IADMS New York 2002   [back to the Category]

Integrating Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals into the Ballet Classroom   [read the french version]

Author :   Cadence Whittier, MFA, CLMA

Integrating Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff
Fundamentals into the Ballet Classroom

Cadence Whittier, MFA, CLMA
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Geneva, New York, USA


My intention in the Movement Session is to demonstrate one effective way to use the Bartenieff Fundamentals as an approach to conditioning within the ballet classroom. The content of the presentation will cover the following three areas:

1. How the Bartenieff Fundamentals can be tailored to work within the ballet class environment;

2. How the Fundamental Patterns of Total Body Connectivity (1) facilitate both the wellness and technical growth of ballet dancers;

3. How the Laban Movement Analysis theories of shape and space can be woven into the above areas in order to facilitate a dancer’s ability to communicate through his or her body.

The movement experiences within this session will allow the participants to experience each part of the above process. It is my hope that through the identification of the parts in the process, the participants will gain a more complete understanding of the pedagogical potential of this conditioning approach.

As a Certified Laban Movement Analyst (CLMA), I hold the perspective that the LMA system serves as a framework for the Bartenieff Fundamentals. The theories of space, shape, and effort assist the dancers in bringing the technique beyond their bodies and into the space around them. It is this process that makes their dancing an integrated art form that involves both technical and expressive elements.



Reference:
. Hackney, Peggy. Making Connections. Gordon and Breach Publishers. 1998.