arts

Article On a Curious Chance Resemblance: ’s Kinetography and the Geometric Abstractions of Sophie Taeuber-Arp

Flora L. Brandl

Department of Art History, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA; [email protected]

 Received: 10 August 2019; Accepted: 15 January 2020; Published: 4 February 2020 

Abstract: This paper investigates a case of historical co-emergence between a modern system of dance notation and the rise of geometric abstraction in the applied arts during the first decades of the 20th century. It does so by bringing together the artistic careers of the choreographer Rudolf von Laban and the visual artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Comparing their pedagogical agendas and visual aesthetics, this paper argues that the resemblances between Laban’s Kinetography and Taeuber-Arp’s early geometric compositions cannot be a matter of pure coincidence. The paper therefore presents and supports the hypothesis of a co-constitutive relationship between visual abstraction and the dancing body in the European avant-garde.

Keywords: dance notation; Kinetography; Labanotation; Rudolf von Laban; geometric abstraction; ; Zurich Dada; applied arts; Sophie Taeuber-Arp

1. Introduction Perhaps it is sheer chance that the geometrical shapes of Laban’s visual dance scores matched Taeuber’s previous compositions uncannily. —Jill Fell(1999, p. 274)

This essay lingers on the apparent contingency of what appears to be a striking visual resemblance: that between a modern system of dance notation and early modernist abstract art. To do so, it brings together the lives and works of the choreographer and dance theoretician Rudolf von Laban with those of the artist and pedagogue Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Today, Laban’s name is famous not only for his contributions to German , but also for his invention of Kinetography, a system for the recording of dance using abstract symbols, which he developed in the first decades of the 20th century. Known today as Labanotation, it continues to be amongst the prevalent systems of movement notation and analysis.1 During the early stages of its development, Laban frequented similar artistic circles as Sophie Taeuber-Arp, who at the time was developing her abstract visual language in textile design and other media of the applied arts. Jill Fell is not alone in having drawn attention to a potential

1 In this essay, I am using the term Kinetography instead of Labanotation, since this was the terminology used at the time. For a discussion on the evolvement of Labanotation since its invention, see (Hutchinson Guest 2005, pp. 434–39).

Arts 2020, 9, 15; doi:10.3390/arts9010015 www.mdpi.com/journal/arts Arts 2020, 9, 15 2 of 19 artistic conversation between these two artists,2 but up to now no thorough research into the nature of this connection between Rudolf von Laban and Sophie Taeuber-Arp has been undertaken. The present study is an attempt to move from speculation to an evidence-based approach that can account for the undeniable visual parallels between these two artists; parallels that are all the more striking once it becomes clear that they cannot simply be reduced to the question of direct artistic influence. This will be shown in three parts. A first section sketches an outline of Laban and Taeuber-Arp’s educational backgrounds and early career paths in , and Zurich during the first two decades of the 20th century. It further discusses the fruitful encounters between the Laban dance school and Dada circles in Zurich, for which Taeuber-Arp is considered one of the most significant connecting links. The second section contextualizes Laban’s development of Kinetography and offers a brief introduction to its main structural components. This prepares the reader to detect its resemblances with a selection of Taeuber-Arp’s early work in the applied arts. A third section finally returns to the question of influence, discussing Laban’s educational agenda in conjunction with Taeuber-Arp’s pedagogical writings to demonstrate how the resonances between these two artists run deeper than a mere visual affinity. At stake is not only a more precise account of the presence of movement in nonfigurative compositions, but also a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between abstraction and the dancing body in the European avant-garde.

2. A Series of Encounters: Munich, Ascona, Zurich The lives of Rudolf von Laban and Sophie Taeuber-Arp intersect in three significant geographical locations. Born 20 years apart and into considerably different socio-economic circumstances,3 Laban and Taeuber-Arp both spent formative years receiving their artistic education in Munich, at the time a “crucible of European cultural experiment” (McCaw 2011, p. 5). Laban came to Munich in 1889 and enrolled in the Kunstakademie—he initially wanted to become a painter—while also taking classes at the renowned Debschitz School.4 The latter is the school Sophie Taeuber-Arp attended when she came to the city in 1910. By then, Laban had completed his education, but remained in Munich and turned his creative interests towards dance; he was developing his harmonic movement theory, opened his first dance school, staged performances and hosted several carnivalesque dance parties. While there is evidence that Taeuber-Arp attended similar events during her Munich years, it remains a speculation to imagine her at one of Laban’s early performances or festive gatherings (Krupp 2017, pp. 156–57). Laban left Munich for Ascona in May 1913, where he founded an artistic summer program in the experimental life reform colony on Monte Verità. He moved near Zurich in 1915 and opened a School for Art in the city center. Like the Ascona summer course, the Zurich school was organized around a syllabus entitled Tanz Ton Wort Form, which, offering lessons in movement art, acoustic art, verbal art and formal art, became a key center for expressionist dance at the time. By this time, Sophie Taeuber-Arp too had been living in Zurich for several months, working as a teacher of applied arts at the Kunstgewerbeschule while continuing to expand her multifaceted artistic practice. A new discipline that had recently sparked her interest was dance. After some initial misgivings, she had taken up gymnastics lessons in Munich, where she learned about Laban’s dance

2 Compare, for instance, Carolyn Lanchner’s observation that “notations for the dance can resemble the patterns of abstract painting” (Lanchner 1981, p. 11). Likewise, Mark Franko asserts that dance “notation itself is a visual abstraction of movement” (Franko 2012, p. 293). While Franko does mention that “the artist Sophie Taeuber ... was also one of his students”, he does not explore the potential exchange between the two (ibid., p. 292). I am grateful for a reviewer of this paper for bringing this note to my attention. 3 Rudolf von Laban was born in 1879 in , in the former Austria-Hungary, into an aristocratic family. He continued to receive financial support from his mother during his economically adventurous artistic endeavours which brought him onto the verge of bankruptcy more than once. Taeuber-Arp was born in 1889 in Davos, Switzerland, into a middle-class family. She spent much of her early career teaching at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich to ensure her own and her husband Hans Arp’s financial security. 4 For a more thorough account of Rudolf von Laban’s early career, see (Dörr 2008, pp. 9–78). Arts 2020, 9, 15 3 of 19

school through the dance theoretician Hans Brandenburg; she enrolled in classes at the newly-founded Laban school in Zurich in the summer of 1915 (Krupp 2017, p. 157). Since Laban was not actively involved in the teaching activities at his school until 1917, it is Artsnot 2020 clear, 9, how15 much direct contact Taeuber-Arp would have had with the dance master himself3 of 19 (Dörr 2008, p. 57). It is indeed more likely that she received lessons from , Käthe Wulff, fromor from other other members members of ofthe the teaching teaching staff. staff Taeube. Taeuber-Arpr-Arp attended attended the the summer summer course course that that continued continued to be held at Monte Verità Verità inin 19151915 andand returnedreturned therethere in 1917 ((FellFell 19991999,, p. 270; Krupp 2017,2017, p. 154). 154). She further appeared in at least one of the Laba Labann school’s Tanzabende (dance evenings) in in 1916, 1916, ostensibly performing alongside Mary Mary Wigman Wigman and Claire Therval in solo, duo or trio shows and choreographing her own work ((DörrDörr 20042004,, p. 95). The beginning of the year 1916 also marked th thee opening of of the Cabaret Voltaire, a performance venue for the newly-founded Dadaist group. 5 The mention of Sophie Taeuber-Arp Taeuber-Arp as one of the first first “Laban“Laban students”students” ((DörrDörr 20082008,, p. 65) to participate in these soirées soirées attests to her affiliation affiliation with the dance school by the time she appeared appeared in Dada Dada co contexts.ntexts. A A somewhat somewhat dubiously dubiously credited credited photograph photograph (see FigureFigure1 ),1), some some notes notes by Tristanby Tzara and Hugoand Hugo Ball and Ball a commemorativeand a commemorative poem by poem her husband by her husbandHans Arp Hans are the Arp sole are testimonies the sole testimonies that remain that of Taeuber-Arp’s remain of Taeuber-Arp’s Dada performances. Dada performances. Given the nature Given of thethis nature documentation, of this documentation, the present essay the present refrains essay from teasingrefrains out from yet teasing another out speculative yet another reconstruction speculative reconstructionfrom such semi-reliable from such traces. semi-reliable6 traces.6

Figure 1.1. PhotographPhotograph of of Sophie Sophie Taeuber-Arp Taeuber-Arp dancing dancing at the at Cabaret the Cabaret Voltaire /Voltaire/GalerieGalerie Dada, ca. Dada, 1916/1917. ca. 1916/1917.Unknown photographer.Unknown photographer. Stiftung Arp Stiftung e.V., Arp /e.V.Rolandswerth,, Berlin/Rolandswerth, used by permission. used by permission.

