Laban movement analysis (LMA), sometimes Laban/Bartenieff movement analysis, is a method and language for describing, visualizing, interpreting and documenting human movement. It is based on the original work of Rudolf Laban, which was developed and extended by Lisa Ullmann, Irmgard Bartenieff, Warren Lamb and others. LMA draws from multiple fields including anatomy, kinesiology and psychology. It is used by dancers, actors, musicians and athletes; by health professionals such as physical and occupational therapists and psychotherapists; and in anthropology, business consulting and leadership development. Labanotation (or Kinetography Laban), a notation system for recording and analyzing movement, is used in LMA, but Labanotation is a separate system.
Categories of movement
Laban movement analysis is contemporarily categorised in various ways. Originally, these categories were very basic and Laban himself referred mostly to Eukinetics - which is his effort studies - and Choreutics - which is Spatial Harmony theory. His student Irmgard Bartenieff later further elaborated these categories in four - Body, Effort, Shape and Space - and this system, known as BESS is commonly taught today. However, BESS is not the only organisation of Laban's theory in use. In the U.K. for example, more influenced by Lisa Ullmann, another student of Laban, the categories are Body, Effort, Space and Relationship with Shape being interwoven into Body, Space and Relationship. The categories of BESS are as follows:
Body - what the body is doing and the interrelationships within the body Effort - the qualities of movement Shape - how the body is changing shape and what motivates it to do so Space - where the body is moving and the harmonic relationships in space Other categories, that are occasionally mentioned in some literature, are relationship and phrasing. These are less well defined. Relationship is the interaction between people, body parts or a person and an object. Phrasing is defined as being the personal expression of a movement.
These categories are in turn occasionally divided into kinematic and non-kinematic categories to distinguish which categories relate to changes to body relations over time and space.
Body The body category describes structural and physical characteristics of the human body while moving. This category is responsible for describing which body parts are moving, which parts are connected, which parts are influenced by others, and general statements about body organization. Several subcategories of body are:
Initiation of movement starting from specific bodies; Connection of different bodies to each other; Sequencing of movement between parts of the body; and Patterns of body organization and connectivity, called "patterns of total body square connectivity", "developmental hyper movement patterns", or "neuromuscular shape-shifting patterns".
Effort
Effort, or what Laban sometimes described as dynamics, is a system for understanding the more subtle characteristics about movement with respect to inner intention. The difference between punching someone in anger and reaching for a glass is slight in terms of body organization – both rely on extension of the arm. The attention to the strength of the movement, the control of the movement and the timing of the movement are very different. Effort has four subcategories (effort factors), each of which has two opposite polarities (Effort elements).
Laban named the combination of the first three categories (Space, Weight, and Time) the Effort Actions, or Action Drive. The eight combinations are descriptively named Float, Punch (Thrust), Glide, Slash, Dab, Wring, Flick, and Press. The Action Efforts have been used extensively in some acting schools, including ALRA, Manchester School of Theatre, LIPA and London College of Music to train in the ability to change quickly between physical manifestations of emotion. Flow, on the other hand, is responsible for the continuousness or ongoingness of motions. Without any Flow Effort, movement must be contained in a single initiation and action, which is why there are specific names for the Flow-less Action configurations of Effort. In general it is very difficult to remove Flow from much movement, and so a full analysis of Effort will typically need to go beyond the Effort Actions.
Combinations of Efforts While the individual motion factors of Space, Time, Weight and Flow may be observed, usually they will appear in combinations. Combinations of 3 Motion Factors are known as drives. The drives are:
The Action Drive - where Weight, Space and Time are present but Flow is missing The Passion Drive - where Weight, Time and Flow are present but Space is missing The Spell Drive - where Weight, Space and Flow are present but Time is missing The Vision Drive - where Space, Time and Flow are present but Weight is missing Alongside the drives, combinations of two efforts are known as states. The states are known as:
Awake - combining Space and Time Dreamlike - combining Weight and Flow Distant - combining Space and Flow Near/Rhythm - combining Time and Weight Stabile - combining Space and Weight Labile/Mobile - combining Time and Flow Full effort, where all 4 motion factors are equally expressed, is usually considered to be a rare and usually momentary occurrence. The states and drives are often discussed as having distinct psychological characteristics.
Shape While the Body category primarily develops connections within the body and the body/space intent, the way the body changes shape during movement is further experienced and analyzed through the Shape category. It is important to remember that all categories are related, and Shape is often an integrating factor for combining the categories into meaningful movement. There are several subcategories in Shape:
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