris in 1937 and from there he went to England. He joined the Jooss
Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss was a famous ballet dancer and choreographer mixing classical ballet with theatre; he is also widely regarded as the founder of dance theatre or tanztheater...
-Leeder Dance School at Dartington Hall
Dartington Hall
The Dartington Hall Trust, near Totnes, Devon, United Kingdom is a charity specialising in the arts, social justice and sustainability.The Trust currently runs 16 charitable programmes, including The Dartington International Summer School and Schumacher Environmental College...
in the county of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
where innovative dance was already being taught by other refugees from Germany. He was greatly assisted in his dance teaching during these years by his close associate and long-term partner Lisa Ullmann
Lisa Ullmann
Lisa Ullmann was a German-British dance and movement teacher, predominantly remembered for her work in association with dance pioneer Rudolf Laban. She studied dance at the Berlin Laban School, graduating in 1929. She taught in Nuremberg and at the Essen Folkwang School, where she worked for Kurt...
. Their collaboration led to the founding of the Laban Art of Movement Guild (now known as The Laban Guild for Movement and Dance) in 1945 and the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in 1946. Laban was a friend of Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
.
Whilst in the UK, he re-directed his work to industry, studying patterns of movement, the time taken to perform tasks in the workplace and the energy used. He tried to provide methods intended to help workers to eliminate "shadow movements" (which he believed wasted energy and time) and to focus instead on constructive movements necessary to the job in hand. After the war, he published a book related to this research entitled Effort (1947). He continued to teach and do research, exploring the relations between Body and Spatial tensions until his death in the UK. But his work lives and grows through the work of his followers around the world.
Among Laban's friends, associates and pupils were Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman was a German dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor.A pioneer of expressionist dance, her work was hailed for bringing the deepest of existential experiences to the stage...
, Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss was a famous ballet dancer and choreographer mixing classical ballet with theatre; he is also widely regarded as the founder of dance theatre or tanztheater...
, Lisa Ullmann
Lisa Ullmann
Lisa Ullmann was a German-British dance and movement teacher, predominantly remembered for her work in association with dance pioneer Rudolf Laban. She studied dance at the Berlin Laban School, graduating in 1929. She taught in Nuremberg and at the Essen Folkwang School, where she worked for Kurt...
, Lilian Harmel
Lilian Harmel
Lilian Harmel was an Austrian dancer, choreographer and pedagogue.- Life and career :Lilian Harmel was born in England on May 5, 1908. Her childhood was spent in Alexandria, Egypt, where she first began to dance. She was trained in classical ballet in Vienna...
, Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Sophie Taeuber-Arp was a Swiss artist, painter and sculptor. Born in Davos, Switzerland, Sophie Täuber began her art studies in her homeland, at the School of Applied Arts in St. Gallen...
, Hilde Holger
Hilde Holger
Hilde Boman-Behram , better known by her stage name Hilde Holger, was an Austro-Hungarian-born British expressionist dancer, choreographer, teacher, and educator, who was trained by Gertrud Bodenwieser in Vienna. She was highly acclaimed, well known throughout Vienna’s flourishing artistic circles...
.
External links
- Rudolf Laban -extensive biography from Trinity Laban site
- http://www.limsonline.org Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies - LIMS NYC
- About Laban Biographical information taken from A Movement Perspective of Rudolf Laban by Sam Thornton - website of LInC (Laban International Courses) in UK.
- Short biographies of Laban and some leading Laban practitioners -website of Laban Project
- Laban Ring -a community of webpages with Laban-related content