Laban Movement Analysis: Acting Technique Explained

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Published: May 23, 2024 | Last Updated: May 23, 2025

Laban’s vocabulary avoids gendered movement traits. It doesn’t ask you to “move like a woman” or “act like a man”, it asks you to move like someone who’s gliding, or pressing, or wringing. This creates a more inclusive, expressive space where anyone can play any role with authenticity.

The Four Components of LMA (BESS)

LMA breaks movement into four lenses: Body, Effort, Shape, and Space, often remembered by the acronym BESS. Each adds a different layer of meaning to how a character exists in the world.

Body: What Moves and Leads

This refers to what parts of the body are active and how they connect. Does the character lead with their head, chest, or hips? Are they fragmented or fluid? LMA also explores anatomical actions like flexion and extension, and connectivity patterns like core-distal or head-tail alignment.

Effort: How Movement Feels

Effort describes the quality of movement, using four binaries:

• Space: Direct vs. Indirect
• Time: Quick vs. Sustained
• Weight: Heavy vs. Light
• Flow: Bound vs. Free

LABAN EFFORT ACTIONS

These qualities combine into eight Effort Actions: Punch, Slash, Dab, Flick, Press, Glide, Float, and Wring. Each is a specific combo of movement dynamics that actors can use to embody different energies and intentions.

Effort Action	Space	Time	Weight	Flow
Punch	Direct	Quick	Heavy	Bound
Slash	Indirect	Quick	Heavy	Free
Dab	Direct	Quick	Light	Bound
Flick	Indirect	Quick	Light	Free
Press	Direct	Slow	Heavy	Bound
Glide	Direct	Slow	Light	Free
Float	Indirect	Slow	Light	Free
Wring	Indirect	Slow	Heavy	Bound

Shape: Why the Body Changes

This explores the body’s relationship to itself and the environment. The three shape modes are:

• Shape Flow: internal changes (like breathing or shrinking)
• Directional: reaching or pointing into space
• Carving: three-dimensional sculpting with the body

Space: Where Movement Happens

Space looks at spatial awareness, how a character moves in relation to their environment. Laban identified planes (horizontal, vertical, sagittal), pathways, and even Platonic solids to describe body movement in space. You can use this to define how much space a character takes up or avoids.

How to Apply Laban to Character Work

Laban isn’t just for dancers. It’s a practical tool for actors to get out of their habits and into their character’s physical reality. Here are five ways to apply it:

1. Observational Practice

Watch how people move, especially strangers, animals, or people with specific jobs. Try to match their movement qualities and identify their dominant Efforts. Then ask: Could my character move like that?

2. Text Analysis

Look at the rhythm and structure of your lines. If a character speaks in clipped, fast phrases, you might try Dab as a movement base. If their dialogue winds and ruminates, try Wring or Float.

3. Emotional Mapping

Assign Effort Actions based on a character’s emotional personality. Cartman from South Park is a Punch. Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh is a Float or Glide. These shapes give you a physical anchor for playing their energy truthfully.

4. Costume-Based Physicality

What your character wears can change how they move. Lace gloves might inspire a Dab. Armor might suggest Press. Use the costume’s material and restrictions to guide effort choices.

5. Whole–Part–Whole Exploration

Start with a full-body action, break it down into smaller parts (like weight or direction), then put it all back together. This learning loop helps you move from instinct to analysis and back to embodied character choices.

Try It Yourself

Pick a simple action like sitting down. Perform it normally a few times, then explore how the action changes when you adjust:

• Speed: Try fast vs. slow
• Weight: Try heavy vs. light
• Direction: Try direct (efficient) vs. indirect (wandering)
• Flow: Try bound (controlled) vs. free (loose)

This helps you build a movement vocabulary that separates you from your character.

Origins of Laban Movement Analysis

Rudolf Laban (1879–1958) was a dancer, choreographer, and movement theorist born in Austro-Hungary. A pioneer of modern dance and one of the founders of German Expressionist movement, Laban saw movement as a universal language.

His work raised the status of dance to a serious art form and merged performance with education, self-expression, and science. Laban’s collaborators, including Irmgard Bartenieff, Lisa Ullmann, and Warren Lamb, helped expand his system into what’s now called the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System (LBMS), widely used in theatre, therapy, and even business leadership training.

Laban Notation and Motif Writing

Laban created a movement scoring system called Labanotation. Though rarely used by actors, a simpler system called Motif Writing is common in rehearsal notes.

For example: “Oberon = Slash, Quince = Dab.” It’s a quick way to map movement intent into your blocking or text work.

Beyond the Stage: Who Else Uses Laban?

Laban Movement Analysis is used by dancers, actors, physical and occupational therapists, music therapists, business coaches, and even conflict negotiators. Its ability to decode and refine nonverbal behavior makes it useful far beyond the rehearsal room. For actors, it can help you add depth and range to your body awareness and help you connect more honestly in any context.

Summing Up

Laban Movement Analysis gives you a physical language for character work. Whether you’re shaping someone anxious, regal, repressed, or explosive, you can build them from the outside, using motion qualities instead of personality traits. It’s a toolkit for making bold, repeatable choices in your body and breath.