Space and Dance
Space is a hidden feature of movement and movement is a visible aspect of space (Laban 1966:4)
Space as a medium for movement has been conceptualized and articulated by movement theorist Rudolf von Laban in the late 1920s as introduced in his principles of ‘Space Harmony’. His study of (classical ballet) movement, the Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), deals with the spatial order of the paths or traceforms that the dancer’s limbs make in space, taking in consideration the connection between ‘the outer result of movement and the mover’s inner attitude’ (Laban 1966:27). In dance this traceform is constructed out of changing spatial and rhythmic tendencies. Laban stated firstly that ‘equilibrium in dance is never complete stability or a standstill, but the result of two contrasting qualities of movement’ (Laban 1966:6) and secondly that ‘in movement each reaction has an equal but opposite reaction’ (according to Lovell et al. 1996).
Throughout his book, Laban (1966) proposed that movement of the body is made up of pathways in which the movement phrase changes bodily positions as well as the combined relationships and connections within the structure of the body. Laban considers the fact that limbs are only able to move in certain restricted areas of the kinesphere (the so called body ‘zones’). The term ‘kinesphere’ can be defined as: