movement observation

Week 7 Laban Week 7 Key Terms: Effort Actions, movement observation, BESS (Body, Effort, Shape, Space)

2. What is it

• As much a language for observing movement as a dedicated acting technique, Rudolf

Laban’s scientific approach divides movement into four categories: body, effort, shape, and

space.

• Applied to theatrical training, Laban uncovers small nuances behind behavi or, examining

everything from dramatic movements (throwing oneself across a room) to everyday gestures

(flicking a piece of lint off of one’s shoulder), and maximizing specificity with every action.

• Effort, or what Laban sometimes described as dynamics, is a system for understanding the more

subtle characteristics about the way a movement is done with respect to inner intention. The

difference between punching someone in anger and reaching for a glass is slight in terms of body

organization - both rely on extension of the arm. The attention to the strength of the movement,

the control of the movement and the timing of the movement are very different.

3. Laban Efforts

• His efforts all relate to three aspects of movement: weight, space, time

• Laban saw four components, called Effort Actions, that when arranged in specific ways create

The Eight Efforts.

• The components are:

Space – either Direct or Indirect

Time – either Quick/Sudden or Sustained

Weight – either Heavy or Light

Flow – either Bound or Free

Punch: Heavy, Direct, Sudden (weight is heavy, the movement through space is direct, it happens

suddenly in time)

Press: Heavy, Direct, Sustained (weight is heavy, movement through space is direct, time is sustained)

Slash: Heavy, Indirect, Sudden (weight is heavy, movement through space is indirect, time is

quick/sudden)

Wringing: Heavy, Indirect, Sustained (weight is heavy, movement through space is indirect, time is

sustained)

Float: Light, Indirect, Sustained (weight is light, movement through space is indirect, ttime is sustained)

Flick/Flitting: Light, Indirect, Sudden (weight is light, movement through space is indirect, time is

sudden/quick)

Dab: Light, Direct, Sudden (weight is light, movement through space is direct, time is quick/sudden)

Glide: Light, Direct, Sustained (weight is light, movement through space is direct, time is sustained

• Metaphoric, emotional, psychological experiences can be expressed through how we move and

gesture, the emotional state of a character, the ways the character speaks, their costuming, and

more

3. Why they are important for actors

• The Action Efforts have been used extensively in some acting schools to train the ability to

change quickly between physical manifestations of emotion and to promote physicality within

acting.

Observational work: The actor can take time observing individuals and creatures in the world around

them with an eye towards identifying the Eight Efforts within the movement and behaviour of the

observed subjects.

Text work: The actor can carefully analyze the text and look for speech patterns that are similar to the

Eight Efforts. Our language is a representation of our inner lives. By looking at what and how the

character expresses themselves, the actor can find clues for which one of the Eight Efforts to explore.

Emotional work: One can look at the personality of the character and the emotional makeup of the

character to look for what kind of Effort to experiment with. We can look at a character’s personality and

think of them in terms of the Efforts.

Costuming: Finally, we can play around with costuming. What kind of costume is the actor called

4. Effort is just one part of Laban’s movement analysis system, referred to as BESS (Body, Effort, Shape,

Space). It is a great place to start, and the thing we will focus most on in the creative movement

assignment.

• The other principles are also important, especially when doing a movement observation

of a performance. These principles are what you will base your movement observation

on:

• Body: look at what body parts are moving, and where the movement is initiated, which

parts, or which other bodies are influenced by this movement? (e.g. does the movement

start from the fingertips or from the trunk and ripple out through the arm?)

• Effort: we have covered the 8 Efforts in detail and this is what you will pay most

attention to in your movement analysis

• Shape: the way the body changes shape during movement is captured under the principle

of shape.

o Shape form describes specific, static/frozen shapes a body takes: wall-like, pin-

like, ball-like (e.g. when the arm reaches out does it change the body into a

rocket-like shape, or a splayed shape?)

o Modes of shape change: Shape Flow (shrugging, shivering, rubbing); Direction

(either spoke movements like pointing or arc-like movements like swinging a

tennis racket); and Carving (the body interacting with the three dimensionality or

volume of the environment (like miming the shape of an object)

o Shape qualities: is the body opening (growing larger with more extension, like

opening your arms to invite a hug) or closing (growing smaller with more flexion

like crossing your arms and hunching)

• Space: the body’s motion in space, spatial patterns, pathways, and lines of special tension

(e.g. is the actor circling or moving in sporatic zig-zags?). This principle helps you to pay

attention to the kinesphere: the are that the body is moving within, and how the mover is

paying attention to it (are they aware of the space as in the moments before a fight?), as

well as the spatial intention: the directions the mover is identifying (like directly rushing

across the room to help someone)