Issue No.

69 October 1992

A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LABAN SYSTEM

Part Eight

As will have been noted, instances of ideas which did not reach full adoption have been included
as part of the history of the development of the Laban system to illustrate the direction of people's
thinking and the areas of need. Still to come are several smaller topics which illustrate contributions
by particular individuals. It is hoped that all concerned will contribute any pertinent details which have
been omitted or overlooked in this survey. Without doubt many more details on dates, individuals in-
volved in preliminary and concluding discussions can be gleaned from the many volumes of research
notes at the Language of Dance Centre. This survey is intended as a general history for the benefit for
those who are unfamiliar with early usages and who may, unwittingly forward ideas which had already
been considered and had, for good reason, been discarded.

36 FOOT CONTACT SIGNS

36.1 In 1930 Laban established the round horizontal bow as the indication of contact, touch (see
Labanotator No. 62). From this bow the 'foot hooks' were derived. In 1928, without specific
explanation, he gave 36a in which hooks appear near the end of the example. The text to this
example reads:

36a

(Laban 1928)
36.2 "Exercise lying on the back. Sit, lie; both legs forward middle, low; legs middle, high, lift high
backward over the head; sink and touch the floor, upperbody and legs to the left and back
again; upperbody (shoulders) high, low forward, low backward, lie." Of interest and perhaps
for future discussion is the movement analysis Laban used here (a Body Key for limb
directions?) but our concern is with the use of the hook which, in this context (over-the-head)
must be toe contacts. For Laban this hook appears to be a general sign for contact.

36.3 The text for 36b refers only to

the deviations, no other movement
description is given. 36b
36.4 In his 1930 book Laban (Laban 1928)
describes 36c as "Touching the
floor with several limbs." All
the hooks are 'heel' hooks.
36c

(Laban 1930)
 The Labanotator, No. 69, October 1992

36.5 For 36d (also from 1930) Laban states "Support in lying (weight on hands
and toes.)" This reads as: a squat (hips place low), weight on the hands
(wrists), the legs moving backward middle to low ending with foot contact.
36d (Laban 1930)
36.6 By 1938 Leeder had established the range of hooks of 36e:

36e Toe Heel Whole Foot Ball of foot 36f High arch Low arch 1/2 heel
(SL 1936-38) (AHG 1954)
36.7 AHG 1954 added the signs for the high arch, low arch, and the half heel, 36f. The suggestion
to use the white and black circles to indicate a higher or lower state came from Laban in 1947.
Laban's selected presentation in his 1956 publication gave only toe and heel hooks.

36.8 AHG 1970 gives the following list to which the nail and the pad of the toe had been added.
These two resulted from discussions between AHG and MSz.
J^ JL
Nail of Tip of Pad of Full ball \l ball Whole Full
toe toe toe (I toe) (5 toe) foot heel
36g
(AHG 1970)

36.9 Dissatisfaction with writing a whole foot hook when the ball Abbreviations for Hooks
(or the heel) was already in contact with the floor led to the
idea of signs for a heel drop and a toe drop, 36h. Philippa Heel Toe
Heale and Billie Mahoney were instrumental in establishing 36h drop or
drop
this usage, much needed in Spanish dance and tap. These
signs, accepted at ICKL 1969, were not used by Knust. (AHG 1970)

36.10 However, Knust felt the need for additional

degrees for heel contact and applied the lower
and higher indications used for the ball of the 36i
foot to the heel in his 1979 book, 36i.
1/4 Heel 3/4 Heel Full Heel

(AK 1979)
36.11 Sliding Contact.
No indication of sliding contact occurs in Laban's 1928 or 1930 books. Ex. 36j shows simple
1938 examples of doubling the contact hook. This is given in AHG 1954, 36k and AK 1956,
361. In AHG 1954 sliding from one part to another entailed doubling both hooks, 36m; AK
needed only one of each, 36n. His rule was adopted by ICKL in 1963.

