ABSTRACT
Martin Gleisner argued that it was impossible to sum up Laban’s influence, he was someone who possessed the movement equivalent of perfect pitch. Although he might not have been the creator of a systematic pedagogy, most agree that he was a figure who constantly inspired his students. This chapter begins with many personal testaments to his genius for inspiration. The Hungarian choreographer Aurel Milloss speaks for many when he says that he ‘didn’t learn anything’ from his private lessons with Laban, ‘but he inspired me very much.’ In summing up he argues that Laban ‘was not a pedagogue, he was a great inspiration, a hypnotist, a great stimulator.’
Apart from the testaments of former pupils the chapter includes practical exercises from his books on Dance and Gymnastics 1926, and an account of his Choreographic Institute when it moved to Berlin in 1928. There is also an exchange of letters between Gleisner and Laban concerning the remit of the Laban Central School and its relation to the growing number of Laban Schools.
