Abstract

This paper investigates a case of historical co-emergence between a modern system of dance notation and the rise of geometric abstraction in the applied arts during the first decades of the 20th century. It does so by bringing together the artistic careers of the choreographer Rudolf von Laban and the visual artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Comparing their pedagogical agendas and visual aesthetics, this paper argues that the resemblances between Laban’s Kinetography and Taeuber-Arp’s early geometric compositions cannot be a matter of pure coincidence. The paper therefore presents and supports the hypothesis of a co-constitutive relationship between visual abstraction and the dancing body in the European avant-garde.

Highlights

  • Perhaps it is sheer chance that the geometrical shapes of Laban’s visual dance scores matchedTaeuber’s previous compositions uncannily.—Jill Fell (1999, p. 274)This essay lingers on the apparent contingency of what appears to be a striking visual resemblance: that between a modern system of dance notation and early modernist abstract art

  • Laban’s name is famous for his contributions to German expressionist dance, and for his invention of Kinetography, a system for the recording of dance using abstract symbols, which he developed in the first decades of the 20th century

  • The shape of the symbols determines the direction of their movement course, Kinetography does not have a complex grammar as other human languages, and speakers are not able body parts is required

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Perhaps it is sheer chance that the geometrical shapes of Laban’s visual dance scores matched. This essay lingers on the apparent contingency of what appears to be a striking visual resemblance: that between a modern system of dance notation and early modernist abstract art To do so, it brings together the lives and works of the choreographer and dance theoretician Rudolf von Laban with those of the artist and pedagogue Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Today, Laban’s name is famous for his contributions to German expressionist dance, and for his invention of Kinetography, a system for the recording of dance using abstract symbols, which he developed in the first decades of the 20th century. The second section contextualizes Laban’s development of Kinetography and offers a brief introduction to its main structural components This prepares the reader to detect its resemblances with a selection of Taeuber-Arp’s early work in the applied arts. At stake is a more precise account of the presence of movement in nonfigurative compositions, and a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between abstraction and the dancing body in the European avant-garde

A Series of Encounters
Photograph
The Writing of Dance
Excerpt
Standard
The main directions of Created by
Curious
15. Sophie
Pedagogical Juxtapositions
Conclusions
Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call