36j " I 36k

192a_ 1
Sliding on the toe 361 36m 36n

(SL 1936-38) (AHG 1954) (AK 1956) (AHG 1954) (AK 1956)
 The Labanotator, No. 69, October 1992

36.12 In Hungary, to indicate, the whole foot hook

was doubled laterally, as in 36o. This example
comes from the 1959-60 book Tdnctudomdnyi
Tanulmdnyok.
36q
36.13 Of additional interest in this book is the use (AK 1979)
of dotted bows for 'almost touching', 36p. A
dotted hook sign appears in AK 79, 36q. 36p
t-

36.12 Time Significance in Hook Placement (Hungary 1959)

Originally a hook attached to a gesture or a
support symbol modified the whole sign, thus
placement did not have to be exact. This can
be seen in 36r taken from Laban 1956; the
same was used in AHG 1954. Knust estab-
lished that the hook had time significance, 36s
36s, thus the moment of contact could be at
the beginning (a), the middle (b) or at the end
(c) of the gesture. This rule also applied to
(Laban 1956) (AK 1956 [1951])
hooks on sliding gestures. Adopted in 1963
by ICKL this rule brought with it the need to distinguish between unit timing and specific
timing.

36.13 Because use of the foot for a new support occurs at the start of the step, the hook should,
theoretically always be placed at the very beginning. However, centering the hook is still in
common practice with no change in meaning. Exs. 36t-u are from AHG 1954 and AK 1956
which are unchanged in 1979. When two hooks occur on a step symbol as in 36v-w, first used
SL 1936-38, their placement has time significance. For change of level on an existing support
hook placement has time significance, 36x. This fact has not appeared in the main publications.

36t b_ 36u 36v 36w 36x

(AHG 1954) (AK 1956; 1979) (AHG 1954) (AK 1956) (Present Day)
36.14 Unspecified Contact Hook
The need for a foot/leg contact sign which did not specify a
particular part of the foot was adopted at ICKL 1977. The
hook must be drawn larger and symmetrical, 36y. 36y
(ICKL 1977)
37. QUANTITY SIGNS; SPACE MEASUREMENT; DISTANCE.

Space Measurement a) X
37.1 In 1928 and 1930 Laban gave the signs of 8 narrow.
37a. Their application was initially for
describing supports; distance for steps and
37a
b) x 3
positions. (Laban 1928)
 The Labanotator, No. 69, October 1992

37.2 In Laban 1928 these signs,used in 37b,show size of the 2nd position changing from narrow to
wide and again to narrow while jumping. In 37c the X is used for a leg gesture. Laban states:
"Standing on the toes; full turn on the right foot to the right; with narrow middle level gesture
of the left leg to right back over in front."

37b 37c

(Laban 1928) (Laban 1928)

37.2 Two examples appear in Laban 1930: 37d is described as "Movements with separated limbs of
the upper part of the body." The wide sign appears after the right hand sign and would appear
to relate to that. In 37e the wording only describes the number of steps circling to right or left;
no mention is made of the meaning of the wide sign which would seem akin to the early LN
way of writing an outward spiral. (See AHG 1954, p. 86.)

<2axaaSSSiS*iS&$&
37d 37e
(Laban 1930) (Laban 1930)
37.3 By 1951 Knust had changed the wide sign, making it more compact to fit into a column. For
unification purposes this drawing of the sign was adopted by ICKL in 1965. In 1951 Knust
had two degrees for narrow and for wide, 37f. By 1956 he had introduced the doubled X sign
but not the doubled narrow. Ex. 37g was the SL 1936-38 usage. Interpretation in use of the
double wide sign differed. In AK 1956,37h, a 'wide arm gesture', meant stretch only the
elbow. The double wide, 37i, meant both elbow and hand were stretched. In contrast AHG
1954 37j meant whole arm stretched while 37k meant reaching out further in space, i.e.
shoulder involvement.
37g
(SL 1936-38) M
37h oo M 37i o0 37k
X VI 37j
M
37f X X \A (A K 1956] (AHG 1954)
(AK 1951)
37.4 Before adopting the whole torso sign in 1963 and before the
advent of body sections (1959), Knust used the double wide
sign to indicate the trunk (shown by the chest symbol) tilting
from the ankles, 371.

37.5 Laban 1956, used 37m for the following: "The head can also
be held either very low (narrowly) by bending and pressing
371 37m C
the chin to the chest or very high (widely), as in the (AK 1956) (Laban 1956)
colloquial expression "with the nose in the air."

