Laban, Laban, and some more Laban: An Introduction to Rudolf von Laban’s Choreutics and Eukinetics
Short Overview
Rudolf von Laban (1879–1958) was a Hungarian-Austrian dance artist, choreographer, and theorist, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the development of modern dance and movement analysis. Initially trained in visual arts and architecture, Laban's early interests in structure, form, and human expression laid the groundwork for his groundbreaking work in movement.
In the early 20th century, Laban founded dance schools and movement choirs across Europe, emphasising free expression, communal participation, and the integration of body and spirit. He broke from classical ballet traditions, advocating instead for a dance style that was more natural and closely connected to everyday human movement.
Laban’s most lasting contributions to the study of dance lie in his pioneering development of systematic methods for analysing and recording movement. His system, Labanotation (or Kinetography Laban), created in the 1920s, provides a precise written language for recording the details of movement, including body parts, directions, levels, dynamics, and rhythm. This revolutionary gave dancers, choreographers, and researchers a consistent way to document, study, and reproduce choreography and human motion across cultures and generations.
Additionally, Laban introduced the concept of Effort Theory (later refined into Laban Movement Analysis - LMA), a framework for understanding the qualitative aspects of movement such as space, weight, time, and flow. This approach has had profound impacts beyond dance, influencing fields such as physical therapy, acting, psychology, robotics, and sports science.
Rudolf von Laban's legacy endures in how movement is taught, documented, and analysed today, solidifying his role as a foundational figure in both the art and science of human motion.
“Movement is one of man’s languages and as such it must be consciously mastered”
Choreutics
Imagine yourself standing in a room. There are no mirrors, no stools, no tables, nothing. It is just you in an empty room. Now, move throughout the room and come back to your original point of standing. Now, stay on your point but try moving every body part however you would like. Imagine that you have your own personal bubble around you that no one can enter. You could reach high with your left arm, or you could also crouch low. You could kick with your foot diagonally. You could stretch both of your arms out to the sides.
Try to think about why you move in that way, why in such directions, and why when in such a space, contrary to how you move across the entire room.
This is what Laban named Choreutics. It is the theory about how human movement naturally relates to space, or in short, Space Harmony. It is not just about moving but also about how the body moves through and within a structured, three-dimensional space.
Space harmony is about creating balance in the relationship between body and space. Just as in music, where harmony happens when notes work together, in choreutics, harmony emerges when movements work together in space. Laban believed that there is a universal language of movement based on space, and when humans move in harmony with this, it feels more natural and meaningful.
For example, movements like reaching out or lifting up can feel harmonious when they are aligned with the natural geometry of the space, moving in straight lines, curves, or even spirals. Harmony is also a result of movement quality (whether it is heavy, light, sharp, or sustained) blending with the direction and shape of the movement. When the quality matches the pathway, there is a sense of fluidity and grace.
Laban believed that movement is shaped by invisible spatial patterns (such as lines, curves, etc.) that live around the body. Do you remember your own bubble? Laban named the personal space each person can reach without stepping: Kinesphere. Laban did not think that movement is “random” but rather he saw it as organised and structured by space, much like music is structured by rhythm, melody, and harmony.
Kinesphere
The Kinesphere, as a form of cognitive mapping of body movements and positions (Jeffrey 2000: 196), is the area immediately surrounding the body. Essentially, it is “the sphere around the body whose periphery can be reached by easily extended limbs without stepping away from that place which is the point of support when standing on one foot” (von Laban 1966: 10). This is often casually referred to as your “personal space bubble.” The kinesphere is a dynamic, ever-changing space that allows for movement exploration in every direction: above, below, around, to the sides, and through different planes.
Click image to enlarge
When we move, the space around us can vary depending on how far our limbs reach. If we are making big, sweeping movements, we are working within the Far Reach Kinesphere, covering a large area. On the other hand, when we move in smaller, more controlled ways — like keeping our limbs close to our body — we are using the Near Reach Kinesphere, staying within a smaller space. And then there is the Mid Reach Kinesphere, where we move comfortably between close and far-reaching motions. It is all about how we navigate and use the space around us with our bodies.
