What are the consequences of reintegrating Rudolf Laban’s Rosicrucianism in the practice of Laban Movement Analysis for actors-in-training and their teachers?
Creators: name: CHAMBERS-COE, JULIET LYNNE
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2022

description: This PhD research proposes a reintegration of Rudolf Laban’s Rosicrucian thinking into the practice of Laban Movement Analysis for actors-in-training. That Laban was a member of a masonic order, and interested in Rosicrucianism in particular, is not unknown, but there has yet to be a full analysis of how this aspect of his life informed and influenced the development of his theories and concepts in practice. Historically, the practice of LMA has been separated from its spiritual context and aims. Consequently, the broader spiritual and philosophical contexts of Laban’s theories have received very little attention in literature and almost none at all in studio-based practice of his theories. One key aim of this project is to articulate what might be lost in this disintegration – both for the actor-in-training and the movement trainer. Through creative and pedagogic practice this PhD re-examines Laban’s published and unpublished archived notes, drawings, and manuscripts. The research offers an expanded understanding of Laban’s previously overlooked works in the archive and returns them with a renewed understanding of Laban’s spiritual thinking, and their relevance to Laban studies. Laban’s theories are analysed alongside texts from both esoteric and exoteric scholars, including Rudolf Steiner, which outline core Rosicrucian Principles. Through a mixture of scholarly analysis and studio-based practice, the research marks the points of contact between the parameters of LMA and Rosicrucian principles illuminating Laban’s theories as having their foundation in Rosicrucian thinking. The context for this work is specifically for acting and the corporeal experiences of such theoretical embodiments for actors-in-training and their Laban movement teachers. As such, the practice lifts discourses about Laban’s mystical thinking out of the purely theoretical domain (which has been predominant in the field) into contemporary creative and pedagogic practices. The thesis proposes that these hitherto unexamined aspects of Laban’s work reveal ‘hidden’ aspects of Laban’s theories in which he attempts to elucidate and bring into material form the invisible aspects of the ‘silent world’ of the mover. Additionally, the research argues for the value of the reintegration of Laban’s ethico-spiritual outlook in LMA and looks toward the social impact of embodied spirituality. The outcome of the research suggests that spirituality is inherently social, embodied and is illuminated in movement thinking, in particular through the somatic awareness of the mover and witness/observer of movement. The research contends that Laban movement which engages the soma-spiritual is valuable not only for dance and performance practices, but for all, in everyday movements of the body and the mover’s connection with others and their environment. The interactive pdf which accompanies the thesis offers a practical guide to such ideas.