Der Freie Tanz - The Free Dance
Rudolf Laban his life and work
Der Freie Tanz - The Free Dance
Laban and two women by a tree
Laban in Zurich
Laban schools in 1927
A floorplan for Titan
Schrifttanz
A drawing from the 1920s
Laban in Berlin
The 1936 Berlin Olympics
The Art of Movement Studio
There are only a few documents recording Rudolf Laban’s activities in dance and movement from before 1910, when he was 31. However, we know that between 1907 and 1912 he lived in the bohemian quarter of Munich with his second wife Maria (also known as Maja) Lederer.
An undated brochure advertising his Studio for Dance and Theatre Art (see image) is the first sign that Laban had decided to focus on dance instead of fine art, which he had been studying.
Laban's Free Dance was “free” in the sense of being liberated from fixed rules and untethered from music.
The different meanings of the German word “freie” characterise Laban’s philosophy of movement. He believed that everyone should practise this free, freed, and freeing dance for their mental and physical health; an idea encapsulated in the first three words of the text:
“Tanz is Bewegungsfreude” – “Dance is the pleasure of movement”.
Dick McCaw
