Laban Workshop (5-19 January 2014)

Karen Bradley is an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies for the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA.  She is a certified movement analyst in Laban Movement Analysis and the author of Rudolf Laban, one of the volumes in Routledge’s series on twentieth century performance practitioners.

Currently, she is developing a pilot study entitled ‘Your Brain on Dance’, which involves collaboration with a team of engineers to determine brain-wave patterns for specific expressive movement qualities. [Could one say: She is also involved in a project entitled ‘Moving Stories: Digital Tools for Movement, Meaning, and Interaction’, which was made possible by grant received form the Canadian government.

Bradley is a writer on the common core standards for dance in the US, the author of many articles and chapters in books on dance and learning, arts education and movement. She is currently overseeing a grant for the National Dance Education Organization that was received from the National Endowment for the Arts and is entitled EVIDENCe: Evidence in the Value of Dance Education for Our Nation’s Children. This involves the mining of documents for evidence of the effects of dance on learning in children.

As an analyst of the movement behaviour of political leaders she regularly appears on television and in newspapers. She has also taught movement for actors at several universities and has worked as a professional designer of movement and dance for plays in the Washington DC area.

Prof Bradley will be assisted by the UP Department of Drama’s Prof Marth Munro (PhD), who is also a certified movement analyst.

Previous experience of Laban work is essential if you wish to qualify as a participant in this workshop.

For further information, please contact [email protected].