A Conductor s Expressive Palette: Bringing Every Note to Life through Gesture Dr. Trent A. Hollinger

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1 A Conductor s Expressive Palette: Bringing Every Note to Life through Gesture Dr. Trent A. Hollinger As artists and ensemble leaders, we bring the emotional and expressive power of music to life through gesture in our conducting. Yet as conductors, we often lack a robust gestural vocabulary. Explore meaningful gesture through participatory exercises and applications from the primer of Rudolf Laban s movement research. Leave feeling refreshed and invigorated as a mover and communicator with practical skills and the building blocks to a richer, fuller, and more expressive conducting palette. Bring your batons (and hands) and get ready to move! I. Introduction A. Objectives 1. Overview of a singular pedagogical approach to learning and applying meaningful and artistic gesture 2. Practical exercises you can work on to improve your ability to look like the music. B. Importance of Understanding the Score C. Rudolf von Laban: Laban Movement Analysis II. III. IV. Experiential Exploratory Exercises: hands-on practice and movement A. Body Mapping, Architecture, and Your Kinesphere B. The Defense Scale in regard to time, weight, and space C. Two-Dimensional Movement: the Door, Wheel, and Table plane D. Laban Effort Elements & their combinations: Flow, Weight, Time and Space E. The building blocks of a comprehensive gestural vocabulary: Laban s Effort-Action Sequence Application: usage of Laban to develop a gestural vocabulary for musical communication A. Direct correlation between Laban movement analysis and the Life of a Note (Attach, Body, and Release) B. Implications of Laban on conducting fundamentals (i.e. posture, ictus, baton angles, movement plane, kinesphere, etc.) C. How to Practice Laban (10 strategies and exercise) D. Musical Analysis: detailed example and interpretation of musical scores through a systematic gestural approach as learned through Laban Coda A. Bibliography & Sources for further study B. Contact Information

2 A Conductor s Expressive Palette: Bringing Every Note to Life through Gesture I. Introduction What is conducting? The act of communicating (psychologically, emotionally, physically) musical ideas to an ensemble through gesture. What is gesture? Refers to the movement of a body part or combination of parts with the emphasis on the expressive aspects of the movement A. Today s Objectives 1. Overview of a singular pedagogical approach to learning and applying meaningful and artistic gesture 2. Practical exercises you can work on to improve your ability to look like the music. B. Importance of Understand the Score We must understand that meaningful and artistic gesture flows from a deep understanding of the composer s intent through rigorous score. While that is for many other presentations, it should never be overlooked or put on the back burner. C. Rudolf von Laban: Laban Movement Analysis Rudolf von Laban has been referred to as the father of modern dance. Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) applications have been developed for innumerable areas over the past several decades. There is significant and reliable data that supports and proves the efficacy of LMA for use across a wide range of artistic and practical human endeavors. II. Experiential Exploratory Exercises: hands-on practice and movement A. Body Mapping, Architecture, and Your Kinesphere LMA deconstructs human movement into four components: Body, Effort, Space and Shape (BESS). The body component focuses on how the body is used, from where movements originate, and how movements are sequenced throughout the body. B. The Defense Scale in regard to time, weight, and space Dimensional Cross (Defense Scale) the orientation of the body in space with three axes 1. Vertical (high-low) 2. Horizontal (right-left) [from right hand orientation] 3. Sagittal (front-back) [in conducting this one is most often forgotten or ignored] 4. These axes lie perpendicular to one another, and intersect at the point which coincides with the center of the body (your core) or the ictus point for conducting. A Conductor s Expressive Palette 2

HIGH (1) rising with lightness LEFT (3) narrowing with directness BACK (5) retreating with quickness FRONT (6) advancing with sustainment RIGHT (4) widening with flexibility LOW (2) sinking with

Sagittal Plane (wheel plane sagittal and vertical) D.

3 HIGH (1) rising with lightness LEFT (3) narrowing with directness BACK (5) retreating with quickness FRONT (6) advancing with sustainment RIGHT (4) widening with flexibility LOW (2) sinking with strength C. Two-Dimensional Movement: Door, Wheel, and Table plane 1. Vertical Plane (door plane vertical and horizontal axis) 2. Horizontal Plane (table plane horizontal and sagittal) 3. Sagittal Plane (wheel plane sagittal and vertical) D. Laban Effort Elements & their combinations: Flow, Weight, Time and Space People trained in the performance of the eight basic actions, combined with bound and fluent flow, will be more able to choose the appropriate movements for any tasks they face that those who rely entirely upon their natural gifts or intuition... Moreover, complicated tasks contain combined efforts, and the person facing such tasks must be able to connect various movements and actions in unexpected ways. Rudolf Laban. Effort: Economy of Body Movement, pg. 25 Effort is the umbrella term used by Laban to house the specific qualities of Flow, Weight, Time and Space. Strictly defined, Effort is the Observed and kinesthetically felt by-product of the myriad of interaction of Weight, Time and Space that we perceive and feel as Flow. Laban observed that all practical actions are preceded by four phases of inner participation (or mental effort) that are then accompanied by visible, meaningful actions. He summarizes these alongside the effort (or motion) factions: Rudolf Laban. The Mastery of Movement, pg A Conductor s Expressive Palette 3

4 Weight: What is the impact of the motion? What is the quality of the exertion of weight? Vertical Axis: sinking with strength, raising with lightness Time: When does the movement need completed? What is the attitude toward exertion in time? Saggital Axis: retreating with quickness, advancing with sustainment Space: How does the mover approach space? What is the attitude toward exertion in space? Horizontal Axis: narrowing with directness, widening with flexibility Flow: What is the attitude toward the goingness, the quality of continuity of movement? E. The building blocks of a comprehensive gestural vocabulary: Laban s Effort-Action Sequence Combinations of three Effort elements, one each from the Motion Factors of Space, Weight and Time, produce the eight complete efforts or Basic Effort Actions that are referred to as the Action Drive. These produce an Effort-Action Sequence which is the equivalent of a conductor s gestural scale. (Space-Weight-Time) FLOAT (Indirect-Light-Sustained) Using a bubble wand, Spraying room with air freshener, Floating in water PUNCH (Direct-Strong-Sudden) Hit as in boxing, Pounding Fist on Table, Plumping a Pillow GLIDE (Direct-Light-Sustained) Petting an animal, Smoothing out table cloth/ironing, Smear Mortar with Trowel SLASH (Indirect-Strong-Sudden) Cracking a heavy whip, Snapping a towel, Beating a Carpet with a beater DAB (Direct-Light-Sudden) Applying dots of paint to a canvas, Typing on a keyboard, Knocking ash off a cigarette WRING (Indirect-Strong-Sustained) Putting a corkscrew in cork, Wringing out a heavy towel, Massaging a Muscle FLICK (Indirect-Light-Sudden) Removing an insect from a dress, Striking a match, Throwing a coin toss PRESS (Direct-Strong-Sustained) Slowly squashing a fruit, Grinding spices with pestle in mortar, pushing a piano A Conductor s Expressive Palette 4

5 GLIDE (3) HLF DIRECT-LIGHT-SUSTAINED FLOAT (1) HRF INDIRECT-LIGHT-SUSTAINED DAB (5) HLB DIRECT-LIGHT-SUDDEN FLICK (7) HRB INDIRECT-LIGHT-SUDDEN PRESS (8) DLF DIRECT-STRONG-SUSTAINED WRING (6) DRF INDIRECT-STRONG-SUSTAINED PUNCH (2) DLB DIRECT-STRONG-SUDDEN SLASH (4) DRB INDIRECT-STRONG-SUDDEN III. Application: usage of Laban to develop a gestural vocabulary for musical communication A. Direct correlation between Laban movement analysis and the life of a note 1) Attack a) What types of articulations, bowings, diction have square or hard beginnings? b) What type of Effort-Action correlates to this type of note beginning? c) How about the opposite.what has a softer beginning (not to suggest out of time playing)? d) What types of BEA correlate? 2) Body a) If the body of the note is growing (crescendo), what BEA correlates? b) What if there is a quick decay and soft sustain think forte-piano: what combination of BEA s would create this? 3) Release a) Wet/Soft Release (taper to sound, off the string release) BEA correlation? b) Hard/Dry Release (immediate end, square note release, on the string stop) BEA correlation? A Conductor s Expressive Palette 5

B. Implications of Laban on conducting fundamentals (i.e. posture, ictus, baton angles, movement plane, kinesphere, etc.) 1. Baton Angle: does this have an impact on the sound? What does LMA tell us?