Despite our lack of knowledge about the precise aesthetics of Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s dance activities,5 This group there comprised can be Hugo no Ball,doubt Tristan that Tzara, she Marcelmoved Janco, back Richard and Huelsenbeck,forth between Jean Arp,the Laban Emmy Hennings, dance school Hans Richter and the andactivities others. of the Dada circle between 1916 and 1919. The aesthetic, ideological and romantic 6 Nell Andrew justly cautions against such an over-emphasis on the performance ephemera, as they run the risk of diminishing 7 exchanges“the significance between of her these dancing artistic body” groups (Andrew 2014have, p. recent 17). Walburgaly been Krupp the focus equally of warns growing against scholarly a historical over-relianceresearch. Theiron theshared recordings interest and recollections in the cultic, of the ritualistic Dadaists, whose and memories,the primitive she writes, indeed often remainedsanctions vague an andemphasis heavily informed on the by their own aesthetic agenda (Krupp 2017, p. 158). strong parallels between the groups’ performance aesthetics. Both, for instance, used gong sounds

5 This group comprised Hugo Ball, Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco, Richard Huelsenbeck, Jean Arp, Emmy Hennings, Hans Richter and others. 6 Nell Andrew justly cautions against such an over-emphasis on the performance ephemera, as they run the risk of diminishing “the significance of her dancing body” (Andrew 2014, p. 17). Walburga Krupp equally warns against a historical over-reliance on the recordings and recollections of the Dadaists, whose memories, she writes, often remained vague and heavily informed by their own aesthetic agenda (Krupp 2017, p. 158). 7 See, for example, (De Weerdt and Schwab 2017).

Arts 2020, 9, 15 4 of 19

Despite our lack of knowledge about the precise aesthetics of Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s dance activities, there can be no doubt that she moved back and forth between the Laban dance school and the activities of the Dada circle between 1916 and 1919. The aesthetic, ideological and romantic exchanges between these artistic groups have recently been the focus of growing scholarly research.7 Their shared interest Arts 2020, 9, 15 4 of 19 in the cultic, ritualistic and the primitive indeed sanctions an emphasis on the strong parallels between strongthe groups’ parallels performance between the aesthetics. groups’ performance Both, for instance, aesthetics. used Both, gong for sounds instance, and used word gong particles sounds to andgenerate word movement particles to from generate inside movement the dancer from rather inside than imposingthe dancer dance rather steps than from imposing without, dance and steps both fromincluded without, masks and as performanceboth included props masks within as performance their artistic props repertoire within (De their Weerdt artistic and repertoire Schwab 2017 (De, Weerdtp. 18). Some and scholarsSchwab argue2017, thatp. 18). Rudolf Some von scholars Laban couldargue have that beenRudolf influenced von Laban by the could costume have design been 8 influencedin the photograph by the costume associated design with in Sophie the photograph Taeuber-Arp associated (see Figures with 1Sophie and2). Taeuber-ArpOthers are (see less Figures certain 9 1about and 2). this8 Others potential are connection. less certain about this potential connection.9

Figure 2. PhotographPhotograph of of Rudolf Rudolf von von Laban Laban as as Mathematicus, Mathematicus, ca. ca. 1915–1918. 1915–1918. In Rudolf In Rudolf von vonLaban, Laban, Die WeltDie Welt des Tänzers: des Tänzers: Fünf Fünf Gedankenreigen. Gedankenreigen. Stuttgart:Stuttgart: Verlag Verlag von vonWalter Walter Seifert, Seifert, 1920. 1920.

Costume, moreover, is one of the most immediatelyimmediately apparent points of divergence between the Dadaist and Laban performance styl styles.es. Dada’s Dada’s material material aesthetic aesthetic of of montage turns costume into an autonomous performanceperformance element element which which at times at purposefullytimes purposefully inhibits movement.inhibits movement. Laban’s costuming, Laban’s costuming,in turn, is entirelyin turn, subordinateis entirely subordinate to the free expressionto the free ofexpression the body’s of fullthe potentialbody’s full for potential locomotion; for locomotion;garments were garments wide and were flowing, wide and if garments flowing, wereif garments worn at were all.10 worn at all.10 A point which the artistic projects of Dadaism and Labanist share is a recourse to natural movement. As Lucia Ruprecht argues, both circles turned to rhythm and vibrations as a means7 See, forof example,connecting (De Weerdtwith a and vitalist Schwab energy 2017). beyond the purview of the corrupted intellect (Ruprecht 2017,8 For p. instance, 125). Despite (Fell 1999, this p. 277). shared Laban privileging was indeed in of the bodily audience intuition when Taeuber-Arp and spontaneity, supposedly performed Laban conceives with this mask of at the opening night of Galerie Dada. This is the only mention I have come across of a potential direct visual influence of Taeuber-Arp on Laban. However, since Marcel Janco most likely designed the costume, this cannot truly be counted as an 8 Forinfluence instance, of Taeuber-Arp (Fell 1999, herself. p. 277). Laban was indeed in the audience when Taeuber-Arp supposedly performed 9 withFor instance, this mask (Krupp at the 2017 opening, p. 154). night of Galerie Dada. This is the only mention I have come across of a potential 10 If one does decide to trust the credits of the one extant photograph documenting her dance performances (Figure1), directit is important visual influence to note that of the Taeuber-Arp Laban student on Sophie Laban. Taeuber-Arp However, is since depicted Marcel in a highlyJanco restrictivemost likely costume designed typical the of costume,Dada. What this this cannot conjunction truly meantbe counted for her as dance an influence style cannot of Taeuber-Arp be determined herself. with any certainty, but one might imagine 9 Forher performanceinstance, (Krupp as the 2017, moment p. 154). in which two diverging aesthetics intersected in a single dancing body. Indeed, Jill Fell 10 If one does decide to trust the credits of the one extant photograph documenting her dance performances (Figure 1), it is important to note that the Laban student Sophie Taeuber-Arp is depicted in a highly restrictive costume typical of Dada. What this conjunction meant for her dance style cannot be determined with any certainty, but one might imagine her performance as the moment in which two diverging aesthetics intersected in a single dancing body. Indeed, Jill Fell acknowledges the conflicting testimonies that describe her performances as both taking “a mocking stance more appropriate to Dada” and in terms of a “more Labanesque style, representing natural phenomena” (Fell 1999, p. 277). If anything, these accounts are proof to Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s liminal position between the circles of Laban and those of the Dadaists.

Arts 2020, 9, 15 5 of 19

A point which the artistic projects of Dadaism and Labanist expressionism share is a recourse to natural movement. As Lucia Ruprecht argues, both circles turned to rhythm and vibrations as a means of connecting with a vitalist energy beyond the purview of the corrupted intellect (Ruprecht 2017, p. 125). Despite this shared privileging of bodily intuition and spontaneity, Laban conceives of such vibrations as a means of achieving harmony and synchrony between groups of moving bodies, whereas the Dadaists foregrounded “the asynchronic, the disharmonic, the cacophonous and the arrhythmic” in their movement style (Ruprecht 2017, p. 129; translation by the author). Indeed, if Hal Foster describes the shaking Dadaist as miming “the bliss of the epileptic” (Foster 2003, p. 168), the Laban dancer is much better characterized as miming the bliss of man reunited with nature.11 Despite their diverging aesthetics, the Dada circle and the Laban school thus both emerged out of a comparable rejection of bourgeois moral and artistic standards as an acute reaction to the devastations of World War I.12 Evelyn Dörr pits the Dadaists’ investment in shock-inducing spectacle, fragmentation, anarchism and nihilism against Laban’s harmonious group choreographies geared not towards “an overthrow of order but instead at a cultural renewal of society” (see Dörr 2008, p. 66). Scholarship on Dada, however, has questioned the supposed nihilism commonly associated with the movement. T.J. Demos, for instance, detects in Dada’s collaborative performances a utopian drive towards a renewal of mankind—a wish for renewal that is perhaps not unlike Laban’s project of a Lebensreform. “Dada evinced a commitment to publicness [ ... ] that implies a desire for social relations beyond the finality of their destruction. If Dada rejected conventional modes of community, it also imagined experimental ways of collectivization,” Demos writes (Demos 2005, p. 11).13 The perhaps most compelling point of divergence between the Dadaists and Rudolf von Laban, however, is their respective relation to language. On the side of the Dadaists, the sound poems of Hugo Ball and Tristan Tzara “deracinated” language in deep suspicion of its complicity with a belligerent bourgeois social order (Demos 2005, pp. 7, 17). Laban’s goal, on the other hand, was not the demolition of an existing linguistic order, but precisely the creation of a new sign system based on a holistic philosophical-ideological theory: and this aspiration will materialize in his development of Kinetography. And while Laban and Mary Wigman formed part of the audience at the Cabaret Voltaire and Galerie Dada in 1916 and 1917, as much as we know, they never actively participated in any Dada events themselves (Dörr 2008, pp. 65–66). The task at hand, then, is neither to collapse the Labanist and the Dadaist styles into a single shared aesthetic, nor to treat them as two mutually exclusive phenomena. Rather, this paper sees them as two parallel movements in productive friction with each other. And Sophie Taeuber-Arp, neither fully a Dadaist nor a Labanist herself,14 must be understood to inhabit a unique position in between the two.15