In Laban's view, movement is always about travelling through this kinesphere. Each of us has different spatial limits based on our body, but the beauty of choreutics is in learning how to use this space most efficiently and expressively. The kinesphere is the canvas where we paint our movements, with its boundaries and shapes guiding how we can move.
At the same time, Laban identified three primary movement planes within the kinesphere: the vertical plane (up-down), the horizontal plane (side-to-side), and the sagittal plane (forward-backwards). These planes help organise movement directionally and provide a framework for understanding how the body navigates space three-dimensionally.
The vertical, sagittal, and horizontal planes
(Laban 1926: 23)
Geometrics
Laban did not believe that space is just empty. Instead, he believed that movement happens through geometrical formations. The body moves most expressively and efficiently when it follows certain natural pathways through space. These pathways can be imagined as the edges, corners, and faces of geometric solids (shapes like the cube, octahedron, and icosahedron). Each of these Platonic solids acts like an invisible scaffold or ‘movement map’ that helps guide and harmonise our gestures.
The cube is the most basic spatial model in choreutics. It represents the six cardinal directions: up/down, left/right, forward/backwards, and 27 movement points (eight corners, twelve edges, six face centres, and the central point). You can imagine yourself standing in the centre of a large transparent box. Every reach, step, or turn can be directed toward the cube’s corners or along its edges. The cube supports movement that is direct, symmetrical, and spatially clear.
The octahedron, formed of eight triangular faces and six vertices, expands on the cube by adding diagonal movement. It is like standing at the centre of two pyramids joined at their bases. The directions now include diagonal lines (not just vertical or horizontal), making the movement more dynamic, introducing the idea of spatial tension between opposing points, and exploring counterbalance, weight shifts, and movement symmetry.
The icosahedron is Laban’s most advanced spatial form: a twenty-sided shape resembling a sphere made of equilateral triangles. For Laban, this represented the fullest range of movement possibilities. It accounts for curving, spiralling, and multi-planar gestures. Movements guided by this form tend to be organic, fluid, and expressive rather than just architectural.
Click image to enlarge
Fig. 1: The Laban Cube. http://serrilladf.blogspot.com/2012/06/day-16-brain-overload.html (accessed: May 3, 2025); Fig. 2: The Laban Icosahedron with movement directions (Mohs 2021: 119); Fig. 3: The Laban Octahedron. Created by Jeffrey Scott Longstaff. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laban-direction-signs-octahedron-dimensions.jpg (accessed: May 3, 2025)
Eukinetics
Laban did not stop at the thought of where in space the body moves and how the movements are shaped in terms of form. He also tried to understand the dynamics and psychology of movement. This is where his theory on Eukinetics comes in. In its basic principle, Eukinetics explores the qualitative aspects or dynamics of movement (inner impulse, weight, speed, and flow). It is the expressive layer of motion rather than spatial or architectural. Imagine Choreutics being the map of movement in space, and Eukinetics as the reason why and how you travel that map. To explore this aspect further, Laban developed his Effort theory with four motion factors, each with two contrasting poles. His student, Irmgard Bartenieff, would later elaborate them into four categories (Body, Effort, Shape, and Space), or the BESS system, and these would become an integrated part of the Laban Movement Analysis - LMA (or sometimes Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis - LBMA), which was based on Laban’s original theory on Eukinetics and developed further by his students Lisa Ullmann, Irmgard Bartenieff, Warren Lamb, etc.
Click image to enlarge
Tab. 1: Laban’s system of Efforts or Dynamics (after Rollwagen 1994: 5); Fig. 4: The Laban Effort Cross (Kim et al. 2024: 3)
Laban identified a specific grouping of the four Effort factors, Space, Weight, Flow, and Time, as the foundation for what he termed Effort Actions. These are eight distinct dynamic movement types: Float, Punch or Thrust, Glide, Slash, Dab, Wring, Flick, and Press. Each represents a unique combination of directional focus, force, and timing, and together form a practical vocabulary for analysing and activating purposeful, goal-directed action.
The fourth Effort factor, Flow, operates somewhat differently. It concerns the continuity or containment of movement, whether it unfolds freely or is held in check. The Action Drive deliberately excludes Flow, which is why these eight combinations are often associated with clear, bounded actions.
