What is LBMS?

What is LBMS?

The Laban/Bartenieff Movement System (LBMS) is a system for experiencing, observing, describing and understanding human movement. It connects practical movement experience with concepts that help us recognise what we experience and engage with it consciously.

LBMS explores Body, movement qualities (Effort), changes in form (Shape), Space and Relationship. This includes how the body organises movement, its dynamics and expression, how the body’s shape changes, and how we orient ourselves in space. Relationship describes how we position ourselves in relation to one another, shape closeness and distance, and connect through movement and touch. It also includes relationships between parts of the body.

Bartenieff Fundamentals are part of this work. They draw on fundamental patterns of movement development and allow us to experience the body’s coordination and interconnectedness through movement.

Exploring, observing and naming make our own movement habits clearer and open up new possibilities. This helps us develop coordination, spatial awareness, expression and interaction with others — foundations that also enrich learning and improvisation in dance.

LBMS in Tango Teaching

In his tango teaching, Georg uses LBMS to deepen the learning experience in ways that respond to the people involved and their questions. Deep understanding, the joy of sharing knowledge and openness to new ideas work together in this approach. Dance involves more than just the body, just as thinking involves more than just the head. Through the interplay of our embodied experience, possibilities open up for movement and dance, expression and feeling, concepts, play and connection.