acknowledges the conflicting testimonies that describe her performances as both taking “a mocking stance more appropriate to Dada” and in terms of a “more Labanesque style, representing natural phenomena” (Fell 1999, p. 277). If anything, these accounts are proof to Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s liminal position between the circles of Laban and those of the Dadaists. 11 The respective relationships of the Dadaists and the Laban circle to mimesis will be discussed at a later point in this paper (see footnote 29). 12 For a study of the ways in which the condition of exile influenced the Dadaist aesthetics, see (Demos 2005). 13 Leah Dickerman, too, pushes back against the adjectives “nihilistic”, “antibourgeois” and “antiart” that are often unthinkingly reproduced by Dada scholarship, in favor of a more nuanced investigation of its “formal procedures” and “social semiotics (Dickerman 2005, p. 2). 14 In “Sophie Taeuber-Arp als Tänzerin und Dadaistin: Eine Wunschvorstellung der Rezeption?”, Walburga Krupp(2017) argues that the labelling of Taeuber-Arp as a Dada dancer is a posthumous phenomenon occasioned by the celebratory yet vague reminiscences of her male colleagues. In reality, Krupp argues, it was only with her marionettes from 1918, and not so much through her dances, that Taeuber-Arp gained recognition in the Dada circles (Krupp 2017, p. 163). 15 Bibiana Obler has argued for a similar liminal position of Sophie Taeuber-Arp between the poles of individuality and anonymity. While it is true that the artist’s collaborative works with her husband Hans Arp question individual authorship and erase the intervention of the artist’s hand, Obler writes that these works “stand apart from even their closest counterparts in the respective oeuvres of their makers” (Obler 2014, p. 140). Indeed, while Taeuber-Arp’s masked performances in Dada circles did evince a desire for anonymity, in her applied arts practice she did not shy away from “identify[ing] her art with her name”, for instance by “advertis[ing] her name prominently” through a signature (ibid., p. 151–52). The authorship she staked a claim to, however, is “not that of artistic genius, but of an egalitarian model of competence” (ibid., p. 144). Arts 2020, 9, 15 6 of 19

3. The Writing of Dance By the time Laban left Zurich for Germany in 1919, he claims to have given over 200 performances.16 It is less clear to what extent his dance notation system was developed by then. But despite the fact that Laban did not publicize a fully formulated version of his Kinetography before 1928, several sources indicate that his interest in the problem of capturing dance on the page dates back much earlier than the late 1920s.17 Evelyn Dörr for instance mentions that Laban studied older systems of movement notation as early as 1904 when he was a student in Paris, and again in 1912 in Munich (Dörr 2008, p. 43). His student Mary Wigman recounts performing a series of swinging movements in front an indefatigable Laban during the summer of 1914 at Monte Verità: “Every movement had to be done over and over again until it was controlled and could be analyzed, transposed and transformed into an adequate symbol” (Wigman 1983, p. 303). The transposition of the body’s motions into a standardized and repeatable semiotic sign evidently preoccupied Laban from the early stages of his career. In a letter to his friend Hans Brandenburg from February 1919, Laban writes that he had finally invented a sign system that made “movement in all its interrelationships ‘much more visualizable’”.18 It is thus not justified to treat the formalization of Kinetography as an interest exclusive to Laban’s post-Zurich career. Rudolf von Laban was of course not the first to take up the challenge of devising a script that records the movements of bodies in time and space. Yet, as Roderyk Lange observes, “the area of dance is a latecomer to literacy” (Lange 2011, p. 155). The origins of this process are often traced to the use of letter codes as abbreviations for dance steps in the Renaissance, while one of the most highly developed attempts to systematically record dance dates to the reign of Louis XIV and is known as Feuillet notation.19 Widespread throughout Europe for nearly a century, this notation is organized around the floor pattern traced by dancers’ steps, using elaborate step signs to indicate the kinetic quality of each movement. Later notation systems since the 19th century employ stick figures or other schematized representations of the body, placed on a single line or on an adapted music stave (see Figures3 and4). These dance notations, however, indicate primarily a series of positions to be occupied by the dancing body at certain moments in time. The ancillary indications linking the positions give only a rudimentary idea of the detail and continuity of movement between them (see Hutchinson Guest 1989, p. 64). These early codifications of movement—whether letter codes, floor patterns or stick figure models—took for granted a considerable amount of prior knowledge about the recorded dance from the part of their readers. Not only did this limit the scope of what they could record, it also meant that such notation systems were “very much a product of, and suited to, the dance of their own period” (ibid., p. 21). Kinetography did not come with such limitations. Its notation system is made up of a relatively small set of basic elements—similar to linguistic morphemes—that can be combined ad infinitum to record an endless variety of bodily movements. In a re-publication of his notation system from 1956, Laban recapitulates: “Just as poetry, in every language, can be written down phonetically, so every stylised movement can be written down ‘motorically’. The motor movement notation is the equivalent of the alphabet” (Laban 1956, p. 15). Kinetography deserves the name Bewegungsschrift (movement

This paper is aligned with Obler’s careful attempts to resist the conflation of Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s work with that of her husband and his Dada colleagues. 16 In a letter to his friend Hans Brandenburg from 1918, quoted in (McCaw 2011, p. 5). 17 These documents were first published in the essay “Grundprinzipien der Bewegungsschrift” in the journal Schrifttanz (Laban 1928a, pp. 4–5). Schrifttanz was founded in 1928 and comprised eleven issues and two additional booklets, explaining and publicizing the new movement notation. 18 Quoted in (Dörr 2008, p. 43). 19 For an overview of the history of dance notation, see (Hutchinson Guest 1989). Arts 2020, 9, 15 7 of 19 writing), as it truly functions like a fully-fledged language.20 A brief overview of its mechanics will Artsprove 20202020 this,, 99,, 1515 point. 77 ofof 1919

Figure 3. ExcerptExcerpt from from the the Cachucha in Friedrich Albert Zorn, Grammar of the Art of Dancing. Boston:Boston: Heintzemann Press, 1905.

Figure 4.4. ExcerptExcerpt from from Olga Olga Desmond, Rhythmographik Rhythmographik (Tanzn (Tanznotenschrift)otenschrift) als als Grundlage zum Selbststudium des Tanzes. Leipzig: Breitkopf Breitkopf & Härtel, 1919.

The most elementary component of Labanotation is a vertical staff which is read from the bottom The most elementary component of Labanotation is a vertical staff which is read from the bottom to the top of the page (see Figure5). A central line divides the right side of the body from the left side. toto thethe toptop ofof thethe pagepage (see(see FigureFigure 5).5). AA centralcentral lineline didivides the right side of the body from the left side. Different columns in this staff stand for different areas of the body: moving outward from the center Different columns in this staff stand for different areas of the body: moving outward from the center line, these columns indicate the body’s weight supports (column 1), the legs (column 2), the upper body line,line, thesethese columnscolumns indicateindicate thethe body’sbody’s weightweight susupports (column 1), the legs (column(column 2),2), thethe upperupper (column 3), the arms (column 4) and finally, on the outer right side of the staff, the head (column 6). body (column 3), the arms (column 4) and finally, on the outer right side of the staff, the head (column 6). Various symbols can be inserted into these columnss toto indicateindicate thatthat movementmovement ofof anyany ofof thesethese 20 bodyOf parts course, is Kinetography required. The does shape not have of the a complex symbols grammar determinestermines as other thethe human directiondirection languages, ofof theirtheir and movementmovement speakers are (Figure(Figure not able 6). Ato communicate‘chimney’ shape a full rangestands of thoughtsfor forward-movement, or feelings through it.its Nevertheless, reverse indicates the claim backward-movement. that dance can be conceived A 6). asA a‘chimney’ form of language shape cannotstands easily for forward-movement, be dismissed. For some its introductory reverse indicates notes on thisbackward-movement. long-standing debate, seeA triangletriangle(Hutchinson pointingpointing Guest toto 2005 thethe, p. rightright 14). meansmeans movementmovement inin or towards the right side of the body, and vice versa. A rectangle with one slanted side signifies diagonal displacement, either forward or backward inin space.space. AA regularregular rectanglerectangle standsstands forfor movementmovement inin place.place.

be conceived as a form of language cannot easily be dismissed. For some introductory notes on this long- standingstanding debate,debate, seesee (Hutchinson(Hutchinson GuestGuest 2005,2005, p.p. 14).14).

