Rudolf Laban

Born in Austria-Hungary in 1879 Laban was educated in Munich and Paris, where he took courses on art. Later on, he began to look into dance, which he took on. He did a lot of work with dance, from choreographing plays, teaching dance, to working out how factory workers could move around in the most efficient way. He then developed so called “laws of movement” (www.motushumanus.org)
"Rudolf Laban." Motus Humanus. Motus Humanus. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.motushumanus.org/Laban.html>.
Rudolf Laban came up with a system of recording human movements called Labanotation. However, it started out as a way of writing dance. It is used to this day to record dance and human movements.
"Rudolf Von Laban." Infoplease.com. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0828471.html>.
He looked into and originated the study of choreutics. According to this technique an actor or dancer can go to 12 positions depending on their connection to the area around them. It was developed to be a theory of all human movement.  He also worked on eukinetics, a system that helps a dancer with their gestures and steps. 
"Rudolf Laban (European Dance Theorist)." Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica Online Encyclopedia, 2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/326639/Rudolf-Laban>.
The Laban Movement Analysis is a way of analysing human movement. It connects movement to the overall picture, in dance, acting or even scientifically. The method comes up with a few options of moving from a certain place, which helps in devising a movement pattern, either with the intention of it looking nice or being orderly. Using this a person can come up with a significant set of moves. The LMA deals with the body’s movements in all directions, taking into consideration the frequency of use of the limbs and how often they are used in a set of movements.  “This approach uses the patterns of radial, head-tail, left-right, upper & lower, and diagonal connectivity” (http://originsofmovement.com/Laban.htm). It looks at a persons “ effort quantities” and “ effort elements”, their connection to space and the people around them, and the entire world. It also focuses on a persons connection to themselves. 
Smith, Annelies. "Laban Movement." Embodyoga and Bodywork. Annelies Smith, 2006. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. <http://originsofmovement.com/Laban.htm>.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Today, we played Straigtman. It was an interesting game, particularly since I was one of the weird family members. However, it was hard to act weird in a feasible way. I managed to create an over-welcoming, peculiar character however. The scene lasted long, but at times it did not advance fast enough. When Helen, who was the straightman, and I were on stage, most of the time we just talked, not necessarily getting much further into the scene. However, at times, crucial information was passed on, so those moments had their merits. On the other hand, it was hard to do much else because we were the only two characters on scene. Some others came into the scene, but the scene definitely did not get weird until some of the guys came on stage and began to act a little like zombies, kicking each other and falling on each other. These characters could not hear anything either. At the end, when we were supposed to tie up the lose ends, it was hard to justify these characters, and it ended up with some others being killed or made into the zombie-like creatures as well. Then it just got weird. This was challenging, tying up the lose ends at the end, because we had kind of let our imagination fly, and had not thought ahead to justifying our characters.

Tuesday, 12th of October 2010

Today, we did some handles. First, three people, Rasmus, Anders and Sebastian went up, and did a handle where one person sat, one person stood and one person lay. It proved difficult, as it was hard to justify the physical positions, but it turned out quite comical. Then we all wrote lines one a piece of paper, and then the actors were given three, and they had to say them at some point in the dialogue, but the issue was that some of them did not talk much otherwise. Again, it was hard to justify. This, it seems is something that could need practice: justifying saying something or a physical position. Then, we played a game where a man went to look for his fiancé, and her family tried to prevent him finding her. This was quiet funny and the scene was successful- lasting well over five minutes. This is doubtless because the game was rather straightforward and you didn’t need to be aware of anything else than the scene and how it would advance.

