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A floorplan for Titan

Laban detail from Titan floorplan
Rudolf Laban's life as told through archives in Leeds University Special Collections.
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Laban Der Freie Tanz
Laban moves to Ticino. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban and two women in a tree
Laban moves to Ticino. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Labankurse Zurich programme
Laban over winters in Zurich. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban exhibition - schools 1927
Laban develops dancing schools in Germany. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban exhibition - floor plan for Titan
Laban's notation for 'Titan'. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban's Schriftanz
Laban develops dancing schools in Germany. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban figure drawing from 1920s
Laban develops dancing schools in Germany. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban Dornroschen programme
Laban develops dancing schools in Germany. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban Berlin Olympics 1936
Laban develops dancing schools in Germany. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Laban Art of Movement Studio
Laban develops dancing schools in Germany. Part of an interactive resource at Leeds Special Collections about the life and career of Rudolf Laban.
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Although Laban is known for his development of Dance Script, he also used more traditional notation for some of his ballets.

This is one of 32 pages of Laban's notation for Titan.

Titan was an example of what he called a “Lay Dance”, designed to be performed by non-professionals. Laban also referred to it as a “Dance Chorus”.

With the advent of Dance notation it was possible for amateur groups to work on a piece with a Laban-trained choir-master. Albrecht Knust trained the troupe for Titan, who could later combine with other similarly prepared groups.

The culmination of this method of developing community dance was Laban’s 'Vom Tauwind und der Neuen Freude' (1936) which involved hundreds of dancers from across Germany. It was a manifestation of Laban’s “Freie Tanz” philosophy – the pleasure of movement for all, not just the trained dancer.

The archive contains other descriptions and drawings of four Laban ballets (Agamemnon’s Tod, Die Nacht, Gaukelei, and Ritterballett). In the Tanzarchiv Leipzig, there is a similar floor plan for Don Juan, and a piece for Laban’s professional group: the Chamber Dance Group.

Dick McCaw

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