Doctrines and Laban Kinetography in a Hungarian Modern Dance School in the 1930s

Abstract

The article introduces the early years of modern dance in Hungary, focusing on one outstanding personality, Olga Szentpál, and her school. The dance creation system and dance education methods are discussed with attention to Szentpál’s unique doctrines. The doctrines are built of theorems and functions to approach the structural, contextual, compositional, and expressive characteristics of the new dance. The overview of the theories is supported by a selection from a comparatively large amount of Laban kinetography, found in Olga Szentpál’s legacy. The use of notation in the Szentpál School comprised historical and traditional dance research just as well as introducing body technique, and creating scores of choreographies. The early integration of kinetography exemplifies the effort to document dance, education concepts, and results of research of times, when the means of moving pictures were not easily available.