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DVDs
In the Laban tradition - Sylvia Bodmer, Laban Centre, 1986.
Sylvia Bodmer, dancer with Laban in Germany in 1921 and collaborator with him in the UK from 1943, is interviewed here in the last months of her life. Her assistant Enid Platt remounted Sylvia’s studies made for The Manchester Dance Circle on dancers at the Laban Centre. The video gives a glimpse of early Laban dance and Sylvia’s application of it for the amateur. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Laban Dance Works 1923 - 1928, Laban Centre, Video 1992; DVD Verve 2005. I had led workshops to see if we could retrieve some of Laban’s theatre works. This DVD introduces the background to his innovations with examples from the workshop performances.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ The American Invasion 1962-72, film dir. Luis Espana, Verve 2005. *supported by Dorothy Whitney Elmhirst Trust When American Modern Dance arrived in the UK it confronted the educational dance based on Laban’s principles. Experiments in integrating dance as education and dance as a theatre art are presented here ending at the establishing of London Contemporary Dance School and the impending transformation of the Laban Centre.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Living Architecture: Rudolf Laban and the Geometry of Dance, With Anna Carlisle, film dir. Becky Edmunds 2008 *supported by DWE Trust Laban was a deeply spiritual person and had embraced Rosicrucianism as a young man. This DVD explores his space harmony innovations through dancing them, together with discussions of their context of the theologically turbulent Munich and Monte Verita 1910-14 and their connection with sacred geometry.  _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Laban's Die Grunen Clowns, dir. P and L-A Sayers, 2008. This documentary by Lesley Anne Sayers follows the recreation on Trinity Laban students of the suite Die Grunen Clowns into Green Clowns 2008, by Alison Curtis-Jones, building on my original research and workshops. The methodology and cultural context are presented through discussions with Ramsay Burt and footage of the dancers’ rehearsals.  _____________________________________________________________________________________________ IN OTHER DVD'sLaban Legacy, dir. Megan Reisel, 2000. The Makers of Modern Dance, dir. Isa & Harold Partsch Bersohn, 2003. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Research
Books
Modern Educational Dance, 1948. Still in print. Trans and published in Japan 1984.
Edited as Dance in Education, 2nd ed. 1980. Edited in response to the change in educational policy from studying dance as experience to dance as an art form. Published as Modern Educational Dance, Plays Inc, U.S.A. 1990.  _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Handbook for Dance in Education, Macdonald & Evans, 1963 Written as a text book for the teacher training college students, the chapters tease out Rudolf Laban’s influential book  _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Readers in Kinetography Series A + B , Macdonald & Evans, 1966/67 This text introduces the innovative use of notation that became known as Motif Writing, a way of making Labanotation (or kinetography) accessible, and connecting notation with structured improvisation.    _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Practical Kinetography Laban, Macdonald & Evans 1969 I had introduced Motif Writing by taking the symbols out of the three line staff of a Laban notation score and using them as indications for creative movement. Kinetography Laban was the original name for the system so at that time I used it rather than the American title Labanotation. Removing the symbols set up all manner of questions on the grammar of movement and how to describe it, such as distinguishing between a motion and its destination, a form and its intention, the location of centre, turning and twisting, and so on. In this book I set out to show the connection between Motif Writing concepts and those in the main system and the clarification of some of these issues.  _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Dance is a Language, isn’t it?, Laban Centre 1979 This is an informal text that uses unusual page format to link practice with theory and reflects the discourse of the time on whether dance could be regarded as a language or not. It introduces the structural model of movement known as The Star that would become the starting point for the development of Choreological Perspectives.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Dancing and Dance Theory (ed.), Laban Centre, 1980 In 1979 LABAN Centre hosted an international conference on the centenary of Laban’s birth. This text was commissioned to document some of the events and seminal discussions that integrated Laban studies with professional dance technique and choreography for the first time. --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ The Nature of the Embodiment of Choreutic Units in Choreography, PhD Thesis U.M.I 1981 My doctoral research introduced CHUMM analysis, (Choreutic Units and their Manner of Materialisation) where both actual and virtual spatial forms are shown to be present in clusters in choreography, a key concept in releasing Laban’s space harmony analysis from his practice of spatial scales. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Point of Departure: The Dancer's Space, 1984 Building on the CHUMM innovation, this text explains the content of Laban’s scales and rings and suggests ways of using them radically rather than as a fixed form. 2nd edition, Verve Publishing 2008  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Schrifttanz: A View of Dance in the Weimar Republic, with Susanne Lahusen, Dance Books 1990 *supported by Goethe Institute Having curated the Laban Collection of documents on Laban’s work in Germany it was clear that a mass of his most innovative work had been lost when he emigrated to the UK in 1938 and his books and schools were forbidden. This translation of articles from the journal Schrifttanz begins the publishing focus on Laban as an artist/researcher and man of theatre.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Rudolf Laban, an introduction to his work an influence, with John Hodgson, Northcote House 1990 *supported by Bretton Hall, trans, Actes Sud. In 1990 the Laban Centre commissioned me to curate an exhibition on the breadth of Laban’s work, in collaboration with John Hodgson. This text was written to accompany the exhibits.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Dance Words (ed), Harwood Academic Publishers 1995 This text was written at a time when I was introducing Choreological Studies as a development of Laban Studies in which Laban’s terminology and concepts are juxtaposed with the concepts and practices of other giants of dance practice. It shows the range of language used in the profession to get at movement, the most non-verbal of art forms.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Rudolf Laban: An Extraordinary Life, Dance Books 1998 (de la Torre award) Paperback Ed. 2008. I had published detailed articles on ‘The Making of Modern Dance’ on Laban’s turbulent life in Munich, Monte Verita and Zurich 1910 -1918. John Hodgson has been expected to write Laban’s biography but it became clear that he was not able to do so. So I decided to write it using the copious data I had amassed for the Laban Collection from archives and individuals all over Europe. This became the first comprehensive text on the man’s work.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Looking at Dances, Verve Publishing 1998 *commissioned by LCA Utrecht. Trans as Dansen nader bekeken, LCA Utrecht 1999. In this text the format reflects the way dance people speak in the studio rather than how we write. It introduces the reader to ways of communicating, or not, in dance through discussing choreographic choices through a choreological methodology. Being practice-based it has become a popular text for dance students.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Dance and the Performative: a Choreological Perspective, Laban and beyond, with A. Sanchez-Colberg. Verve and S. Rubidge, P. Salosaa. Verve Publishing 2002 In this text Choreological Perspectives are scrutinized and the practice/theory connection is discussed and supported in articles by other practical scholars using a variety of choreological methods.  --> buy _____________________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTERS IN OTHER BOOKS'Dance in Great Britain in the 70's and 80's' with D.G.Madden, The Dance Has Many Faces (ed, Walter Sorell) 3rd Ed, 1992 'Rudolf Laban', biography for entry in Dance Perspectives International Encyclopedia on Dance 1987 'Rudolf Laban's Choreographic Works' in Encyclopaedia of Music Theatre, (ed. G. Schuller), Bayreuth University Press 1989 'Laban, Schoenberg and Kandinsky 1899-1938', in La Danse Tracee (ed. L. Louppe), Centre Pompidou 1990 ‘Bodies in Dada’ in The Arts in Crisis: a History of Dada (ed. Stephen Foster), Iowa, Hall and Co 1997 'Rudolf Laban and Kurt Jooss in exile' in Artists in Exile (ed. Gunther Berghaus), Berg Publishers 1989 Preface for French edition of Laban's Modern Educational 'Dance', Editions Complexe, Brussels 2003 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ PUBLISHED ARTICLES'Rudolf Laban's Cultural Environment', Working Papers, I. 1987. 'Laban and the Nazis: Towards an Understanding of Rudolf Laban and the Third Reich', Dance Theatre Journal, Vol 6 No 2. 1988. 'Choreological Studies, 1928 and 1988', Movement andDance, No 77, May. 1988. 'Laban's Kammertanzbhune Revisited', Movement and Dance, No 77, May. 1988. ‘Rudolf Laban: the seminal years in Munich, 1910-14' Dance Theatre Journal Vol 7, Nos 3 and 4. 1989. 'Laban in Zurich, 1914-1919: the nightmare years', Dance Theatre Journal, Vol 10 No 3. 1993. 'Dance Dynamics', Dance Theatre Journal,Vol 13 No 2. 1996. 'Symbolism and the European dance revolution', Dance Theatre Journal, Vol 14 No 3. 1998. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
About
Dr. Preston-Dunlop is a consultant at the Laban Centre in London, where she pioneered the development of choreological studies. A practical scholar, she received her initial training from Rudolf Laban, Lisa Ullman, Kurt Jooss and Albrecht Knust. Valerie is an internationally renowned author, teacher and lecturer. Current books include, “Rudolf Laban: An Extraordinary Life” (winner of the Dance Perspectives book of the year 1999), “Looking at Dances: A Choreological Perspective on Choreography and Dance” and “Dance and the Performative: A Choreological Perspective” written with Ana Sanchez-Colberg (2002).
