Laban's The Mastery of Movement on the Stage, first published in 1950, quickly came to be accepted as the standard work on his conception of human movement. When he died, Laban was in the process of preparing a new edition of the book, and so for some time after his death it was out of print. That a second edition appeared was solely due to the efforts of Lisa Ullmann, who, better than any other person, was aware of the changes that Laban had intended to make. The rather broader treatment of the subject made advisable the change of title, for it was recognised that the book would appeal to...

When towards the end of the last century Rudolf Laban began to take an interest in all forms of dance, it was with an enthusiastically searching mind, looking for the very roots of active living. He believed the key for the unfolding of human capacities to be embedded in the dynamic configurations of dance and that man could enhance his creative powers by becoming aware of the nature of shapes and rhythms through which living organisms express and communicate. Choreutics can be said to contain the essence of Laban's thought as well as an elaboration of the framework which he found useful for...