The Mastery of Movement

by Rudolf Laban

Laban's The Mastery of Movement on the Stage, first published in 1950, quickly came to be accepted as the standard work on his conception of human move­ment. When he died, Laban was in the process of preparing a new edition of the book, and so for some time after his death it was out of print. That a second edition appeared was solely due to the efforts of Lisa Ullmann, who, better than any other person, was aware of the changes that Laban had intended to make. The rather broader treatment of the subject made advis­able the change of title, for it was recognised that the book would appeal to all who seek to understand movement as a force in life. In this fourth edition Lisa Ullmann has taken the opportunity to make margin annotations to indicate the subject matter referred to in a particular section of the text, so that specified topics may be easily found. Kinetograms have been added to most of the examples in Chapters 2 and 3, as Laban originally intended, for the growing number of people who read and write movement notation. Lisa Ullmann has also compiled an Appendix on the the structure of effort, drawing largely on material from an unpublished book by Laban. The relationship between the inner motivation of movement and the outer functioning of the body is explored. Acting and dancing are shown as activities deeply concerned with man's urge to establish values and meanings. The student is introduced to basic principles underlying movement expres­sion and experience and the numerous exercises are intended to challenge his or her intellectual, emotional and physical responses. The many descrip­tions of movement scenes and mine-dances are designed to stimulate penetra­tion into man's inner life from where movement and action originate.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theatre

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Taylor Ellwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intriguing book which explores how people move and what stories they tell with their movement. While it's primary focus is on the disciplines of dance and theater, I believe any person can learn a lot about movement from this book and come away with an appreciation for how they move. Reading and trying out the suggestions in the book has helped me appreciate the miracle of movement and how to become present with your movement in your life. There's also some interesting ideas about how movement applies to one's awareness of time and space that can be very useful to explore in relationship to how you navigate space and time in your daily life.

[Kenya Stéphanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro al que hay que dedicarle muchas horas y mucho de llevar a cabo todo lo que te enseña.
La manera de comprender el movimiento como lenguaje es sublime, es hasta poético cómo es capaz de transcribir un movimiento en el papel y crear una simbología en base al Espacio, Tiempo, Peso y Fluir de cada uno de ellos.
Es un libro al que volveré mil veces, tremendamente práctico y pleno para todo actor, bailarín y cualquiera que domine el escenario.

🫶🏽

[paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

“O dançarino moderno reivindica o direito de criar invenções pessoais na dança, com base em sequências de evoluções não convencionais de seu corpo. Desta forma, espera realizar uma espécie de invocação mágica ou encantamento dos poderes da vida. Estes poderes ou forças não têm nomes em nosso vocabulário contemporâneo, mas todos os conhecemos quando o encontramos na forma de incontáveis Ímpetos interiores, atitudes, emoções e crenças. O homem atual oculta a experiência desses poderes. Provavelmente, ele sente vergonha ou mesmo medo de tais forças porque não podem ser intelectualmente explicadas.” girl that is IT

[Brendan Behan, MFA · Rating 1 out of 5]

One crucially important matter about this text remains to be noted by reviewers, which is the racism that threads through The Mastery of Movement and that arguably undergirds the foundation of Laban's intellectual enterprise and conception of movement. Starting in chapter four, "The Significance of Movement", race and racist distinctions come to the fore as a defining feature of Laban's analysis of movement typologies.

My full review of The Mastery of Movement is posted on my dance research site.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good for some one who is familiar with the practice of Laban's movement efforts and is looking to further that knowledge for analytical purposes.