Submitted by Mei-Chen Lu - December 14, 2015
Following are the compilation of email correspondence regarding Labanotation and Laban Movement Analysis development entering college dance programs on the CMA list serve during November 12 to 14, 2015.
November 12, 2015
Discussion #1, by Gill Wright Miller
Does anyone know, or have
a sense of, when LN and LMA starting (or hit a tipping point) entering college
dance programs in the United States?
Gill Wright Miller, PhD
Professor and Chair
of Women's and Gender Studies
Professor
of Dance
Denison University
Granville, OH 43023
Discussion #2, by Susan L. Wiesner
I know
Virginia Moomaw had her grad students (UNCG [The University of North Carolina Greensboro]) recording their thesis projects in
Labanotation. She joined the university in 1945 (I believe).
Susan L.
Wiesner PhD, CMA
LIMS
Archivist and Moving Stories Fellow
2011 ACLS
Digital Innovation Fellow
RCL Subject
Editor: Dance
Discussion #3, by Ann Hutchinson Guest
That’s right, and the scores
were complete and neat. When Herb Kummel at DNB refused to allow me to
have any scores for educationalm purposes, Virginia [Moomaw] sent the best examples from
UNCG [The University of North Carolina Greensboro]. Herb said the choreographers would not allow it, I wrote the
choreographers and they were open and willing. A dark chapter in DNB history!
Ann Hutchinson Guest
Discussion #4, by Susan L. Wiesner
They are
beautiful scores. You can find them in Special Collections, University Archives
at UNCG (Greensboro, NC). There's a wealth of archival material there, theatre
and dance!
Susan L.
Wiesner
Discussion #5, by Gill Wright Miller
How well I remember! I was
working at the DNB when Herb was the Executive Director.
But I am asking when
college and university program began offering LN and LMA in their
curricula--perhaps as required courses for a dance major, for example—on a
consistent basis.
Denison offered LN in the
early, early 1970s—that’s where I was first exposed to it in a systematic way.
But I don’t know if we were “early adopters” because the Ohio State University [DNB] Extension was so close or because lots of post-secondary schools were already
offering it, or… I am trying to put our adoption into historical
context.
And then when was LMA
introduced to college and university programs?
Does anyone have a sense of
these?
Gill Wright Miller
Discussion #6, by Susan L. Wiesner
I would
contact the archivist at UNCG, to find the earliest thesis which included the
Labanotation scores, as a start. They can also pull up old syllabi from Moomaw's
courses (and course catalogs) (I did some research on early dance curricula
when I was there as a post-doc and the course catalogs go way back). They
(UNCG) also hold old records from AAHPERD, when discussions took place
regarding dance curricula in general, and probably included some discussion re:
LN and LMA. Erin Lawrimore is the uni archivist (erlawrim@uncg.edu). And the AAHPERD files were well
hidden in a small closet-like room. Don't know the current status.
best of luck!
Susan L.
Wiesner
Discussion #7, by Tara Stepenberg
If this is useful (I
haven't looked at all the threads of this discussion) - I taught a LN
class at SUNY Brockport beginning in l967.
The Philadelphia Dance
Academy under the direction of Nadia Chilkovsky required LN of all their
Elementary, High School and College Students when I taught there in l965-66.
When I went to the Boston
Conservatory of Music in l959-60 LN was a required course for all dancers and
of course LN was a required course at The Juilliard School when I attended
beginning in l960.
I began to teach LMA at
Hampshire College and then for the Five College Dance Department beginning in
l973.
Cheers
Tara Stepenberg
Discussion #8, by Mei-Chen Lu
Ann [Hutchinson Guest] probably
will know better. She was invited by Martha Hill to teach Labanotation at
the Juilliard school in 1951? 1952? Was not that counted as the first
“college” where offered Labanotation course? Helen Priest Rogers, and
Lucy Venable taught Labanotation at Connecticut College Summer Program in 1948.
Helen taught notation in Mount Holyoke College from 1953 to 1975.
Best,
Mei-Chen Lu
Director of Library Services
Dance Notation Bureau
November 13, 2015
Discussion #9, by Peggy Hackney
Hi, All,
I received my Advanced LN
Certificate in 1966 (while I was in Ethiopia in the Peace Corps). Immediately
when I came back to NYC (in January of 1967), I went to the DNB, which was then
on 12th street and 5th Ave. When I came in, and talked with Mickey Topaz and
Lucy Venable, they welcomed me, and said that I could go into the Notator
Training Program, which I did (worked with Lucy on "Negro
Spirituals.") ....AND they said that since I had a BA in Psychology from
Duke, I should definitely work with Irmgard Bartenieff!
So...I immediately joined
the first Effort Shape training program, and we all became Certified in 1968.
(In order to pay for my E/S classes, I became the Janitor for the DNB....Later
I "migrated" upward and became the book-keeper for the DNB, in
addition to teaching Elementary LN there. I also wrote the Elementary
Correspondence Course in LN, which came out around 1968 or 1969.
I was teaching
Labanotation at Sarah Lawrence College in 1968-1971, when Bessie Shönberg was
the Chair of Dance. It was a required course for Dance Majors). (
I received my MFA in Dance there in 1971) I continued teaching there until
1976, when I joined the Bill Evans Dance Company.
