Rudolf Laban

Creators: Evelyn Dorr

Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished sources, correspondence, memoirs and personal accounts, this biography covers the entirety of Laban's long, protean career, from post-romantic expressionism to the avant-garde of 1910-1920, through the Nazi era to his exile in England. Long before the Nazi era, Laban was Germany's "dance master", a major choreographer who set up dozens of "Laban schools", was renowned abroad, and inspired and organized collective dances involving hundreds of professional and amateur dancers. This was also the period when what was to become Laban notation was founded, through his research on movement, which resulted in a number of highly successful books. This eminence helps to explain the stake he represented for Nazi propaganda, which ultimately rejected him as "decadent". Laban's later experiments led to the concept of Effort and its application to the world of work. Today, they continue to have a considerable influence on a wide range of disciplines.

Call number : F.1./LABA/DORR