6 B. Implications of Laban on conducting fundamentals (i.e. posture, ictus, baton angles, movement plane, kinesphere, etc.) 1. Baton Angle: does this have an impact on the sound? What does LMA tell us? 2. Similarly, what about ictus placement? 3. Movement Planes & Axes: what does this mean for a crescendo/decrescendo gesture? 4. Consider an accelerando and ritardando: what implications are there from Laban? In a 2009 article, Charles Gambetta provided the following Effort & Musical Expression correlations: C. Some Practical Skills and Building Blocks to Practice (10 Strategies & Exercises) Always practice your conducting in front of a full mirror if possible. 1. Practice your Basic Effort-Action Scale A. Full body scale with right side, then with left side: consider how to transition between BEAs B. Repeat A, but now limited to only one step in each direction. C. Repeat A, now limited to conducting kinesphere: consider how your full body movement can be effectively conveyed with only the upper body (and not with only the arms) 2. Isolate each BEA. Experiment with each BEA as a cue gestures and release gestures. Try the gestures in multiple directions (up, down, in, out) and with both hands. Think about musical contexts in which these gestures are appropriate. 3. Perform entire conducting patterns within each BEA. 4. Experiment with performing 2 gestures in a row and changing 1 Effort-Action between them. Punch/Press Wring/Press Punch/Slash Float/Flick Punch/Dab Float/Glide Slash/Wring Glide/Dab Slash/Flick Glide/Press Wring/Float Dab/Flick A Conductor s Expressive Palette 6

7 5. Perform entire conducting patterns in 1 BEA and then over a set period of beats change to another BEA that is 1 Effort-Action away. (see list above) A. Work on consistency of keeping 2 effort-actions while changing only 1. What implications and applications does this have in your conducting? 6. While performing one gestural conducting pattern in the right hand, practice performing various cues/releases/gestures in the left hand from all other BEAs. 7. Think carefully through the many parts of the Life of a Note. Specifically think about this for your medium (Band, Orchestra, Choir). What types of attacks, releases, and bodies are there in your genre? Create a catalogue of BEA applications to each type of attack, body and release. What happens when you subtly change 1 aspect? How does this add layers of nuance to your catalogue? 8. Consider various warm-up exercises you do with your ensemble. Do any of them require students to follow gestural changes from you while they perform them? If not, consider incorporating exercises that will train your students to read your BEA applications. This is also a great way for you to experiment and apply some new BEA ideas. A. For Example, consider performing a basic scale with four quarter notes on each beat. Ask them to play the dynamic and articulation you show. Apply different BEAs to elicit these responses. Discuss with your students the effectiveness of the exercise. 9. Take out a score you are currently working on with your ensemble. Think through the notelife approaches from #7. Isolate a few specific phrases, cadences, entrances, etc. Carefully think through various BEA applications. Try these various approaches out with your ensemble. Discuss with your students how different BEA applications made your musical intentions more or less clear. This is a great way to train your students to watch and read your conducting without relying on verbal instruction a BIG time-saver in rehearsals!! 10. Analyze a complete piece or movement. Once you have a complete grasp of the musical intentions of the work, prepare a gestural roadmap of the work. Write in Laban symbols or abbreviations (ie. G for glide, D for dab, etc.) above the score. Practice conducting through the work incorporating these BEAs in your patterns and cue/release/phrasing work. D. Demonstrations: example musical score and interpretation of musical score through a systematic gestural approach as learned through Laban Score Marking Key Effort-Action Symbol for Score Marking FLOAT F PUNCH PN GLIDE G SLASH S DAB D WRING W FLICK Fl PRESS P Positive Baton Angle + Negative Baton Angle A Conductor s Expressive Palette 7

IV. Coda A. Bibliography & Sources for further study Bartenieff, Irmgard with Dori Lewis. Body Movement: Coping with the Environment. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1980.

8 IV. Coda A. Bibliography & Sources for further study Bartenieff, Irmgard with Dori Lewis. Body Movement: Coping with the Environment. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, Billingham, Lisa A. The Complete Conductor s Guide to Laban Movement Theory. Chicago: GIA Publications, Bradley, Karen K. Rudolf Laban. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Dell, Cecily, Rev. Aileen Crow and Irmgard Bartenieff. Space Harmony. New York: Dance Notation Bureau Press, Hackney, Peggy. Making Connections. New York: Gordon and Breach Publishers, Jordan, James. The Conductor s Gesture: A Practical Application of Rudolf von Laban s Movement Language. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc, A Conductor s Expressive Palette 8

9 Laban, Rudolf. Choreutics. Lisa Ullman, ed. London: Macdonald & Evans, The Mastery of Movement. Lisa Ullmann, ed. 4 th edition. Alton: Dance Books Ltd., Laban, Rudolf and F. C. Lawrence. Effort. London: Macdonald & Evans, Lamb, Warren. Posture and Gesture: An Introduction to the Study of Physical Behavior. London: Duckworth & Co., Newlove, Jean, and John Dalby. Laban for All. New York: Routledge, Thorton, Samuel. Laban s Theory of Movement: A New Perspective. Boston, MA: Plays, Inc., B. Contact Information Dr. Trent A. Hollinger Director of Bands, Associate Professor of Music Culver-Stockton College One College Hill Canton, Missouri thollinger@culver.edu Cell Phone: A Conductor s Expressive Palette 9

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