1. To her family 17 July 1914

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… so far the lessons in the morning have taken a lot of energy. They are fine; we are all very happy; although we do have a lot of inhibitions to overcome, as Brandenburg puts it.

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But it does get easier; our inhibitions are already weakening. Already we are quite capable at putting into the world sentences or words, melodies or rhythms. We are currently practicing our language skills on the following sentence: “Nur durch das Morgentor des Schönen – dringst Du in der Erkenntnis Reich” [“Only through the morning gate of beauty – will you enter the realm of wisdom”].

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Well, folks, when we get back you can look forward to a demonstration of a Laban lesson. There is a lot of good stuff. We are being gently introduced to the fixed positions [“Bestimmungen”]. […]

Laban differentiates between the following stances [“Strebungen”]

A-stance (this is the middle stance, e.g. arms stretched horizontally);

I-stance (this is the highest);

U-stance (this is the deepest/lowest);

E-stance is inclined upwards;

O-stance is slanted downwards.

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In order to record these stances now, he uses the staves of musical notation; so: [Drawing of five lines = a stave, which are assigned the vowel series i, e, a, o, u from top to bottom]. These are only the basic concepts; it gets much more detailed than that. – Does this make sense to you? So, you might get the following instruction: left arm forward e-stance, right arm backward e-stance.

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- This is very simple; because one is the opposite movement of the other. We have already tried to name simple movement chains after their execution.

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- I think Laban is very happy that he has us; and we get the best of it because he does put in all his energy. Next, there will be a small performance in front of invited guests, and we will also have to act as the people in Brandenburg's tragedy [Der Sieg des Opfers]. – ‘Armer Leib, armer Leib! Tot auf der Bahre hingestreckt das Weib!’ [Poor body, poor body! Woman, lying dead on the stretcher!]

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These are our first words. So far, the necessary seriousness has eluded us. The first act is the only finished part and should be ready for an audience in the very near future. [Gertrud] Leistikov, who is not here at the moment, has the main part, so she’ll have to be back first.

 

2. To Her Family 6 November 1916

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As you can tell it’s a busy place. In the theatre programme, or rather newsletter, I came across two advertisements from the Laban School. One under the heading: What the week brings: with ads from the various photo exhibitions, among others. And then the following: Laban School: evening lectures with demonstrations on dance, sound, word. Registrations in the office, Oetenbachgasse 24. As you can see, it’s a lively subject/scene. So far you have only been introduced to the elite among the students here; [let me tell you about] the large crowd of cinema people who show up [to classes] at Oetenbachgasse. And I haven’t written anything about the individual lessons yet, but it’s just too much. Speaking of the cinema people, I also just want to say something about the cinema lessons today, although they are optional in my case. I do [choose to] have a fairly intense programme here, partly because I learn a lot, but also because when it comes to observing people it is far too interesting to miss. Most of the participants here want to become film actors; you would have to see them to fully appreciate the comedic implications of this statement.

- I want to try now to describe some of the structure of a lesson

Gesture exercises: anger, fear, pride, indifference, hatred, affection, joy. Interpretation through facial expression as well as with the whole body.

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Next: two rows. Row I approaches row II with the words: ‘I love you’. R II approaches R I and responds: ‘I love you too’. Then both rows [approach] together with [illegible]: ‘Oh, you!’

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- Since I had an impossible partner in that last lesson, I needed all my available energy, so as not to disturb the exercise with laughing. Then the same [exercise] with: ‘I hate you’, ‘I hate you too’, ‘Oh, you’, which came much easier to me; similarly [an exercise] where you look at the opponent throwing [yourself] on the floor. These are preliminary exercises that demonstrate how few people can control their own bodies - even the ones who think they are quite capable of it - and how few can use their body expressively. One time everyone was asked to express a different character; for example, a frail old peasant woman. Everyone brought something different, some characters were repeated. I presented a mad woman and received applause. And finally you had to improvise a small scene/pantomime. Popular subjects are, of course, marital problems, then also girls in trouble [‘fallen girls’] and scenes with lovers. Out of contrariness I brought something completely different: I came and fed animals (birds), then beckoned to a child and let her help me feed the birds out of my basket. Since then I have had a reputation for having talent as an actress and having an imagination. – If only that were true. But one thing is for sure, I work best in Laban’s lessons - I am also thinking of the others: dance, sound, word and drama.