Arts 2020, 9, 15 8 of 19 Arts 2020, 9, 15 8 of 19

Arts 2020, 9, 15 8 of 19

Figure 5.5. Standard stastaffff ofof Kinetography.Kinetography. CreatedCreated byby AnnAnn HutchinsonHutchinson Guest,Guest, usedused withwith permissionpermission from thethe author.author.

Various symbols can be inserted into these columns to indicate that movement of any of these body parts is required. The shape of the symbols determines the direction of their movement (Figure6). A ‘chimney’ shape stands for forward-movement, its reverse indicates backward-movement. A triangle pointing to the right means movement in or towards the right side of the body, and vice versa. A rectangleFigure 5. with Standard one slanted staff of side Kinetography. signifies diagonal Created displacement,by Ann Hutchinson either Guest, forward used or with backward permission in space. A regularfrom the rectangle author. stands for movement in place.

Figure 6. The eight main directions of Kinetography. Created by Ann Hutchinson Guest, used with permission from the author.

These basic shapes can subsequently take three different types of shading to indicate three possible levels of movement (Figure 7). A hatched shape means movement at a high level or limbs extended straight upwards, an empty shape with a dot in it means movement at a middle or

horizontal level, and a filled shape means movement at a low level or limbs extending straight down. Figure 6. The eight main directions of Kinetography. Created by Ann Hutchinson Guest, used with FigureSmaller 6. bodyThe eight parts main can directionsbe activated of Kinetography. using a variet Cry eatedof supplementary by Ann Hutchinson symbols, Guest, such used as witha slanted permission from the author. E-shapepermission for movement from the ofauthor. the hands or four small horizontal lines for movements of the feet (Figure 8). The detail of this information can be extended as far as individual fingers and toes. These basicbasic shapes shapes can can subsequently subsequently take take three three different different types types of shading of shading to indicate to indicate three possible three Finally, different lengths of these shapes indicate the duration of each movement. More levelspossible of movementlevels of movement (Figure7). (Figure A hatched 7). A shape hatched means shape movement means movement at a high levelat a high or limbs level extended or limbs elongated shapes stand for prolonged gestures, while shorter shapes indicate fast progressions. The straightextended upwards, straight anupwards, empty shapean empty with ashape dot in with it means a dot movement in it means ata movement middle or horizontalat a middle level, or length of a musical note corresponding to that of a Laban rectangle can be determined at the andhorizontal a filled level, shape and means a filled movement shape means at a low movement level or limbsat a low extending level or limbs straight extending down. straight down. beginning of a score; a quarter note usually corresponds to 1.25 cm in kinetographic notation. Unlike Smaller body parts can be activated using a variet varietyy of supplementary symbols, such as a slanted other dance notation systems, Kinetography hence already incorporates metered time into its script E-shape forfor movementmovement ofof thethe hands hands or or four four small small horizontal horizontal lines lines for for movements movements of of the the feet feet (Figure (Figure8). and does not need to be accompanied by a musical score. While Laban thus took musical notation as The8). The detail detail of thisof this information information can can be extendedbe extended as faras far as individualas individual fingers fingers and and toes. toes. his point of departure, in its final stage, Kinetography is no longer reliant upon musical codifications Finally, didifferentfferent lengths lengths of theseof these shapes shapes indicate indicate the duration the duration of each movement.of each movement. More elongated More of time.21 With this overview of its basic elements in mind, we can now turn to works from Sophie shapeselongated stand shapes for prolonged stand for prolonged gestures, while gestures, shorter whil shapese shorter indicate shapes fast indicate progressions. fast progressions. The length The of a Taeuber-Arp’s early oeuvre and place them in direct comparison with examples of Rudolf von musicallength of note a musical corresponding note corresponding to that of a Laban to rectanglethat of a canLaban be determinedrectangle can at the be beginning determined of aat score; the Laban’s Kinetography. abeginning quarter note of a usuallyscore; a correspondsquarter note tousually 1.25 cm corresponds in kinetographic to 1.25 notation. cm in kinetographic Unlike other notation. dance notation Unlike systems,other dance Kinetography notation systems, hence already Kinetography incorporates hence metered already time incorporates into its script metered and doestime notinto need its script to be accompanied by a musical score. While Laban thus took musical notation as his point of departure, and does not need to be accompanied by a musical score. While Laban thus took musical notation as his21 Thispoint overview of departure, of the inmechanics its final stage,of Kinetography Kinetograp ishy a iscondensation no longer reliant of the uponhelpful musical introduction codifications by Ann of time.Hutchinson21 With Guest this overview(2005, pp. 17–33) of its inbasic Labanotation elements. in mind, we can now turn to works from Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s early oeuvre and place them in direct comparison with examples of Rudolf von Laban’s Kinetography.

21 This overview of the mechanics of Kinetography is a condensation of the helpful introduction by Ann Hutchinson Guest (2005, pp. 17–33) in Labanotation.

Arts 2020, 9, 15 9 of 19

in its final stage, Kinetography is no longer reliant upon musical codifications of time.21 With this overview of its basic elements in mind, we can now turn to works from Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s early Arts 2020, 9, 15 9 of 19 oeuvreArts 2020 and, 9, 15place them in direct comparison with examples of Rudolf von Laban’s Kinetography.9 of 19

Figure 7. Levels for leg gestures in Kinetography. Created by Ann Hutchinson Guest, used with permissionFigure 7.7. Levels from the for author. leg gestures in Kinetography.Kinetography. Cr Createdeated by Ann Hutchinson Guest, used with permission from thethe author.author.

FigureFigure 8. 8. ExampleExample of hand and footfoot actionsactions notatednotated in in Kinetography Kinetography and and shown shown in in context. context. Created Created by byAnnFigure Ann Hutchinson 8.Hutchinson Example Guest, of Guest, hand used used and with footwi permissionth actions permission notated from from the in the Kinetography author. author. and shown in context. Created by Ann Hutchinson Guest, used with permission from the author. 4. Curious Resemblances 4. Curious Resemblances 4. CuriousBoth in Resemblances Taeuber-Arp’s Composition from ca. 1918 and in excerpts from Laban’s Schrifttanz Both in Taeuber-Arp’s Composition from ca. 1918 and in excerpts from Laban’s Schrifttanz publication, the viewer or reader is immediately reminded of musical staves (Figures9 and 10). publication,Both in the Taeuber-Arp’s viewer or reader Composition is immediately from ca. reminded 1918 and of in musical excerpts staves from (FiguresLaban’s 9Schrifttanz and 10). Horizontal bands made up of five lines structure each composition. What is more, both appear to take Horizontalpublication, bands the viewer made upor ofreader five linesis immediately structure each reminded composition. of musical What staves is more, (Figures both 9appear and 10). to an interest in the negative space between the lines. While in musical notation, notes can appear both takeHorizontal an interest bands in themade negative up of spacefive lines between structure the lines. each Whilecomposition. in musical What notation, is more, notes both can appear appear to on and between any two lines, Laban places his kinetic shapes solely into the interstices. Taeuber-Arp, bothtake anon interestand between in the negativeany two space lines, between Laban placesthe lines. his While kinetic in shapesmusical solely notation, into notes the interstices.can appear in turn, broadens her lines into bands so that they become interchangeable with the interstice. In her Taeuber-Arp,both on and inbetween turn, broadens any two herlines, lines Laban into bandplacess sohis that kinetic they shapesbecome solely interchangeable into the interstices. with the Composition, space is treated not as a container to be filled, but as a shape in its own right. interstice.Taeuber-Arp, In her in Composition, turn, broadens space her islines treated into not band as sa socontainer that they to bebecome filled, interchangeablebut as a shape in with its own the Yet the reference to musical notation is only partially appropriate, since the excerpts from the right.interstice. In her Composition, space is treated not as a container to be filled, but as a shape in its own journal Schrifttanz are a rather unique example of kinetographic notation in five horizontal lines. These right.Yet the reference to musical notation is only partially appropriate, since the excerpts from the initial presentations are most likely intended as an introduction for the novice by way of an analogy to journalYet Schrifttanz the reference are ato rather musical unique notation example is only of pa kinetographicrtially appropriate, notation since in fivethe excerptshorizontal from lines. the music. In more comprehensive versions intended for dance practitioners, Laban’s notations are always Thesejournal initial Schrifttanz presentations are a rather are most unique likely example intended of askinetographic an introduction notation for the in novicefive horizontal by way oflines. an arranged vertically, with staffs consisting of three lines rather than five (Figure 11). Taeuber-Arp’s analogyThese initial to music. presentations In more are comprehensive most likely intended versio nsas anintended introduction for dance for the practitioners, novice by way Laban’s of an embroidery design Composition à motifs d’oiseaux from ca. 1927–1928 features a vertically-oriented notationsanalogy toare music.always Inarranged more comprehensivevertically, with staffsversio consistingns intended of three for dancelines rather practitioners, than five (FigureLaban’s spatial arrangement reminiscent of this script (Figures 12 and 13). The embroidery itself could of 11).notations Taeuber-Arp’s are always embroidery arranged designvertically, Composition with staffs à consisting motifs d’oiseaux of three from lines ca. rather 1927–1928 than five features (Figure a course also be viewed horizontally, but her handwritten notes suggest that she conceived of it as an vertically-oriented11). Taeuber-Arp’s spatial embroidery arrangement design Compositionreminiscent of à thismotifs script d’oiseaux (Figures from 12 and ca. 13).1927–1928 The embroidery features a upright composition. Bands of elongated rectangles are the main compositional structuring device. itselfvertically-oriented could of course spatial also arrangement be viewed reminiscenthorizontally, of butthis herscript handwritten (Figures 12 andnotes 13). suggest The embroidery that she As opposed to her Composition from 1918, they here serve as containers for semi-circles, rectangles and conceiveditself could of itof as course an upright also composition.be viewed horizont Bands ofally, elongated but her rectangles handwritten are thenotes main suggest compositional that she triangles. Their spatial distribution further invites a reading of the elongated rectangles as arranged structuringconceived ofdevice. it as an As upright opposed composition. to her Composition Bands of fr elongatedom 1918, theyrectangles here serve are the as containersmain compositional for semi- circles,structuring rectangles device. and As triangles.opposed toTheir her Compositionspatial distribution from 1918, further they invites here serve a reading as containers of the elongated for semi- rectanglescircles, rectangles as arranged and intriangles. pairs of Their two, andspatial divided distribution by a central further axis—almost invites a reading as if one of indicatedthe elongated the 21 rectanglesThis overview as arranged of the mechanics in pairs of Kinetographyof two, and is divided a condensation by a central of the helpful axis—almost introduction as by if Ann one Hutchinson indicated Guest the left (side,2005, pp.and 17–33) the other, in Labanotation the right. side of the body. left side, and the other, the right side of the body.

Arts 2020, 9, 15 10 of 19 in pairs of two, and divided by a central axis—almost as if one indicated the left side, and the other, the right side of the body. Arts 2020, 9, 15 10 of 19 Arts 2020, 9, 15 10 of 19

FigureFigure 9. 9. Excerpt from from Rudolf Rudolf von vonLaban’s Laban’s journal journal SchrifttanzSchrifttanz, volume 1., volumeVienna: Universal 1. : Edition, Universal 1928. Edition,Figure 1928. 9. Excerpt from Rudolf von Laban’s journal Schrifttanz, volume 1. Vienna: Universal Edition, 1928.

Figure 10. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Composition, ca. 1918. Pencil and coating paint on paper. 30.7 × 25.6 Figurecm.Figure 10. KunstSophie 10. SophieMuseum Taeuber-Arp, Taeuber-Arp, Winterthur. Composition, Composition,Donation by ca. Margueriteca. 1918.1918. Pe Pencil Arp-Hagencil and and coatingnbach, coating paint 1977. paint on © onSIK-ISEA,paper. paper. 30.7 Zürich 30.7× 25.6 25.6 × cm. Kunst(photocm. Kunst MuseumPhilipp Museum Hitz), Winterthur. Winterthur. used by permission. Donation Donation by by MargueriteMarguerite Arp-Hage Arp-Hagenbach,nbach, 1977. 1977. © SIK-ISEA,© SIK-ISEA, Zürich Zürich (photo(photo Philipp Philipp Hitz), Hitz), used used by by permission. permission.

Arts 2020, 9, 15 11 of 19 Arts 2020, 9, 15 11 of 19 Arts 2020, 9, 15 11 of 19

FigureFigureFigure 11. 11.Azra 11. Azra Azra von von von Laban, Laban, Laban, Gruppenspiel Gruppenspiel Gruppenspiel für für Schrifttanz,Schrifttanz, notated notated 1930–1931.1930–1931. 1930–1931. Médiathèque Médiathèque Médiathè quedu du Centre duCentre Centre national de la danse. Fonds Albrecht Knust. Donation by Roderyk Lange, used by permission. nationalnational de de la danse.la danse. Fonds Fonds Albrecht Albrecht Knust. Knust. Donation by by Rode Roderykryk Lange, Lange, used used by by permission. permission.

Figure 12. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Untitled (embroidery design for Composition à motifs d’oiseaux), ca. 1927–1928. Pencil and colored pencil on graph paper. 25.8 cm × 37.5 cm. Private collection. Deposited FigureFigure 12. 12.Sophie Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Taeuber-Arp, Untitled Untitled (embroidery(embroidery desi designgn for for Composition Composition à motifsà motifs d’oiseaux), d’oiseaux), ca. ca. in Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (photo Peter Schälchli), used by permission. 1927–1928.1927–1928. Pencil Pencil and and colored colored pencil pencil on on graph graphpaper. paper. 25.8 cm × 37.537.5 cm. cm. Private Private collection. collection. Deposited Deposited in Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (photo Peter Schälchli), used by× permission. in Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (photo Peter Schälchli), used by permission.

Arts 2020, 9, 15 12 of 19 Arts 2020, 9, 15 12 of 19 Arts 2020, 9, 15 12 of 19

FigureFigure 13. 13.Sophie Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Taeuber-Arp, Composition Compositionà motifs à d’oiseaux,motifs d’oiseaux, ca. 1927–1928. ca. 1927–1928. Petit-point Petit-point embroidery, woolFigureembroidery, on linen13. ground.Sophiewool on Taeuber-Arp, 25linen cm grou35.5nd. cm.25Composition cm Private × 35.5 collection,cm. à Privatemotifs used colled’oiseaux, byction, permission. used ca. by1927–1928. permission. Petit-point embroidery, wool on linen grou× nd. 25 cm × 35.5 cm. Private collection, used by permission. OtherOther works works from from the the same same period period containcontain symbolssymbols that that would would be be immedi immediatelyately recognizable recognizable to to a kinetographicallya kinetographicallyOther works from literate literate the eye.same eye. TheperiodThe redred contain shapesshapes symbol in Composition s that would pathétique path be immediétique à àatelyplansplans recognizable rectangulaires rectangulaires to a kinetographically literate eye. The red shapes in Composition pathétique à plans rectangulaires fromfrom 1928 1928 (Figure (Figure 14 14),), for for instance, instance, recallrecall twotwo “chimneys”“chimneys” that that would would indicate indicate low-level low-level forward forward from 1928 (Figure 14), for instance, recall two “chimneys” that would indicate low-level forward movementmovement on on both both supporting supporting limbs. limbs. InIn Taeuber-Arp’s rug rug from from 1921 1921 (Figure (Figure 15), 15 ),on on the the other other hand, hand, movement on both supporting limbs. In Taeuber-Arp’s rug from 1921 (Figure 15), on the other hand, smallsmall hatchings hatchings around around the the outlines outlines of of her her shapes shapes repeat repeat not not only only the the rug’s rug’s physical physical structure, structure, but but also smallalso remind hatchings one aroundof the hatchings the outlines that of designate her shapes high repeat level not movement only the inrug’s Kinetography. physical structure, Even more but remind one of the hatchings that designate high level movement in Kinetography. Even more strongly alsostrongly remind do theone diagonal of the hatchings hatchings that in thedesignate lower ri highght handlevel cornermovement of the in rug Kinetography. resemble the Even slanted more E- do the diagonal hatchings in the lower right hand corner of the rug resemble the slanted E-sign stronglysign indicating do the movementsdiagonal hatchings of the hand in the (compare lower ri ghtFigure hand 8). corner of the rug resemble the slanted E- indicatingsign indicating movements movements of the of hand the hand (compare (compare Figure Figure8). 8).

Figure 14. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Composition pathétique à plans rectangulaires, 1928. Colored yarn. FigureFigure50 cm 14. × 14. 50Sophie Sophiecm. Stiftung Taeuber-Arp, Taeuber-Arp, Arp e.V., Composition Composition Berlin/Rolandswerth, path pathétiqueétique usedà àplans plans by permission. rectangulaires, rectangulaires, 1928. 1928. ColoredColored yarn.yarn. 50 cm50 cm50 cm.× 50 Stiftungcm. Stiftung Arp Arp e.V., e.V., Berlin Berlin/Rolandswerth,/Rolandswerth, used used by by permission. permission. ×

Arts 2020, 9, 15 13 of 19 Arts 2020, 9, 15 13 of 19

Arts 2020, 9, 15 13 of 19

Figure 15.15. Sophie Taeuber-Arp,Taeuber-Arp, Rug,Rug, Untitled,Untitled, 1918.1918. Wool,Wool, woven.woven. 80 cmcm × 69.569.5 cm.cm. FondazioneFondazione × Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach, Locarno.Locarno. © SIK-ISEA,SIK-ISEA, Zü Zürichrich (photo Philipp Hitz Hitz),), used by permission. Figure 15. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Rug, Untitled, 1918. Wool, woven. 80 cm × 69.5 cm. Fondazione Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach, Locarno. © SIK-ISEA, Zürich (photo Philipp Hitz), used by permission. At times, times, themes themes carry carry over over from fromone medium one medium to another to in another Taeuber-Arp’s in Taeuber-Arp’s oeuvre. Her oeuvre.oil-on- Her oil-on-canvas Composition verticale à rectangles, cercles et barres from 1930 continues to be canvas AtComposition times, themes verticale carry over à rectangles, from one mediumcercles et to barres another from in Taeuber-Arp’s 1930 continues oeuvre. to be structuredHer oil-on- by structuredelongatedcanvas Composition rectangles by elongated and verticale rectanglesa quick, à rectangles, unevenly and a quick, cerclesspaced unevenly et succession barres from spaced of 1930sm successionaller continues geometric ofto be smaller elements structured geometric (Figure by elements16).elongated Additionally, (Figure rectangles 16 the). introductionand Additionally, a quick, unevenly of the a clear introduction spaced distin successionction of abetween clear of sm distinction fullaller and geometric empty between elementsshapes, full andas (Figure it empty is the shapes,case16). with Additionally, as the it iscircles, the casethe recalls introduction with Laban’s the circles, ofuse a clearof recalls sh adingdistin Laban’sction to indicate between use of different shadingfull and levels empty to indicate of shapes, movement. diff aserent it is levelsthe ofcase movement. with the circles, recalls Laban’s use of shading to indicate different levels of movement.

FigureFigure 16.16. 16. Sophie Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Taeuber-Arp, CompositionComposition verticale àà rectangles,rectangles,rectangles, cercles cerclescercles et etet barres, barres,barres, 1930. 1930.1930. Oil Oil on onon canvas.canvas. 29 29 29 cmcm cm × 22.5× 22.522.5 cm. cm. cm. Fondazione Fondazione Fondazione Marguerite Marguerite Marguerite Arp- Arp-Hagenbach,Hagenbach,Hagenbach, Locarno. Locarno. Locarno. © © SIK-ISEA, SIK-ISEA,© SIK-ISEA, Zürich Zürich (photo Zürich(photo × (photoPhilippPhilipp Philipp Hitz), Hitz), used Hitz), used by by used permission. permission. by permission.

Arts 2020, 9, 15 14 of 19

Arts 2020, 9, 15 14 of 19 Finally, Sophie Taeuber’s plans for the hallway at the Aubette entertainment complex in Strasbourg from 1927Finally, invite Sophie a final Taeuber’s enticing comparisonplans for the within hallway an architecturalat the Aubette context entertainment (Figure 17 ).complex Featuring in a Strasbourg from 1927 invite a final enticing comparison within an architectural context (Figure 17). similar irregular arrangement of elongated rectangular shapes in blue, black and grey, her plans design Featuring a similar irregular arrangement of elongated rectangular shapes in blue, black and grey, a space to be moved across by visitors on their way to and from the Aubette’s dance hall. That this her plans design a space to be moved across by visitors on their way to and from the Aubette’s dance displacement of bodies is choreographed through a floor pattern of vertical bands—even if they are hall. That this displacement of bodies is choreographed through a floor pattern of vertical bands— not further filled with geometric symbols—testifies one year before the publication of Schrifttanz to the even if they are not further filled with geometric symbols—testifies one year before the publication strongof Schrifttanz parallels to between the strong Laban parallels and Taeuber-Arpsbetween Laban respective and Taeuber-Arps oeuvres. respective oeuvres.

FigureFigure 17. 17.Sophie Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Taeuber-Arp, Aubette Aubette 113, 113, 1927. 1927. Pencil Pe andncil gouacheand gouache on paper. on paper. Musée Musée d’Art Moderned’Art et ContemporainModerne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, de St usedrasbourg, by permission. used by permission.

WhatWhat is is one one to to make make of of such such striking striking parallels?parallels? Is it it sheer sheer chance, chance, to to return return to to Jill Jill Fell, Fell, that that Rudolf Rudolf vonvon Laban’s Laban’s movement movement scores scores and and Sophie Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s Taeuber-Arp’s geometric geometric abstractions abstractions exhibit exhibit such uncanny such degreesuncanny of visualdegrees similarity? of visual similarity? By now it By will now have it will become have apparent become apparent that the mostthat the serious most challengeserious thatchallenge meets any that attempts meets any at establishing attempts at certainty establishing over certainty a direct influence over a direct is that influence of chronology. is that Laban of chronology. Laban did not publish his movement script until the late 1920s, when he was already did not publish his movement script until the late 1920s, when he was already living in Germany living in Germany and no longer in Zurich. Whatever evidence we have about a potential direct and no longer in Zurich. Whatever evidence we have about a potential direct influence often turns influence often turns out to be questionable. A case in point is Hans Richter’s recollection of a ballet out to be questionable. A case in point is Hans Richter’s recollection of a ballet “drilled and written “drilled and written down by Käthe Wulff and Sophie Taeuber in Laban’s system of notation”, which down by Käthe Wulff and Sophie Taeuber in Laban’s system of notation”, which would suggest would suggest that the latter was familiar with both its method and its aesthetics (Richter 1965, p. that the latter was familiar with both its method and its aesthetics (Richter 1965, p. 71). Walburga 71). Walburga Krupp, however, is right to caution us against an over-reliance on the Dadaist’s Krupp,memories however, as historical is right documents to caution us(Krupp against 2017, an p. over-reliance 158). Moreover, on the it is Dadaist’s unlikely that memories Laban’s as symbols historical documentsof the mid-1910s (Krupp were 2017 identical, p. 158). with Moreover, those publishe it is unlikelyd in 1928. that The Laban’s question symbols about of Rudolf the mid-1910s von Laban’s were identicalinfluence with on thoseSophie published Taeuber-Arp’ in 1928.s visual The practice question can about therefore Rudolf not be von answered Laban’s with influence certainty. on Sophie Taeuber-Arp’sMore fruitful visual might practice be the can reverse therefore question. not be answeredWe know of with several certainty. occasions in which Taeuber- ArpMore exhibited fruitful her might work be in theZurich reverse between question. 1917 an Wed know1919; Laban’s of several wide-ranging occasions in creative which Taeuber-Arpendeavors exhibitedand his herpersonal work interest in Zurich in betweenthe visual 1917 arts andsubs 1919;tantiate Laban’s the assumption wide-ranging thatcreative Laban had endeavors encountered and his personal interest in the visual arts substantiate the assumption that Laban had encountered his dance

Arts 2020, 9, 15 15 of 19 student’s work in the applied arts.22 It would be less far-fetched, then, to claim a place for Sophie Taeuber-Arp as a prominent figure amongst the ranks of Rudolf von Laban’s influences.23 The approach this paper takes, however, is yet a different one. The most productive solution, it argues, is to go beyond any attempt at enforcing strict causal connections, no matter their directionality. Bibiana Obler has taken such a stance with respect to the parallel careers of Sophie Taeuber-Arp and her husband Hans Arp. She writes that “it is easy to become mired in questions of influence, but the attempt to distinguish their contributions is not only futile, it is beside the point” (Obler 2014, p. 138).24 A similar case can be made about the connections between Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Rudolf von Laban. The final section of this paper thus turns away from questions of influence, proposing instead to understand these visual resemblances as indicators of underlying convergences in the artists’ creative values and approaches to artmaking. In both cases, these most clearly emerge in their respective pedagogical writings.

5. Pedagogical Juxtapositions One of the primary functions of Kinetography was of course as a device to facilitate the learning of choreography. To understand not only the full degree of innovation but also some of the theoretical underpinnings of Laban’s invention, four central aspects deserve to be highlighted. First, Kinetography distinguishes itself from preceding models of dance notation insofar as it is both comprehensive and universal: every form of movement can be captured and all types of dance can be recorded. In the introductory notes to the 1928 user manual from the journal Schrifttanz, Laban asserts that Kinetography provides the reader with a “full and complete presentation of all movement recording possibilities” (Laban 1928b, p. 3). Not only the highly skilled dance master, but anyone who has become literate in this script can teach themselves the recorded steps, which are of course not restricted to modern expressionist dance. Second, Kinetography, according to Laban, ensures the regulated and accurate transmission of dance from one body to another because it “keeps choreographic invention free from distortion by busy imitators ... [to] the effect of preserving the integrity of original works” (Laban 1956, pp. 18–19).25 Laban’s objective is to eliminate imitation from the ways dance is circulated; in other words, his pedagogic model is anti-mimetic. Movement no longer travels from one body to another through the imprecise and uncontrollable act of copying the steps of the dance master. Rather, the originality of a choreography is preserved in a script and can be activated at a later point only through a meticulous and professional hermeneutic effort. Third, this careful analysis necessarily makes the “movement progression more precise and relieve[s] it of any indistinctness, which [would] make the dance idiom unclear and additionally monotonous,” so Laban (Laban 1928a, pp. 4–5). Kinetography not only allows dance to be reproduced with a much higher fidelity, but it makes the quality of the movement itself more refined. Recall here Mary Wigman’s account from 1914 that “every movement had to be done over and over again until it was controlled and could be analyzed” (Wigman 1983, p. 303). Laban refers to this aspect of refining dance through its notation as the “mental aspect”, and emphasizes it as “far more important” than the comparatively straightforward task of scripting gestures (Laban 1928a, pp. 4–5).

22 These include the exhibition “Raumkunst” at the Alte Tonhalle Zurich and the exhibition “Schweizerische Expressionisten” at the Kunsthaus Zurich in late 1918 and early 1919 (Stroeh 1989, pp. 124, 127). 23 In The Influences of Rudolf Laban, John Foster(1977) provides such a genealogy consisting of a series of all-male dance masters with the exception of Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller. 24 Methodologically, this paper thus shares Bibiana Obler’s critique of attempts to write a history of women artists that reproduces uncritically the masculine values of originality and uniqueness. Obler writes that “the tendency to champion underappreciated artists also lends itself to skewed perspectives, turning anxieties of influence into games of one-upmanship” (Obler 2014, p. 18). It is a game of one-upmanship that this paper intends to bypass by turning its back to a debate about influence between Rudolf von Laban and Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Thank you to a reviewer for pointing me to Obler’s text. 25 This and all following passages quoted from Laban’s Principles of Dance and Movement Notation (1956) are translations taken from (McCaw 2011). Arts 2020, 9, 15 16 of 19

The fourth point is not explicitly formulated in Laban’s writings, and yet it is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of his invention. This is the fact that Kinetography no longer contains even a vestige of anthropomorphism. While prior movement notation systems featured symbols with a strong likeness to the shape of the human body—no matter how stylized—, such figures are thoroughly eliminated in Laban’s model.26 An uninformed viewer encountering such a score out of context could not fathom that it describes the displacement of human limbs. Ann Hutchinson Guest, Laban-student and founder of the American Dance Notation Bureau, explains: “While the direct visualization of stick figure drawings or visually based systems appeal to many people, direct representation is impractical for converting movement into drawings on paper except at a simple level. In any comprehensive system, information must be abstracted and converted into symbols” (Hutchinson Guest 2005, p. 11). At the heart of Kinetography thus lies an impulse to abstract information about the body’s motions into simple, repeatable geometric shapes. This impulse to abstract movement seems, at first glance, to stand in contradiction with expressionist dance’s investment in corporeality. There exists indeed a paradoxical relation between the attempt to refine and control movement through writing and expressionist dance’s aspirations to free the dancing body by allowing it to move to its own rhythms. Mark Franko has already noted this tension: “But, movement was inconceivable in these terms [of improvisation and of ecstasy] without movement analysis, through which one separates out and considers in isolation the body’s relation to space, time, qualities of energy” (Franko 2012, p. 294). It is ironically only the meticulous scrutiny of isolated movement that allows for the improvisatory freedom of expressionist dance. A similar tension can be observed to run through Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s artistic oeuvre. In her case, this is usually posited as the contradiction between the freewheeling lawlessness of her performances in Dada contexts and the conscientious labor invested in her seemingly static textile creations. But before we can turn to this paradox, a closer reading of Taeuber-Arp’s own writings is called for. The only extant publications by Taeuber-Arp are two pedagogical texts. Although these writings deserve a closer study for their own sake, spatial limitations make a comprehensive engagement with these texts impossible in this paper. The following paragraphs will thus merely single out four salient points, and demonstrate their resonances with the central elements of Laban’s teaching highlighted above. First, Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s writing is underpinned by a conviction that the urge to beautify is deeply rooted in humankind. It is a primeval, or one could add, a universal attribute. Offering a set of composition exercises, she reassures her readers that they will “increase students’ expressive abilities in form and color, as different as their innate talents may be” (Taeuber-Arp and Gauchat 2009, p. 170). With a basic training in color theory and compositional strategies, anybody has the creative capacities to devise embellishment. Second, imitation once again appears as the foe of all honest and pure creation. “Lifeless, embarrassing copying” does not allow students to grasp the essential beauty inside any object, Taeuber-Arp writes; the aim is rather to give expression to the way this beauty is “truly, personally experienced” (Taeuber-Arp 2009, p. 163). Whereas her overall pedagogical program leaves ample space for freedom to experiment, the facile and unimaginative approach of mimesis is excluded from the gamut of legitimate creative strategies.27

26 It is of course possible to argue that the central symmetrical line that divides the script into a right and a left body side is still a sign of anthropomorphism. Nevertheless, comparisons with earlier notation systems such as the stick figure model, convey a sense of the extent to which direct representations of the body have been eliminated in Kinetography. 27 In this rejection of uncritical copying, the pedagogic projects of both Taeuber-Arp and of Laban overlap with the aesthetic-political values of the Dadaists. Dada’s fraught relation to imitation, understood as a reproduction of the “outside world, which, in 1916, was propelled into the catastrophe of World War I” has been the subject of prior scholarly debate (Demos 2005, p. 7). In this context, Hal Foster, conceives of Dada’s use of mime as a device for parody and mockery in the face of wartime trauma. Miming in Dada, Foster writes, was a “dialectic strategy” that risked “excessive identification with the corrupt conditions of a symbolic order” so as to “expose this order as failed, or at least as insecure” (Foster 2003, Arts 2020, 9, 15 17 of 19

Third, a sense of diligence and attention to the most minute detail pervades her didactic texts. For example, Taeuber-Arp writes in praise of “conscientious labor” (Taeuber-Arp and Gauchat 2009, p. 167) and emphasizes the need to “distinguish between the essential and the inessential” (Taeuber-Arp 2009, p. 163). She is convinced of the existence of an “instinct for perfection” (Taeuber-Arp and Gauchat 2009, p. 168), and any closer analysis of her work reveals that this instinct was very much her own. Finally, it is perhaps surprising that the word “abstract” is never explicitly mentioned in Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s texts. The interpretative leap this calls for, however, is a rather small one. Throughout the introduction to the 1927 Guidelines for Drawing Instruction, Taeuber-Arp and her co-editor Blanche Gauchat advocate against a superficial, pasted-on ornamentation imitative of patterns in nature, and in favor of “pure—and therefore beautiful—functional form” (Taeuber-Arp and Gauchat 2009, p. 167). In Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s own work, this call for purity, beauty and functionality translates primarily to forms that are abstract rather than representational, even if it does so less as a matter of dogma than one of inclination.28 Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Rudolf von Laban thus share in their pedagogical-theoretical writings a belief in the universality of creative expression, a valuing of precision, a rejection of mimesis and an impulse towards abstraction. It is these overt resonances between the artists’ respective pedagogical agendas—and not merely the visual resemblances between their works—that put Taeuber-Arp’s abstract compositions into an intrinsic relation with Laban’s contemporaneous engagements with bodily movement. The convergence of these two artists through their pedagogical writings is significant for several reasons. First, such an approach provides a more concrete understanding of the relationship between movement and form in Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s artistic career. Other studies have already attempted to overcome an overly neat separation between the artist’s interest in bodily movement and that in nonfigurative composition as two entirely distinct forms of artmaking. However, the prevalent narrative in current scholarship claims that Taeuber-Arp’s dance practice manifests itself in the incorporation of dynamic lines, slanting shapes, and the more animated quality of her work.29 Instead, the visual and pedagogic resemblances with Laban’s movement notation reveal that the dancing body is implicated precisely in Taeuber-Arp’s most exacting and static abstract geometrical compositions. This is not to argue that her work therefore contains a hidden Kinetography waiting to be activated; the latter would, admittedly, be quite a spectacular example of over-interpretation. At most, one could understand Taeuber-Arp’s abstractions as a movement script in a very expanded sense: along such lines, her applied artworks would figure as the material traces of her compositional exercises—notating, so to speak, the movement of her hands as they carefully cross-stitch, embroider, and arrange patterns on the page. Whether Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s abstract works express movement through some form of notation or not was not this paper’s aim to decide. It did attempt to show, however, that both Laban and Taeuber-Arp’s aesthetic values give rise to a seemingly paradoxical co-presence of an impulse to abstract and an investment in corporeality in their respective oeuvres. What is at stake in such a reading is to demonstrate that the turn to nonfigurative shapes in early twentieth-century Europe was not a matter of the elimination of the human body. The asymptotic relationship between the lives and works of Rudolf von Laban and Sophie Taeuber-Arp instead disrupt a common notion of early abstraction as cerebral rather than corporeal: in the work of both artists, bodily movement and geometric form are co-constitutive, and not mutually exclusive phenomena.

pp. 169–70). Whether a similar political stance motivated Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s or Rudolf von Laban’s rejection of ‘busy imitation’ and ‘lifeless copying’, however, remains open to speculation. 28 See Christoph Vögele’s observations that “only a few representatives of the early Moderns permitted the representational to coincide with the nonrepresentational so undogmatically as Sophie Taeuber-Arp” (Vögele 2002, p. 26). 29 See, for example, (Burkhalter 2014, p. 231). Arts 2020, 9, 15 18 of 19

6. Conclusions Given the arguments presented in this paper, we may conclude that Sophie Taeuber-Arp occupies a unique role in the complex relationships between the Dada movement and the work of Rudolf von Laban. While aspects of Taeuber-Arp’s oeuvre are certainly influenced by her involvement in the circles of Zurich Dada, her pedagogical writings about the applied arts resonate much more strongly with the theoretical investments of Rudolf von Laban. Both emphasize dedication and practice over chance creation, individual virtuosity over anonymity, and precision over chaos. It is these pedagogical and conceptual concordances that finally make clear why the resemblances between Taeuber-Arp’s and Laban’s visual languages are not a matter of pure coincidence. Putting this main conclusion in a larger context, this sheds new light on the manifold interactions between Dada and expressionist dance, asking us to revise our assumptions about their supposedly distinct artistic agendas. Most importantly, however, this paper hopes to have added insights to early geometric abstraction’s intimate ties not only to the applied arts, but also to the dancing body. This is only one possible way in which to reconsider the role of the corporeal in the history of modernism. The claims of this paper are based on evidence derived from comparisons of the creative work and theoretical writings of the two artists it discusses. The validity of its claims thus does not depend on any speculations about direct influences of Rudolf von Laban on Sophie Taeuber-Arp or vice versa. Instead, the paper made use of an alternative framework for thinking about the vexed question of artistic influence in the history of art and dance. Regarding the experimental environments of Munich, Ascona and Zurich in the early 20th century as the common ground for the joint emergence of a system of dance notation and of geometric abstraction, one might understand them as simultaneous, co-responding, different but not separate, artistic phenomena.

Funding: This research received no external funding. Acknowledgments: The author would like to thank Anne Umland and her research assistants for their encouragement to publish this text. Thank you also to the students in the seminar on Sophie Taeuber-Arp for their feedback and stimulating discussions. This paper has benefited greatly from the incisive comments by its reviewers and by the editors of this Special Issue, as well as the proofreading of Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl and Johannes Brandl. I am grateful to Ann Hutchinson Guest for her responsiveness and support. Conflicts of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interests.

References

Andrew, Nell. 2014. Dada Dance: Sophie Taeuber’s Visceral Abstraction. Art Journal 73: 12–29. [CrossRef] Burkhalter, Sarah. 2014. Kachinas and Kinesthesia: Dance in the art of Sophie Taeuber-Arp. In Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Today Is Tomorrow. Edited by Thomas Schmutz. Aarau: Aargauer Kunsthaus, pp. 226–32. De Weerdt, Mona, and Andreas Schwab, eds. 2017. Monte Dada—Ausdruckstanz und Avantgarde. Bern: Stämpfli Verlag. Demos, T.J. 2005. Zurich Dada: The Aesthetics of Exile. In The Dada Seminars. Edited by Leah Dickerman and Matthew S. Witkovsky. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, pp. 7–29. Dickerman, Leah. 2005. Introduction. In The Dada Seminars. Edited by Leah Dickerman and Matthew S. Witkovsky. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, pp. 1–5. Dörr, Evelyn. 2004. Rudolf Laban: Das choreographische Theater. Norderstedt: Books on Demand. Dörr, Evelyn. 2008. Rudolf Laban: The Dancer of the Crystal. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press. Fell, Jill. 1999. Sophie Täuber: The Masked Dada Dancer. Forum for Modern Language Studies 35: 270–85. [CrossRef] Foster, John. 1977. The Influences of Rudolph Laban. London: Lepus Books. Foster, Hal. 2003. Dada Mime. October 105: 166–76. [CrossRef] Franko, Mark. 2012. Danced Abstraction: Rudolf con Laban. In Inventing Abstraction, 1910–1925: How a Radical Idea Changed Modern Art. Edited by Leah Dickerman. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. Hutchinson Guest, Ann. 1989. Choreo-Graphics: A Comparison of Dance Notation Systems from the Fifteenth Century to the Present. New York: Gordon and Breach. Arts 2020, 9, 15 19 of 19

Hutchinson Guest, Ann. 2005. Labanotation: The System of Analyzing and Recording Movement, 4th ed. New York and London: Routledge. Krupp, Walburga. 2017. Sophie Taeuber-Arp als Tänzerin und Dadaistin: Eine Wunschvorstellung der Rezeption? In Monte Dada: Ausdruckstanz und Avantgarde. Edited by Mona de Weerdt and Andreas Schwab. Bern: Stämpfli Verlag, pp. 149–64. Laban, Rudolf. 1928a. Grundprinzipien der Bewegungsschrift. Schrifttanz 1: 4–5. Laban, Rudolf. 1928b. Vorwort. Schrifttanz 1: 3. Laban, Rudolf. 1956. Principles of Dance and Movement Notation. London: Macdonald and Evans. Lanchner, Carolyn. 1981. Sophie Taeuber-Arp: An Introduction. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, pp. 9–21. Lange, Roderyck. 2011. Laban and Movement Notation. In The Laban Sourcebook. Edited by Dick McCaw. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 155–66. McCaw, Dick, ed. 2011. The Laban Sourcebook. New York and London: Routledge. Obler, Bibiana K. 2014. Intimate Collaborations: Kandinksy & Münter, Arp & Taeuber. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Richter, Hans. 1965. Dada: Art and Anti-Art. New York: McGraw Hill. Ruprecht, Lucia. 2017. Vibrierende Körper in Dada und Ausdruckstanz. In Monte Dada: Ausdruckstanz und Avantgarde. Edited by Mona de Weerdt and Andreas Schwab. Bern: Stämpfli Verlag, pp. 121–31. Stroeh, Greta. 1989. Biographie. In Sophie Taeuber. Paris: Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Taeuber-Arp, Sophie. 2009. Remarks on Instruction in Ornamental Design. In Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Avant-Garde Pathways.Málaga: Museo Picasso, pp. 162–65. First published 1922. Taeuber-Arp, Sophie, and Blanche Gauchat. 2009. Guidelines for Drawing Instruction in the Textile Professions. In Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Avant-Garde Pathways.Málaga: Museo Picasso, pp. 166–73. First published 1927. Vögele, Christoph. 2002. “You beheld the world with devotion”: On the Question of Reality in the Works of Sophie Taeuber-Arp. In Variations: Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Works on Paper. Heildberg: Kehrer Verlag, pp. 26–39. Wigman, Mary. 1983. My Teacher Laban. In What Is Dance? Edited by Marshall Cohen and Roger Copeland. New York: Oxford University Press.

© 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).