Movement artist and theorist Rudolf Laban described human movement as containing eight basic qualities, which he described as The Eight Efforts. Each effort has a direction (direct or indirect), a weight (heavy or light), a speed (quick or sustained), and a flow (bound or free). They are: wring--indirect, heavy, sustained, bound press--direct, heavy, sustained, bound float--indirect, light, sustained, free glide--direct, light, sustained, free dab--direct, light, quick, bound flick--indirect, light, quick, free punch--direct, heavy, quick, bound slash--indirect, heavy, quick, free These qualities are used in the teaching of acting to allow actors to both expand their personal physical ranges and help them to add specific physical qualities to the characters they play. |