Laban and two women by a tree

From around 1912, Laban moved to Monté Verità in Switzerland, which was the site of a co-operative experiment in which residents worked the land, made their own clothes, and ate vegetarian meals communally.

This black and white photograph (see image) from the period shows Laban and two women laughing and reflects his light-hearted side.

At Monté Verità, Laban began to experiment in movement scales with Mary Wigman. Here he also created a site-specific performance of the word and dance play Sieg des Opfers (Victory of Sacrifice) by Hans Brandenburg.

The archive contains a handwritten description of this event, along with letters between Brandenburg and Laban. In a letter dated 9th May 1914, Laban explains his plan:

"You know of course what my own plans for the summer are. Headquarters at Mte. Verità. Initially I shall be very busy with 'politics' down there. The reorganization of the 'individualistic co-operative' will take up a lot of my time to begin with. Besides, I [am] giving chiefly beginners' courses in dance, music and the spoken word. Apart from minor performances and celebrations every week there'll be nothing on a larger scale till the end of August. Then and in September, at the start of the autumn tourist season on the Italian lakes, I hope to organise a number of larger festivals. But more important than all these matters is the formation of our school, which as you may know, may possibly be somewhere other than Mte. Verità."

You can find a wealth of material about Monté Verità in the John Hodgson archive, which Hodgson gathered along with some notes on rhythm.

Dick McCaw

Image credit Leeds University Library