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3. To Her Mother, 3 January 1917

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I could sing praises to Laban and Frl.. W. [Wigman] in every letter. They really are very special people. At the moment L. works on his wonderful plans well into the night. I would write about it now if it weren’t for censorship; so I prefer to wait until it has come to pass; for now all I want to say is that we may have a wonderful space in view. - Yesterday I had a long conversation with Frl. W; beautiful; among other things she explained to me that she is very happy that I am with them. Of course I had noticed that; but I was very happy to hear her say it. The realisation that I work well here also stems from less enjoyable evidence, namely from the way some people here [‘avoid’ or ‘envy’] me; although I had hardly felt it, but Wiegmann told me.

- […] The structure of a music lesson? E.g. Line up in a semicircle; inhale and exhale a few times. Someone sings one tone; everyone sings the echo; or add a few notes. A chord is produced either harmoniously or often inharmoniously (inharmoniously in the perceived sense; Laban creates something new; very beautiful for/to me) and everyone sings any tone from it; on command whole or semi-tone up or down. And so on. I am only picking out one or two [exercises] here.

All of this is extremely tedious for me; as you can imagine. I much prefer to produce a rhythm by clapping or with an instrument (gong, drum, triangle, tambourine, cymbals), and then to further develop this rhythm through the various instruments; [I like being] the leader of this small orchestra. The result is often quite beautiful. – In the last music lesson we worked on and developed a scene that had originated in drama class. Only in terms of thematic content, of course; because you would use more, different and more imaginative words in speech than when you express yourself in sounds [non-verbal]. Of course, for heaven's sake, no opera arias or recitations (when some of the others sometimes succumb to operatic singing Laban imitates them beautifully). It is more a sounding speech of strong feeling content, amplified by sound stimuli or noises.

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4. To Her Family, 16 January 1917

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Then from 3pm to 5pm, for the first time: Formkunst, ‘Form art’. I worked as intensely as never before during the early years. [The] effect was: a completely drenched shirt. What [did we do] and how? All of us (students, Wiegmann, Ms. Perrottet, Laban) sit in a semicircle, partly on chairs, on stools, on the floor and try to solve tasks.

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- […] So a little bit more about the Formkunstsache, the form art thing. The tasks were: draw any particular forms of beings; once a rhythmic conception, then melodic (feeling stroke/line) and finally in a harmonic conception. Then we drew people in motion and then heads. Our homework is: cat or dog. How we solve this is arbitrary: impressionistic-expressionistic or linear or otherwise. We work with a strong intensity which makes it very beautiful. – And from 5pm to 6pm (although we always seem to go on to 6.30 at least) we had dance pantomime with von Laban.

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- Frl. Taeuber came over for supper; she’s one of the people that I particularly appreciate. She is very busy with her classes in the Kunstgewerbeschule [Applied Arts College in Zurich?]; unfortunately, she can only make it to a few lessons with us. She actually only takes two movement classes and dance pantomime; and her expressive approach is extremely rhythmically grotesque. - […]

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5. To Her Mother, 26 January 1917

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I [used the term] ‘melodically’ drawn as opposed to ‘rhythmically’ [drawn]. The ‘melodic’ [aspect] emphasises the curve of the line; the swelling and [falling/shrinking]; perhaps producing the shape (of a vase, for example) through ensouled or - if you want - animated lines. If I draw a vase “rhythmically, it means that I emphasise the constructed aspect of it, the change from vertical to horizontal and [all] the inclinations in between. With the help of drawings, I could certainly be clearer.

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- Also speaking the [language of] “dance”, by which I mean speaking with an emphasis on the rhythmic [quality], in contrast to speaking with an emphasis on the “melodic”. The third possibility is to speak purely intellectually”, although of course, there is never “purely” one or the other in an ensouled being; but only this or that.

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- In our acting lessons we are currently working hard on speech technology and thoracic [diaphragmatic] breathing. Do you know anything more about Ms. Auer’s voice training method?

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6. To Her Family, 18 February 1917

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In the Sunday consultation we tried something else that I find particularly useful: to discuss a topic in a coherent manner. For example, I was given a pair of scissors and was asked to: ‘Talk about the scissors.’ Then the following exercise: ‘Imagine you are the head teacher of a school for movement art and you have invited the head teacher of a similar school and you want to give a speech at the end of a party.’ In the moment I did really badly. Today on the way I tried both exercises again by myself and it was okay; I am convinced that a lot can be achieved through practice; I think that is very valuable.

