ABSTRACT
A Life for Dance was published in 1935 when Laban was Director of the Deutsche Tanzbühne (German Dance Organisation) in Berlin under the Nazi regime. In this autobiography he exercises his flair for descriptive writing, and although dates and names are not mentioned, and chronology is not respected, it is a vivid account of important moments in his life working as an organiser, teacher, researcher and creator of dance. His Festzug der Gewerbe (Pageant of the Trades) which took place in Vienna in June 1929 must have been an important event for him, since he returns to it in Effort and Recovery (written between 1950 and 1953) where he reiterates his belief in the value of active participation in movement:
This shows very clearly that our modern trend to be a passive and critical spectator is an arch-enemy of the real recovery to be gained from the art of movement, in dancing as well as also in communal singing or speaking. There are obviously two kinds of movement, one is presentative, made for an audience, and the other kind is made for the recovery value it contains which the performers enjoy by themselves. In adult civilisations there is, as it seems, not much place for the latter kind.… Thousands of people can now experience the benefit of the rhythm and flow of dance, not only as spectators but also as active players in the joy of moving. 1
