Figures: Rudolf Laban

This essay considers Rudolf Laban (1879–1958) as a performance philosopher. Best known for his work as a dancer, dance theorist, teacher and as the ‘founding Father’ of European modern dance, the chapter argues that Laban also made a significant contribution to our understanding of dance and movement as philosophy through his notions of ‘movement-thinking’ and choreosophy. If a performance philosopher is someone who seeks to interrogate the very divides between performance and philosophy; theory and practice; body and mind; thinking and doing, then Laban’s entire oeuvre can be seen as a pursuit of these ideals. However, the essay also considers the collective knowledge produced in and by Laban’s dancers, who perform “his” philosophy in their own, embodied ways.