Practice
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICEFounder Fellow, Int. Council of Kinetography Laban, 1959. Founder Member, Society for Dance Research, London, 1982. Founding UK Representative 'Federation Int. de Danse', 1986. Jury Member: Rencontres Nat. de Fed. Francaise de Danse, 1987 - 1991. Jury Member: Rencontres, Fed. Int. de Danse, 1990 - 1992. President of the Jury: Rencontres Choregraphiques Europeennes, 1991 - 1996. Jury Member: Bagnolet Int. Choreographic Competition, 1992. Jury Member: Groningen Int. Choreographic Competition, 1996. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ RE-CREATIONSLaban's Marsch, Oben und Unten, Dithyrambus, Krystall, Marotte, Die Grunen Clowns, Mondane (with D. Madden), 1987. Ekstatischer Zweimannertanz, Bizarrer Zweimannertanz Orchidee, Rosetten, 1923-28, 1990. with Laban Guild, London, 1995. with Theatre Akademie, Helsinki, 1994. with Transitions Dance Company, Volgogard, 1997. with Kinki University, Osaka, 2001. for Laban International Conference, Rio de Janeiro, 2002. with Transitions Dance co., assist. Alison Curtis-Jones, Manchester, Darlington, London, 2008. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ PRESENTATIONS, LECTURE / DEMONSTRATIONS‘Making, dancing and appreciating dances', Edinburgh Ed. Authority, 1983. 'Laban et son Heritage', CID, Paris, 1983. 'Dance in Education’ ACHPER, Sydney, 1984. 'La Danse et l'Enfant en Angleterre', Federation de Danse, Paris, 1986. 'Rudolf Laban und Ausdruckstanz', Ausdruckstanz Int. Symp, Berlin, 1986. 'Marie Wiegmann und Rudolf von Laban (1913-1919)', Marie Wiegmann Centenary Symposium, Berlin, 1986. 'The Choreological Element', Dance Scholars Conf. Essen, 1988. 'Deep and Surface Learning', DaCi Conference, UK, 1988. 'A choreological approach to Deep Learning', International Congress 'Dance and Research', Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, 1989. ‘L’Image Choreologique’, Memoire et Oubli Colloque, Arles, 1989. 'Suspension, fall and recovery of Laban's Dance Notation in the Weimar Republic and Third Reich', CORD Conf. Hong Kong 1990 ‘Laban, Dance and Theatre', Conf. Dance and Theatre, Rome, 1990. 'From Laban to Contemporary Dance', lecture demonstration with Transitions Dance Company, International Contemporary Dance Festival, Volgograd, 1997. Laban Man of Theatre, lecture/demonstrations in the Laban Lecture Series, London, 2002-5. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ MASTER CLASSESChoreology for Choreographers Courses for Netherlands Landescentrum voor Amateurdans, Utrecht, Amsterdam, 1992 - 1996. Choreological Perspectives for Choreographers, Helsinki, 1995. Choreological Perspectives for Choreographers, Antwerp, 1995. Choreological Studies, Fontys Akademie, Tilburg, 1997, 98, 99. Laban's Kammertanz, Int. Contemporary Dance Festival, Volgogard, 1997. Laban Studies, International Conference, Bologna University, 1999. Laban Studies, Kinki and Keio Universities, Osaka, Tokyo, 2001. Choreological Perspectives, Tallinn University, 2007. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ KEYNOTESMovement Educ. for New Age Conference, Brock Uni, Ontario, 1989. William Forsythe Festival Conference, Reggio Emilia, 1989. Bologna University, Rudolph Laban Conference, 1999. ELIA International Conference, Barcelona, 2000. Laban International Conference, Rio de Janeiro, 2002. SCODHE Conference, Leeds, 2003. Guest of Hon. Conference 'Laban for the 21st Century, Bratislava, 2006. Laban Then and Now, Int. Conf. Trinity/Laban, London, 2008. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ |
