This study of Rudolf Laban, pre-eminent dance theorist of the twentieth century, provides the first comprehensive analysis of his research. Based upon an examination of unpublished writings and drawings from the final two decades of Laban's career, this book traces Laban's systematic integration of various strands of research and delineates how he used 'harmony' as an analogic metaphor to illuminate the deep structure of dance and movement. It addresses technical and conceptual links between Laban's first career as a visual artist and his subsequent vocation as a dance theorist. Key elements in his analytic movement taxonomy are introduced to familiarize the reader with terms used in the discussion of harmonic theory. Final sections extend the analogic metaphor, elaborating constructs such as tone, interval, scale, modulation, transposition, and harmonic interrelationships, while identifying hypotheses open to further empirical study. This original presentation of harmonics as a general theory of human movement will appeal to scholars in the performing arts, sports and movement studies, and dance and movement therapies.

本书对二十世纪杰出的舞蹈理论家鲁道夫-拉班的研究，首次对其研究进行了全面分析。基于对拉班职业生涯最后20年未发表的著作和图画的研究，本书追溯了拉班对各种研究的系统整合，并描述了他如何使用 "和谐 "作为类比的隐喻来阐明舞蹈和运动的深层结构。该书探讨了拉班作为视觉艺术家的第一份职业和他后来作为舞蹈理论家的使命之间的技术和概念联系。介绍了他的分析性运动分类法中的关键元素，使读者熟悉讨论和谐理论时使用的术语。最后几节扩展了类比的隐喻，阐述了音调、音程、音阶、调式、转位和和声的相互关系等结构，同时确定了有待进一步实证研究的假说。作为人类运动的一般理论，这种对谐波的原创性介绍将吸引表演艺术、体育和运动研究以及舞蹈和运动治疗的学者。