Laban, Rudolf

Laban, Rudolf (von)

(born Dec. 15, 1879, Bratislava, Austria-Hungary—died July 1, 1958, Weybridge, Surrey, Eng.) Hungarian modern-dance teacher, inventor of the Labanotation system of dance notation. After studying dance in Paris, he opened his Choreographic Institute in Zürich, Switz., in 1915 and later founded branches in Italy, France, and central Europe. From 1919 to 1937 he worked in Germany, where in 1930–34 he was ballet director of the Berlin State Opera. In 1928 he published his method for recording all forms of human motion, which enabled choreographers to record the dancer's steps and other body movements, including their rhythm. In 1938 he joined his former pupil Kurt Jooss and taught dance in England, where he later formed the Art of Movement Studio. His system was further developed and maintained at centres in Essen, Ger., and New York.