In my free resource, the Complete Guide to Movement & Music, I wrote about Rudolf Laban's Movement Analysis.
In the guide, I focus on two of Laban's major concepts - Body Awareness and Effort Factors; and now I want to explore a 3rd concept - Space Harmony.
What is Space Harmony?
Laban used the term Space Harmony to refer to where we move. This idea of where we move is multi-faceted. We can explore different aspects, like:
- Place (Self Space, General Space)
- Size (Big, Small, Near Reach, Far Reach)
- Level (High, Middle, Low)
- Direction (Forward, Backward, Sideways, Up, Down)
- Pathway (Curved, Zigzag, Straight)
How to Explore It
There are many ways to explore these various aspects of space - albeit somewhat self-explanatory! :)
Just remembering to consider these in your movement can greatly enhance your expression and creativity and that of your students. Here are some ways I explore Space Harmony with my students:
1. Place
If thinking about Self-Space, you might imagine your feet are glued to the ground, but you can still move everything else; or that you're inside a bubble that isn't moving, but you can move inside it.
If you take that bubble and travel around the room, you will be moving in General Space. General Space includes all of the space that's available to you once you leave where you are.
2. Size
Imagine you're a little fish egg, legs and hands are drawn into the center. This is Small Size or Near Reach. Now grow into a full-grown octopus, with arms and feet far from the center. This is Big Size or Far Reach.
3. Level
Let's pretend: you're picking apples from a tall tree, way up on a High Level. Watch out! You're going to hit your head on that branch! You have to crouch down a little bit to a Middle Level. Oh no - one of your apples is rolling away! Now you have to reach way down to a Low Level to pick it up.
4. Direction
Imagine that you are walking down the street (Forward) and then a ferocious tiger greets you, so you find yourself backing up (Backwards). Then, there's a doorway next to you that is really narrow, so you have to sneak in Sideways. Oh, there's a pool in this room! And there's a gold coin at the bottom of the pool! Dive way Down to the bottom and get it. Oh no! You hear that tiger, again! You better swim Up and reach Up to grab the rope that's hanging from that helicopter. This is how we explore direction!
5. Pathway
Let's imagine we're driving your car along a winding road (Curved Pathway) and then the road became straight. We just have to turn when the road turns (Straight). Whoa! This road has a lot of little sharp turns (Zig-zag).
So, why do we teach Space Harmony? Why is it important? Because every movement involves an exploration of space. (Click to tweet that!) Deepening student awareness of space, in its various manifestations, allows for safe, expressive, engaging movement.
What are some ways that you explore Space Harmony with your students? What sort of creatures & objects do your imaginations let you become?