Click image to enlarge
Tab. 2: The Motion Factors and Effort Elements Involved in Human Movement (Broughton & Stevens 2012: 352); Tab. 3: The Effort Elements Associated with Space, Weight, and Time Motion Factors for the Basic Effort Actions (Broughton & Stevens 2012: 353); Fig. 5: The eight Effort Actions as graphs
What happens when one of the motion factors is missing or left out? While Laban’s Effort Actions (with combinations like Punch, Glide, or Float) focus on purposeful, task-oriented movement, not all movement is about doing something. Some movement is less about action and more about being, as proposed by Laban and Bartenieff, in a (psychological) state (movements with two or three motion factors) and its Drive to Action - Action Drive. Laban writes in this context:
“we can often make the strange observation that one of the motion factors is entirely neglected and only two seem to give the shading to the movement. We speak in such cases of ‘incomplete effort’. Equally often, we can see that the motion factor of Flow has taken the place of one of the three others which remains latent, still leaving three active. In such a case the bodily actions have quite a different quality and spring from movement drives different that of Action. This means that the impelling forces leading to activity may be composed other than Weight, Time, Space factors only. Incomplete effort and the different drives are very much a part of expressive movement, no matter whether this is deliberate or sub-conscious, as in shadow movements. ”
When one element is absent, it creates what Bartenieff names Transformation Drive, which Laban classifies into Spell (Timeless), Passion (Spaceless), Vision (Weightless), or Action (Flowless). If only two elements are present, these combinations are what Laban names Inner Attitudes or States, which evoke more subtle, mood-like qualities such as ‘Dreamlike,’ ‘Remote,’ or ‘Mobile.’ Bartenieff observed that these incomplete or transformed effort combinations shift movement from functional tasks toward expressive or psychological states, often resembling emotions more than actions:
“It is a dramatic experience to observe either three-element or two-element combinations – Transformations and Inner States – after working with only Basic Effort Action drives. Another color tone takes over and changes the quality. This can often be seen when a Basic Effort action is performed inadequately by accident or choice during the process of change, and its function – to Punch, for example – is not fulfilled. It has veered off into a Transformation drive or an Inner State. The movement has a less literal or tangible quality, not so much associated with action as with affect, or mood.”
Tab. 4: The Effort Elements Associated with Space, Weight, Time, and Flow Motion Factors for the Transformation Drives (Broughton & Stevens 2012: 353); Fig. 7: Breakdown of the effort drive into the action drive (and the eight basic effort actions) and the transformation drive (passion, spell, vision). Constituent motion factors and effort elements are detailed (Broughton & Stevens 2012: 343); Fig. 8-12: Graphs for Action, Vision, Spell, and Passion Drive (Laban 1971: 87-88)
Dynamosphere
Remember the Kinesphere? Now comes something similar. Laban believed that we have our own personal bubble in terms of space, as explained earlier. However, he also thought that we have another bubble around us, but this time not in terms of space, rather inner movement (our thoughts, emotions, intentions, efforts, or the invisible energy behind the visible motion). This is what Laban named Dynamosphere.
Trefoil knot
The ‘standard scale of the dynamosphere’
Unlike spatial movement, the dynamics of the dynamosphere do not follow measurable paths or fixed coordinates. You cannot chart them with rulers or count them with numbers. Instead, they behave like emotional tides (rising, falling, peaking, fading). Laban referred to these energetic moments as “dynamic stresses” (Laban 1966: 27) and described them as connected through countless subtle transitions. They are not geometric. Instead, they are topological, meaning they change shape, intensity, and relationship based on context and experience (Salazar Sutil 2012: 154).
To make sense of the inner forces that drive us, Laban used three visual metaphors: the knot, the twisted circle, and the lemniscate (the figure-eight shape). These are not fixed shapes but rather flowing and dynamic forms that help us imagine movement as an unfolding energy instead of a fixed position in space, or, according to Laban, they “can be untwisted without being cut, and so have the possibility of evolving continuously in ever-new shapes” (1966: 96).
