What is Laban movement analysis?
'''Laban movement analysis''' (LMA) describes human [[movement]]. It is based on the original work of [[Rudolf Laban]],<ref>Laban R. 1920. ''Die Welt des Taenzers'' [The world of Dancers]. Stuttgart: Walter Seifert.</ref><ref>Laban R. 1928. ''Schriftanz: Methodik, Orthographie, Erlaeuterungen''. Vienna: Universal Edition.</ref> and many others helped to develop it. Its main and original purpose was to be a [[dance notation]]. Before [[photographic film|film]] and [[video]] were developed, there was no way to record dance moves so that later dancers could use those moves. The transmission of dance from one [[generation]] to the next depended on older expert dancers teaching young dancers. The problem was especially notable in [[modern dance]], where the vocabulary of classical dance figures was expanded with almost no limits. Towards the end of his life, Laban extended his ideas into the movements workers made during physical work.<ref>Laban, Rudolf & Lawrence F.C. 1947. ''Effort''. London: MacDonald & Evans.</ref><ref>Newlove J. 1993. ''Laban for actors and dancers: putting Laban's movement theory into practice''. Nick Hern Books, London. {{ISBN|978-1-85459-160-9}}</ref> LMA draws from many fields including [[anatomy]], kinesiology and [[psychology]]. It is used by dancers, [[actors]], [[gymnast]]s and many other groups. However, it is fair to say that it is now largely replaced by video recordings. Also, it is not the only kind of dance notation, and not the only way human movement can be written down as a record for later generations. And, it was not the first such system. For example, in the 1680s Pierre Beauchamp had a dance notation system for [[baroque]] dance, and in 1887/8 [[Eadweard Muybridge]] started to use film to record human and animal movement. It is film and video which has transformed our understanding of motion, rather than dance notation. But in its field the Laban notation was notable.<ref>Hutchinson Guest A. 1989. ''Choreographics: a comparison of dance notation systems from the fifteenth c