Rudolf Laban »

This biography of the dancer, choreographer, and artist Rudolf Laban offers a biographical discussion presenting Laban as a pioneering figure of European expressionism and the founding father of modern dance, as well as an analysis of the significance of Laban as an important representative of expressionist Modernism.

Prologue     xi
Childhood and Youth in Pressburg and Vienna (1879-1899)     1
In the Family Home     1
Was Laban a Black Sheep in the Family?     1
Grandmother's Story Hour     3
On a Fantastic Journey through Nature     3
First Experiences with the Dance     5
Dervish Dances     5
Sword Dances     5
Maneuvers     6
O God, the Child Wants to Be an Artist!     6
Laban Has to Go to the Military Academy     7
Artistic Work in Munich, Paris, Nice, Vienna (1900-1910)     9
Laban Learns to Think Like an Abstract Artist     9
At the Munich Art Academy     9
At the Instructional and Experimental Studios for Applied and Fine Arts     10
Did Laban Take a Beginner's Course with Wassily Kandinsky?     12
Laban Wants to Study Architecture     13
In Montmartre     13
Laban Discovers "Black Cat Art" in the Cabarets of Paris     14
The Study at the Ecole-des-Beaux-Art     15
Love, Instincts, Jealousy, Death     16
Newspaper Seller in Nice     17
The Art-Deco Artist     17
Artistic Work in Munich and Ascona (1910-1914)     20
In Munich, City of Theater and Dance     20
Laban Wants to Be an Artist for the Stage     22
First Instruction in Choreography     23
The Choreographer Falls Ill     24
Laban Falls in Love     24
Love Triangle: Laban-Lederer-Perrottet     25
Laban Composes Music     27
Laban Writes a Cultic-Artistic Festival     28
Searching for Paradise: The Mountain of Truth     29
As Director of the School for Art     33
Laban Teaches Free Dance in the Women's Open-Air Swimming Pool     33
Lessons in Form     34
A Lesson in Dance-Sound-Word     36
The Summer in Ascona Was a Success     37
Off to Ascona for a Summer Course     39
The Deserted Mountain     40
Mary Wigman as Guinea Pig     41
The First Attempts at Dance Notation     43
Was Laban a Miracle Worker?     43
Looking for House and Home     44
Artistic Work in Hombrechtikon and Zurich (1915-1918)     49
The Labangarten in Hombrechtikon     49
Difficult Start in Zurich     51
Laban Explodes in Anger     52
One Disaster after the Next     52
The Labangarten Remains a Pipe Dream     53
The Laban School Is Running at Full Speed     55
The Dance Scholar     57
The Dadaists     63
The Heavenly Headquarters of the Dadaists     64
No Dada Soirees without Laban Ladies     65
Laban's Relationship to the Dadas     66
At the OTO Congress     67
Laban Founds a Masonic Lodge     68
The Love Triangle Collapses     71
Laban Struggles with the End of a Bad Dream     72
Artistic Work in Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Mannheim (1919-1921)     79
Laban Exhibits His Pictures in the Albrecht-Durer-Verein     79
The World of the Dancer Is a Hit     81
The Door Opens for the Dance Revolutionary     88
Who Will Bring "The Child" into the World?     89
On a Professional Stage for the First Time     90
The Laban School Dances in the Nationalistic Colony of Klingberg     92
Artistic Work in Hamburg (1922-1926)     97
In Hamburg, the City of Dance     97
The Founding Father of Expressionist Dance     99
Laban as a Theatrical Dancer     101
Founding of the Central Laban-School     102
A Class in the Movement Choir Department      103
Laban's Connection to the Gymnastics Movement     106
The Laban Method Spreads     107
Laban Says the Movement Choir Should Get All the Credit     109
Complaints about Laban     110
The Dance Master Leaves Hamburg     112
Artistic Work in Wurzburg and Bad Mergentheim (1926-1927)     115
The Debut in Wurzburg     115
No Dancing Naked in the "Nature Park"!     116
Head of the Choreographisches Institut     117
We Only Teach Dance Here     118
Instruction in Eukinetics, Choreutics, and Movement Writing     118
Instruction in Movement Notation     120
A Celebratory Final Examination     121
Laban is Idolized     122
End of His Dance Career     123
The Moral Authorities at Laban's Heels     125
"War of the Dancers"     126
The Challenge     126
The Conflict     127
The Resolution     128
At the German Theater Exhibition     129
What Now?     133
Laban Seeks Solitude     134
Artistic Work in Berlin (1928-1936), Paris 1937     137
"Dance Winter" in the Capital of the Reich     137
Laban Founds the Choreographisches Institut     138
Instruction in Kinetography     139
The First Written Dance Choreography     141
The Dance Poet     142
A Flood of Birthday Greetings     144
Bankrupt     144
Will the Choreographer Become a Filmmaker?     146
The Idea for a Filmed Sound Opera Makes Waves     148
Laban the Scapegoat     149
The Seizure of Power     152
Was Dance the Appendix to Nazi Art?     153
The Reversal: The Early Phase of Gleichschaltung     155
The Banishment of the "Degenerates"     155
The Nationals Emerge     156
What Did Laban Do?     158
"The Father of the German Dance"     160
Thaw Wind and New Joy?     164
The Fulfillment of a Dream?     166
Why the Choreographer Foundered     169
"Who Is the Dog?"     171
Laban Retreats     176
The Choreographer Leaves Germany     178
Artistic Work in Dartington, Newtown, Manchester, Addlestone (1938-1958)     186
The Colony in Dartington     186
Laban Is Ill     186
The Drawings of the Children of Seubelsdorff     187
"A Vision of Dynamic Space"     188
Lisa Ullmann, Laban's Companion     193
Dance and Factory     196
What Is Effort?     197
Ullmann's Efforts     198
The "Art of Movement"     199
The Next Generation     201
Arrival in Addlestone Surrey     202
The Old Friends     204
The Lost Son     206
Crime and Punishment     207
Annotated List of Laban's Works     213
Glossary     241
Bibliography     249
General Index     259
Name Index     275
About the Author     283