When the State University
of New York at Purchase was built, with its performing arts emphasis (I believe
the is was in 1971) , I taught what was then called Effort-Shape (now
Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis). Bill Bales was the chair of the program and
LMA was required for all dance majors, as LN had been at Julliard.
I stopped teaching there in 1976 when I joined Bill Evan's company and began
touring the USA.
Herb Kummel chastised me
for becoming a professional dancer rather than staying in NYC at the DNB and
working on Dance Scores)! I agree with Ann that Herb's time at the DNB was a
"dark time." Herb did not value Irmgard at all! I felt he was one of
the major causes of the Effort/Shape part of Laban's work broke off from the
DNB.....I felt that all of Laban's work should stay together! (I realize that
there are many different opinions on this.)
One of the aspects of
history that really fascinates me is the role each person plays in the
dissemination of a major field of work. The "field of the Laban Work"
is not some abstract concept. It is made up of the personalities and work of
many individual people and their passions!!
warm wishes to all,
Peggy Hackney
Discussion #10, by Wanda Ottes
Hi all,
May-be some
info about the "first" in the UK is also interesting:
My former
teacher Marion North was one of the important and key persons in British
contemporary dance of the last century, leading the Laban Centre for 30 years.
Marion studied
at Homerton Teacher Training College, before undertaking postgraduate study at
the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester in the 1950s. The Studio had been set
up in 1946 by Rudolf Laban.
Under Marion’s
leadership, the Laban Centre became a pioneering institution that considerably
raised the status and range of dance study in the UK.
The Centre’s
history reads as a list of ‘firsts’:
Laban
established Britain’s first BA (Hons) Dance Theatre in 1977, the
first MA in Dance Studies and first PhD programme in dance in 1980,
the first MA in
Dance Movement Therapy (in collaboration with Hahnemann University,
Philadelphia, USA) in 1985,
the first MA
Scenography [Dance] in1999, and
the first MSc
in Dance Science in 2001.
Greetings,
Wanda Ottes
Discussion #11, by Ann Hutchinson Guest
Wanda, so good to have
this information, thank you!. I would like to point out one thing.
It was Lisa Ullmann who established the Art of Movement Studio in
Manchester. Everyone automatically gave Laban that credit and I know Lisa
regretted that she was overshadowed and not give the credit.
The first dance department
at a university was established by Jane Winearls at Birmingham
University. I know that Andy Adamson can give details on that.
Good to get this history out
there.
Ann Hutchinson Guest
Discussion #12, by Wanda Ottes
Dear Ann,
You are
completely right, and sorry for that I said it was Laban himself, but of
course it was Lisa who established the studio in Manchester.
Let that be
clear! All credit for that to her.
All the best,
Wanda Ottes
Discussion #13, by Carol-Lynne Moore
Dear History Buffs,
I agree with
Peggy — the field of Laban work is made of the personalities and work of
many individual people.
Consequently, it is worth
remembering Dr. June Layson, an Art of Movement student and founder of the
Dance Studies program at the University of Surrey.
This was also among the
earliest university dance programs in the UK.
Moreover, Dr. Layson was
instrumental in creating the National Resource Centre for Dance (NRCD), that is
based in the University of Surrey library.
The NRCD holds many
important collections of the works of Laban luminaries including Rudolf Laban,
Lisa Ullmann, Warren Lamb, Joan Russell, Betty Meredith Jones, Audrey Wethered
and Chloe Gardner, as well as records from ICKL and the Laban Guild.
Cheers,
Carol-Lynne Moore
November 14, 2015
Discussion #14, by Shannon Glasgow
Hi History Buffs,
You may be interested in Sarah Chapman's (Hilsendager)
dissertation "Movement Education in the United States: Historical
Developments and Theoretical Bases". Movement Education Publications
published it in 1974.
It has been many years since I have read it and I do
not remember if it examines higher education. But it does look at influences
from Germany and England, including Laban's work, in k-12. Sarah's work also
discusses the influence of Margaret H'Doubler, Dewey, Gertrude Colby, Bird
Larson, and Teacher's College.
Shannon Glasgow
Discussion #15, by Deborah R. Brandt
I found the dissertation below while searching for Sarah Chapman's
work [
Toward Embodied Education, 1850s--2007: Historical, Cultural, Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives Impacting Somatic Education in United States Higher Education Dance]. Both can be purchased through ProQuest. Dragon's dissertation seems
to be very thorough and references Laban and Bartenieff and Chapman's work
numerous times. It may add information to this discussion, if it has not
already been mentioned.
Shannon, my mother studied dance education at Teacher's College in
the Physical Education Department in the late 20s or early 30s. She often
mentioned the influence of H'Doubler, and Larson on her growth as a dancer and
dance teacher. I am excited you brought up these names because it helped
me learn more about the philosophy of movement education and the purpose and
meaning of dance that shaped her and therefore my involvement and philosophy
re: dance and movement. It never before occurred to me that she must have
been influenced by Laban's work, and I unknowingly followed.
Deborah R. Brandt
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