Reflection on Improvisation Research project

The research Project was interesting and informative over all. It allowed us to experiment with different forms of improv. I for one had not realized that there were different types of improvisation. This meant that the hardest part of the project was researching improvisation techniques that I could use. I debated betwen Commedia dell arte and the Harold. In the end, I chose the Harold because it was more interesting in my opinion. Then, with the research done, I designed by mini-workshop. The hardest part was to fit the techniques that I wanted to practice into fifteen minutes. Still, I managed to come up with a plan that included the main techniques of the Harold- forming a scene around a word and forming three different scenes that all relate to the same word. The others found it hard. They found it hard to come up with one well-developed scene, and even harder to invent three. The first scene lasted a few minutes but the others fell apart very soon. I realized that my technique was quite hard. However, my group could have put in more effort and more energy. They were not exactly co-operating with each other. However, I learned new techniques from them as well. I learned about Commedia dell arte and about how it is based upon different characters that wear masks. This makes it easier to improvise because you have a certain personality, a certain character to refer to. What kind of situation would they get into? What would they do or say at this point?  Our group also learned about an improv game that is very near “Die , Story, Die”. You are in a group, and in order you begin to tell the story, with the moderator pointing at you when it is your turn to talk. However, you do not die. This is a useful technique to practice improvisation as it tests your ability to think on you feet. This game actually worked very well in our group. Christian who had planned the experiment did a good job. These were all of the improv techniques that our group had, since several people did Commedia dell arte. All of these are great in terms of having fun with improv, but on a more serious level the story game is the best. Like I just said, you have to think on your feet to come up with a plausible continuation of the story. This is one of the hardest skills of improv, so this game should definitely be used. Then games like the Harold actually work, though it is good for practicing establishing platforms. I contemplated making the group establish three platforms based on the word. The idea would be that if the a good platform is establish, the audience can already see where that scene is going and how it differs from the other scenes based on that word. However, it is difficult and not the objective of the Harold, so I chose not to do that. Commedia dell arte is a great technique to try if you are starting with improv as you have support from the characters. It could also be that you focus too much on the character, and not enough on the scene, but I doubt it. All in all, it was a successful project.

Evaluation of Improvisation Unit

In this unit, I have made some progress. Looking back, I would say that my greatest improvement was actually having the courage and the ability to go up on stage and establish a platform, like I did at Theatre Sports. At the first lesson, didn’t really dare to do much at all. All in all, the group’s best achievement is being able to hold a scene together. At the beginning, the scenes were everywhere, but many of the scenes performed in Theatre Sports flowed well, like our groups, Scene Three Ways, and In and Out Scenes. There was still a bit of the problem of there not being a solid plot in the Alphabet madness, but that is a hard game. In the beginning, we struggled with an ordinary scene. As I said, I personally have grown more confidence, which is essential for Improvisation, as you need to take loads of risks. Also, I think that we all have become better at thinking on our feet. A great demonstration of this was Sebastian’s performance during Theatre Sports, Die, Story, Die. It is not an easy game, as you have to think on the spot and fast. All of the scenes as well have proved how much we have improved in this skill because they flow better.  All in all, I think that this Unit was good as we learned and improved.

Evaluation of Theatre Sports

Theatre Sports on Thursday the 3rd of October was a success, in my opinion. The audience enjoyed it and so did the actors, I believe. At least I did, though it was occasionally quiet stressing. However, I surprised myself and actually even went on stage first. This was something I was a little concerned about. Some of the handles went well for our group- I believe that the Scene Three ways was one of the best ones. There was a solid platform and story. It was occasionally a little hard to integrate the movie genres, but we managed, the Bollywood version being especially funny. The Sci-fi one was quite hard.  The handle where everyone was assigned a word, In and Out, was good as well, though it lacked a solid plot. The problem is that people keep on going on and off, not always giving a plausible excuse for their appearance and disappearance.Also, seeing the movie, we did not use a lot of the space.  The alphabet madness handle was hard; you put your energy into focusing on the letter, not on the plot, something that should be reversed. Also, I completely forgot what handle we were playing at one point, and my letters were all over the place. After I realized it, it was hard to make a coherent sentence. Others inmy group found it hard as well, and so at one point there was an akward silence. Also, in Freeze tag, I went up, but was unable to think of anything to say. Still, I was trying to look for money to hand to the church, so at least I didn’t loom completely out of place. All in all, I need to work on thinking on my feet, as it is not always so easy. Still, it gets easier if there are other characters and there is a solid plot.