ABSTRACT
Many of the early experiences in Bohemia helped establish Laban's awareness that the best life was the balanced life and the life that had integration and wholeness. He saw a clear connection between work, recreation and worship; in the balanced lives there is a natural rhythm which unites effort and recovery throughout daily existence, giving it harmony. In work, people expend their efforts, while in recreation and worship their efforts should be directed towards the recovery of spent energy and a quest for more spiritual values. As a child, Laban had seen peasant dances, religious processions and court ceremonials as an integrated part of social existence. He had observed men and women who showed in their movement that they had a pride in their work which was often accompanied by gaiety and song. These folk carried their sense of rhythm into recreation and spiritual expression. But Laban recognized other forms of recreation too.
