Laban's Efforts in Action

Vanessa Ewan is Senior Lecturer on the three-year acting course and Co-Course Leader of the MA in Movement: Directing and Teaching at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London, UK.Kate Sagovsky works as a theatre practitioner, specialising in movement-based work and cross-art-form performance, and is the artistic director of Moving Dust theatre company.

• INTRODUCTIONLaban and His WorkLaban’s Work on EffortApproaching the EffortsAbout this BookHow to Use this BookPart A: THE BIGGER PICTURECHAPTER ONE: MOVEMENT AND THE ACTORWhat is Movement?What is Effort?What is Action?Laban’s Efforts and the ActorCHAPTER TWO: UNLOCKING MOVEMENT POTENTIALThe Body in SpaceBasic LocomotionThe Body as OrchestraPart B: BUILDING BLOCKSCHAPTER THREE: WEIGHT, TIME, SPACEThe Motion FactorsExamining Weight, Time, and SpaceCHAPTER FOUR: EMBODYING THE MOTION FACTORSWeightTimeSpaceDiscovering the Eight Basic EffortsPart C: DISCOVERING THE EFFORTSCHAPTER FIVE: ABOUT THE PROCESSProcess Overview Basic Philosophies CHAPTER SIX (a): THE PROCESS WITH FLOATINGPreparationMeeting the EffortMapping the EffortThe Effort as CodeA Journey (Guided Improvisation)Efforts in the WorldCHAPTER SIX (b): THE OTHER SEVEN EFFORTSDabbingWringingThrustingPressingFlickingSlashingGlidingPart D: THE EFFORTS AT PLAYCHAPTER SEVEN: THE EIGHT EFFORT ARCHETYPESWhat is an Effort Archetype?Embodying the Eight Effort ArchetypesApplying the Eight Effort ArchetypesObserving the Eight Effort ArchetypesCHAPTER EIGHT: THE EFFORT WEAVEWhat is an Effort Weave?Effort Weave PreparationBasic Effort WeaveInternalised Effort WeavesEffort Weaves with An AgendaCHAPTER NINE: EFFORT DUOSWhat is an Effort Duo?Discovering Effort DuosEmbodying Effort DuosEffort EquationCreating Effort EquationsPart E: APPLYING THE EFFORTS CHAPTER TEN: ADVANCED EXPLORATIONS Uniting Efforts and Text ‘Giving Birth’: Embodied Storytelling Creating a Precise Physical Score ‘Cloning’: Discovering Characters‘Gallery-Glide’: Unlocking Text Manifesting Thoughts and Feelings: Subtext in Action‘Bottling’: Mapping Bottled EmotionsCHAPTER ELEVEN: EFFORTS IN REHEARSALPreparation Creating CharacterThe World of the Play Advanced ObservationFinal ReflectionsAPPENDICESAPPENDIX A: NOTES ON PROCESSThe Role of FlowSelf-ReflectionControlWorking with GesturesWorking with VocalisationUsing MusicThe Game of LifeRelating to ConstraintsAPPENDIX B: A NOTE ON WORD CHOICESAPPENDIX C: FOCUSING THE WORK FOR THE ACTORAPPENDIX D: MUSIC SUGGESTIONSGLOSSARYBIBLIOGRAPHYLIST OF VIDEO RESOURCESABOUT THE AUTHORSINDEX

This is a fresh and invigorating new addition to the Laban for Actors family of publications. It’s just like being in the studio with Vanessa - with practical how-to exercises and guided explorations in Effort, this book will be invaluable for all actors and teachers of movement for actors