37.6 The six degree scale, 37n, was introduced by AHG 1954. Interpretation of the degrees for
lengthening the limbs changed. By 1970 LN had only two degrees of lengthening for the
limbs; reaching out was analysed as an inclusion. Degrees for length of step were worked out
by AHG and AK (see AHG 1970, p. 163).
 The Labanotator, No. 69, October 1992
SPACE MEASUREMENT SIGNS
Small. Flexed. Large, Stretched.*
X ' 1 degree, small (rounded) - 1 degree, long (stretched)
X - 2 degrees - 2 degrees
(AHG 1954) )§£ - 3 degrees fright angle) - 3 degrees
^ - 4 degrees, very small (bent) - 4 degrees, very long (extended)
^ - 5 degrees - 5 degrees
X ' 6 degrees (totally flexed) - 6 degrees
37n
37.7 Distance from the Floor, Distance from Place
The idea of distance for touching leg gestures was derived from distance of a step. Therefore
the distance sign was placed in the support column, near to the start of the leg gesture. Ex.
37o from AHG 1954 illustrates such usage. The same examples are given in AK 1956, 37p.

37o 37p
622 a 6221,
(AHG 1954) (AK 1956)

37.8 In AHG 1970 distance of non-touching gestures was presented. In 37q distance is stated as
describing nearness to the floor, but in 37r (on the next page in the book) distance is illustrated
as being the separation of the legs, i.e. distance from place (center line).

37q
The legs only slightly apart The legs closer together,
nearer to center
(AHG 1970)
37.9 This difference in meaning was discussed at ICKL 1971 and the suggestion made that the signs
for spreading and closing, 37s, (invented by AHG 1954, p. 177) should be used to indicate
distance from center line, and the measurement signs used for distance from the floor, this
switch in meaning of the measurement signs in the support column being accepted as a
convention. In 37t the jump is high but the legs are close together; in 37u the legs are spread
but close to the floor, in 37v the legs are near each other and close to the floor.

37s
26.
rf w i n j
"
>i.s '
^t> i '^tf' xK
^^ ]x*

37u
^s^- ^^
• O^ ^"5-
^i .95s

37v
•i^' ^i\t

(ICKL 1971)
38. FLEXION, EXTENSION

38.1 Laban did not deal with the physical actions of flexion and extension in a direct way. A
gesture which was narrow (in near space) had to be flexed so that the extremity could be closer
 The Labanotator, No. 69, October 1992

1 degree 2 degrees 3 degrees

Normal (rounded) (bent) (90° angle)
(AHG 1954)

ll-
6 degrees
4 degrees 5 degrees
38a 94 (totally flexed)

38.2 For 38b (AK 1956) the term is "Degrees of narrowness for arm gestures." Placement of the
measurement sign before a direction symbol had the same effect as placed in front of a
direction step - distance from place. The possibility of describing directly the physical actions
of flexion and extension did not exist.

38b
£06
(AK 1956)
38.3 Invention by AHG of the signs for folding and unfolding, 38c, made it possible to distinguish
between contraction and folding (curvingT arching) in die category of flexion, and elongating
and unfolding as specific forms of extension. These signs were accepted at ICKL 1969. While
these signs are usually listed under the heading of "Space Measurement", or "Measurement
Signs", they are neither, they represent an anatomical activity unrelated to space. There are
measurable degrees of folding, curving, which refer to the degree of closing a joint, or of
curving the spine or hand. The signs themselves indicate over which surface the body part is to
fold/curve.
Folding (Bending) *. ^ |c * ' TT etc.
(AHG 1970) ^ ¥ ^ & % X, F. RFD. R. RBD. B.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Unspecified The different physical directions
38c The 6 degrees of folding (bending) folding into which folding can occur.