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- These were the highlights of the week. Wait; another very nice thing happened to me on Wednesday morning when Herr v L showed me a whole chunk of his [latest] choreographic work; writings, [illegible], drawings that show the lawfulness/regularity of the movement [Gesetzmäßigkeit in der Bewegung] in a wonderfully convincing way. An amazing amount of work has gone into this. So far, everything is [still] in manuscript form. But in a beautifully accomplished form within this manuscript.

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7. To Her Family, 18 March 1917

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Yesterday was the opening of an exhibition of modern painting and literature, created by the Dadaists, from hereon after there will now be a Gallery Dada. This month is Holländer. Wednesdays and Sundays are guided tours and lectures: unfortunately, they coincide with our working hours; I would have liked to learn something. -

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In the next few weeks I will return to work on new architecture; and produce a model for a new dance building. It is amazing; Mr. v L has the whole plan clearly in mind and can quickly sketch it on paper and it always works. Will there ever be such a building on earth? Hopefully before our thoughts have shrunk to nothing.

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8. To Her Family, 22 April 1917

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Thursday evening we had again a theory lesson: ‘Pantomime steps and swings,’ i.e. each of the five steps we divided (into seven parts) and this time we do not take an approach that reflects dance, but instead pantomime. – After dinner, Herr von L read to us something by someone called Scheerbart; he is unfortunately already dead. I believe he was dismissed as an eccentric [in his lifetime]; he wrote fantasy stories. You should read something by him. Herr von L read to us from a book, in which he [Scheerbart] wrote, apparently quite seriously, about “glass architecture”. […]

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My paths of thought are improving; which is necessary; the associations must come much faster. It is comforting that you can really achieve a lot through practice. – All of this should be taught in schools, rather than traditional subject expertise. Then we performed [spoke] two poems by Borngräber; worked through one thoroughly in terms of pitches, tone strength and rhythm. Difficult, but beautiful. […]

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Next Saturday I will interpret a cubist poem at a soiree of the Dada people, together with four others behind a curtain. I can't do it yet; I only know that for the most part it consists of phonetic rhythms, maybe also words in between, but those without grammatical connection. Tuesday evening rehearsals; afterwards I can maybe write a bit more and make an actual value judgement.

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9. To Her Family, 01 July 1917

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On our evening on the 27th (I’m attaching the programme) the film people joined our performance as well and did quite well. There were sharply contrasting types set against each other: black death, black girls; two men dressed in white; two girls in white. Background: bright red; some stools and small tables, all black. There were some very strong moments. – One can clearly see the positive way that the cinema could go. – Now we’re already up to the 23rd and I want to tell you a bit more about it. The programme will give you a broad overview. You can see from this that the school [curriculum] is really diverse and at the same time everything is closely connected.

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- The [character of] the ‘Demon’ was particularly good; Mohr in a black short jacket with wide sleeves, long black pants; Scherrer in burgundy; fitted jacket, short sleeves, wide skirt, ankle-length. The hall was blacked out and the only light source was a fantastic structure that I had made of wire covered in yellow [illegible] material; half a metre tall; it looked something like this. It was placed on the ground, and it was at the centre of the action of the play. The shadows that the two people cast through this strong light source were wonderful; often terrifyingly large and gigantic due to the very pronounced movement.

- Various articles will be written about the school in the near future; perhaps also about the [performance] on the 27th; I will send them [to you]. For example Schweizerland (monthly magazine) is publishing an essay. It is actually amazing how Laban manages to get his ideas out there even in these times, which are making everything infinitely much difficult. The intensity of his willpower and work ethic are hard to put in words.

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- The big push now is to get our own hall, possibly already by this winter. (Of course, it won't be the building I made the models for; it remains a dream for now and wouldn’t be able to be in the city anyway.) – The plans for this building have now been completed by an architect from Basel; in addition to the hall there are a number of studio rooms that would already be rented out. But despite the obvious profitability, it is still difficult enough to really get it done.

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10. To Her Family 15/07/1917

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From eight to ten (most days 10.30) dance lessons [in the dance meadow] divided as follows: 8–9am gymnastics, which I often lead; eventually I’ll lead it always; then a quarter of an hour break. Then dance tone word with focus on the first. Then I climb into a sun-warmed water bath and afterwards I let myself sun and air dry; either lie lazy and turn around like a roasting spit or I do gymnastics. Then back home for lunch.