However, Laban made use of a cubic model to depict the relationships between motion factors, drives, and states within the dynamosphere to explore how energy changes as they travel along different spatial pathways (Moore 2009: 166). Moving along an edge of the cube might cause just one Effort quality to shift; moving across a face might shift two, but if you reverse direction along a diagonal (from one extreme to its opposite), you feel a dramatic, full Effort transformation. This is one way to experience dynamospheric change: as a lived, dynamic unfolding of internal energy in space.
But the dynamosphere is more than a movement tool, it is also a concept that applies to everyday life. Think of the feeling you get when entering a sacred space like a cathedral, or even just walking into a room where two people have been arguing. That ‘vibe’, that shift in atmosphere, is dynamospheric. It is not just the architecture or the people, it is the energy in the room, the layered tone shaped by time, intention, emotion, and action (see Studd and Cox 2019).
These changes can be subtle, like the gradual fade of quiet on a sleepy bus, or sudden, like someone bursting on board laughing and instantly shifting the entire mood. We all feel these shifts; that is our kinesthetic empathy at work. Laban believed that by training our sensitivity to these dynamic changes, through structured movement practice, similar to how a musician practices scales, we can refine our expressive range and deepen our connection to both our movement and others.
Fig. 13: Action Drives related to diagonals; Fig. 14: Cubic model of states and drives (1) (Moore 2009: 168); Fig. 15: Cubic model of states and drives (2) (Moore 2009: 168)
REFERENCES
Bertol, Daniela. (2015). “Designing and Making a Movement Infrastructure”. Procedia Technology, 20, 72-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2015.07.013
Broughton, Mary C., Stevens, Catherine J. (2012). “Analyzing Expressive Qualities in Movement and Stillness: Effort-Shape Analyses of Solo Marimbists' Bodily Expression“. Music Perception, 29(4), 339-357. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2012.29.4.339
Kim, Wangdo, Vette, Albert, Ottes, Wanda, Wahl, Colleen. (2024). “Integration of Laban Movement System’s Effort Theory in Biomechanical Analysis of Golf Swing: A Focus on the Initiation of the Downswing and Hip Turn Dynamics“. Mathematica Eterna, 14(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.35248/1314-3344.24.14.216
Longstaff, Jeffrey Scott. (2000). “Re-Evaluating Rudolf Laban's Choreutics”. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91(1), 191-210. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.2000.91.1.19110.2466/pms.2000.91.1.191
McCaw, Dick. (2011). “Laban’s concept of Effort and his work in the 1940s and 1950s”. In: The Laban Sourcebook, 2011, Ed. Dick McCaw. London & New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 197-204.
Mohs, Dominik. (2021). Kinästhetische Interferenzen: Körpertechnik und Tanznotation im Entwurfsprozess architektonischer Räume [Kinesthetic Interferences: Body Technique and Dance Notation in the Design Process of Architectural Spaces]. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839459263
Moore, Carol-Lynne. (2009). The harmonic structure of movement, music, and dance according to Rudolf Laban: an examination of his unpublished writings and drawings. The Edwin Mellen Press.
Preston-Dunlop, Valerie. (1983). “Choreutic Concepts and Practice”. Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, 1(1), 77-88.
Rollwagen, Bettina. (1994). “Laban/Bartenieff-Bewegungsstudien”. Krankengymnastik: Zeitschrift für Physikalische Therapie, Bewegungstherapie, Massage, Prävention und Rehabilitation, 46(9), 1-15.
Salazar Sutil, Nicolas. (2012). “Laban's Choreosophical Model: Movement Visualisation Analysis and the Graphic Media Approach to Dance Studies“. Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, 30(2), 147-168. https://doi.org/10.3366/drs.2012.0044
Studd, Karen A., Cox, Laura L. (2020). EveryBody Is a Body (2nd Edition). Outskirts Press.
Laban, Rudolf. (1926). Choreographie [Choreography]. Jena: Eugen Diederichs.
Laban, Rudolf. (1966 [1939]). Choreutics (Annotated and edited by L. Ullmann). London: MacDonald and Evans. (Published in U.S.A. as The Language of Movement: A Guide Book to Choreutics. Boston: Plays).
Laban, Rudolf. (1971 [1950]). Mastery of Movement on the Stage (Annotated and edited by L. Ullmann). London: MacDonald and Evans. (Published in U.S.A. as The Mastery of Movement. Boston: Plays).
