Rudolf von Laban

Lore & Background

Laban was the son of Rudolf Laban Sr., a military governor and field marshal in the Austro-Hungarian Army, and Marie Bridling. Laban grew up in courtly circles of Vienna and Sarajevo, joined a csárdás dance group at a young age, and entered the Theresian Military Academy at 15 before turning away from military service. After Martha's sudden death and his father's death soon after, his children grew up with their maternal grandparents. Laban led an unsteady life between Paris, Vienna, Sanremo, and Nice, completing an apprenticeship as an accountant in Nice. He later worked as a graphic artist and caricaturist in Vienna, and married singer Maja Lederer in 1910. Overworked, he collapsed in 1912 and went to the Lahmann-Sanatorium Weißer Hirsch near Dresden, where he met Suzanne Perrottet, who became his collaborator, lover, and mother of his child Allar Perrottet. During World War I, Laban created a school on the natural healing colony Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland, where he conducted famous summer dance courses from 1913 to 1919. There he experienced his intellectual and artistic breakthrough, celebrating the 'neuen Menschen' in expressionist dance dramas.

Reader's Guide

Rudolf von Laban's significance lies in his foundational contributions to modern dance and movement analysis. He is considered a founding father of expressionist dance and a pioneer of modern dance, and his theoretical innovations—Laban movement analysis and Labanotation—provided systematic methods for documenting and analyzing human movement, influencing dance notation and movement analysis. He initiated one of the main approaches to dance therapy, and his work on theatrical movement has been influential. Laban attempted to apply his ideas to fields including architecture, education, industry, and management.

Did You Know?

• He founded a school on the natural healing colony Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland, during World War I.
• Laban was a member of a Freemason association since 1913 and founded his own masonic lodge in Zürich.
• He completed an apprenticeship as an accountant in Nice, which was his only encounter with regular working life.