Dick McCaw

Laban and Me

My connection with Laban began in 1999 when I was looking for an expert to lead a workshop as part of the programme of the 2000 International Workshop Festival at the Jerwood Space, London. I met with Geraldine Stephenson who at first solidly refused to give a workshop claiming that she was at 74 too old. I prevailed and she gave a workshop and a talk (which is transcribed in the Interview section). I wanted her to give another workshop in my final programme as Director. When she said this could only be possible if she had an assistant, I offered my services. ‘But you can’t move’, she replied. But she agreed to teach me and thus began my seven-year movement education. Geraldine was a generous teacher and insisted that I broaden my Laban education by meeting other of his former students. Thus I met Warren Lamb who coloured my whole understanding of Laban, indeed of movement itself. 

Lamb in turn introduced me to Eden Davies whose brilliant Beyond Dance: Laban’s Legacy of Movement Analysis (Routledge, 2006) which explored how Lamb developed Laban’s ideas. She also ran Brecon Books and published my first book, An Eye for Movement: Warren Lamb’s Career in Movement Analysis (2006). When Routledge asked Eden to edit The Laban Sourcebook she suggested that I take the job. It was published in 2011. 

In 2007 I began working on John Hodgson’s archive of Laban materials housed in the Special Collections of the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds. With funds from the British Academy I got funding to produce an online catalogue of these Laban materials, this appeared in 2015. I continued working in the archive until 2025. All of the material that went into The Art of Movement: Unpublished Writings of Rudolf Laban (2024) came from Hodgson’s archive. 

I realised that the wealth of material by and about Laban in Hodgson’s archive couldn’t possibly fit into my 2004 book, so decided upon creating LabanResources.info. There are still many of his notes that need transcribing and translating, as well as many articles to be translated. But for that I need to find the funds! 

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About Me 

I co-founded two theatre companies: The Actor’s Touring Company in 1978 with John Retallack and The Medieval Players in 1981 with Carl Heap. From 1993 I was Artistic Director of The International Workshop Festival, and after being a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths and Royal Holloway, University of London I became a Senior Lecturer at RHUL in 2007 until retiring as an Emeritus Reader in 2024. 

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My two books on the Actor’s Body directly address questions of intelligent movement in the context of training for theatre and performance. Training the Actor’s Body – A Guide (2018), addresses how it is that an actor’s body is formed through training and reflects upon the nature and operation of practical exercises. Rethinking the Actor’s Body – Dialogues with Neuroscience (2020) examines how our muscular and skeletal structure is served by our nervous systems and how this can explain the formation of the actor’s body. 

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I continue to write, with An Eye For Movement: How the Legacy of Rudolf Laban helps us understand what we see being submitted for publication by Routledge in December 2026, with publication in 2027. 

London April 2026