10 His concept of work (P.51 to 55)

• P.51 Brought up in the multicultural Austro-Hungarian Empire he had observed people from many backgrounds working at one occupation during the day, and then at night using very similar patterns of movement in their dancing and relaxation...It seemed that man needed both to link work with the rest of his life and to find some complement to it.
• P.52 The key towards understanding work, he realised, was to understand its rhythms and its efforts, and to harness (控制) these in such a way as to contribute to the overall balance and harmony of the individual rather than allow the occupation to destroy them. Work and play need correlating rhythms.
• P.53 By the time Laban came to England in 1938 he had already clarified his concept. It was based on the belief that 'a simple style of living' is 'one of the most important sources of human happiness'.
• P.54 Laban's approach was to take workers in groups away from the factory bench, through carefully planned movement sessions enable individuals to find their own rhythm and, by compensations, to adjust the whole balance of their personal way of functioning. Strong movements are compensated for by light, narrow-ranging by wide, limited movement of hands and arms by full bodily activity and so on.
• P.55 If all life is movement and all movement has its rhythm, then the fullest way to meet and derive the most from life is to see its different aspects as change and development in the overall rhythmic patterning.