38.4 Degrees of and directions for unfolding were provided, 38d, but these were found not to be
needed; from a flexed situation it is sufficient simply to indicate unfolding. Thus 38e is the
sign used. This was accepted at ICKL in 1987.
-A- ^ }• X ¥ etc.
/A* F. RFD. R. RED. B.
38e
(AHG 1970) A- A A- A A A
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Unspecified The different physical directions
(ICKL 1987)
38d The 6 degrees of unfolding unfolding into which unfolding can occur.
38.5 Similarly lateral closing and opening, 38f, are body related signs, not space measurements.
Along
(AHG 1970) lateral ^
" axis: Joining, closing, adducting Spreading, separating, abducting

38.6 Spreading and closing for sagittal and diagonal body directions, s
38g-h, (contributed by AHG) were accepted by ICKL in 1987. 38g I 38h N

(ICKL 1987)
 The Labanotator, No. 69, October 19921

38.7 Contracting over a particular body surface, 38i, or stretching a particular surface, 38j, relates to
the physical activity rather than space measurement; examples from AK 1979.

These were h X| X IX Ml
accepted at
ICKL 1967 * X| IX
38i f Xl X |X 38j (AK 1979)
38.8 'Measurement Signs' within Other Symbols
The X sign was used by SL 1936-38 to indicate the waist,
38k. This sign was adopted by AK in 1961. In 1965 came |x
use of the X to indicate pelvic directions judged from the 38k 381 Z 38m 3
waist down, 381, and also the unit of pelvis-plus-waist, 38m. (ICKL 1965)
38.9Knust established an X placed within a diamond, 38n, to mean a spot hold. At ICKL 1967 this
was changed to 38o, leaving 38n, now drawn as 38p, free to represent small spatial aspects, i.e.
small in size (small use of space) with 38q indicating large in size (large use of space).
or
38n 38o 38p
(AK 1956) — -~r (ICKL 1967) 38q 38r
38.10 As developed by Knust, X and I/I placed within a circle, as in 38r refer to physical aspects
than spatial) and are particularly useful for describing groups (see ICKL 1967).

38.11 The sign X within certain signs refers to 'inside'; 38s indicates the lungs (within the chest),
ICKL 1967. Placed within the C sign representing the head, the X indicates the inside, i.e. the
mouth, 38t (AK 1956). Specific parts, teeth, etc. are shown by adding the appropriate pin, 38u,
(AK 1970). Similarly the wide sign combined with the C represents outer aspects, i.e. hair,
38v. All these signs were invented by Knust.

38s M 38t ^ 38u 38v

d1
(ICKL 1967) (AK 1956) (AK 1970)

38.12 As mentioned in issue No. 68, the measurement signs combined with stage area signs indicate
near or far from the stated area. Ex. 38w shows placement near the downstage left corner; 38x
shows in the wing of that corner, i.e. offstage. Ex. 38y shows near the walls of the room or
stage, while 38z states somewhere offstage; AK 1956. These signs were evolved by Knust; at
ICKL 1967 Valerie Preston-Dunlop contributed some further development.

38w 38x 38y 38z

(AK 1956)
38.13 Neither Bent nor Stretched; Neither Small nor Large.
Combining the X and H signs to indicate neutral, i.e. "neither", at 38aa 38bb
first appeared too easily confused with a butterfly sign, 38aa. MSz
indicated that this need not be so and to her we are indebted for this (MSz)
useful cancellation sign of 38bb. Adopted ICKL 1977.
 The Labanotator, No. 69, October 1992

38.14 Three-dimensional Contraction, Extension; Any Form of Flexion, Extension

For the body-as-a-whole as well as for the chest indication of three-dimensional contraction,
38cc, and extension, 38dd, was needed. For freedom in choice, as in improvisation the general
indication of 'any' was needed to be applied to these signs. Ex. 38ee shows any form of
flexion, while 38ff is any form of extension, AHG 1970.

38cc 38dd 38ee 38ff We

(AHG 1970)
38.15 Only the main differences and developments have been covered here. Many more minor
aspects could be unearthed and presented fully. A fascinating subject and ideal for a thesis or
dissertation. What is important at this point is for the general user of the Laban system to have
some idea of how the system developed and, in as much as it can be determined, why. Focus
in this series is on the early development; recent changes are known or easier to locate through
the ICKL conference reports.

Editor: Ann Hutchinson Guest

Associate Editor: Jane Dulieu
Production: Alison Peirce, Jean Johnson Jones

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