The definitive work on the life, achievements and theory of the great choreographer Rudolf Laban Like Picasso in painting, Stravinsky in music or Stanislavski in theatre, Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) has been a seminal influence on the arts in this century. The impact of his theories and practice have influenced the whole course of modern dance and choreography, and his ideas about physical life and expression have also influenced performers in other fields. His mark can be found in the work of artists as diverse as the German dancers and choreographers Mary Wigman, Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch and the British theatre artists Joan Littlewood, William Gaskill, Joan Plowright, Malcolm Ransome and many others In this major new study John Hodgson looks at the different facets and phases of Laban's life and writings to unravel the many strands of his thinking and its application. This is a masterful synthesis of Laban's work, providing a practical understanding of how the human body moves and creates both beauty and purity through movement. It will become a central text for practitioners of dance and theatre as well as the major record of the history and creative development of Rudolf Laban himself.

John Hodgson was for many years the Head of the School of Drama and Theatre Studies at Bretton Hall, (now part of the Faculty of Music, Visual and Performing Arts of the University of Leeds). He taught and studied the work of Rudolf Laban for more than twenty-five years, and was a leading authority on drama and movement. He died in 1997.