| Abstrakt: |
In the early 20th century new forms of modern dance, the emergent discipline of psychology and new ideas about the (self-) optimisation of work (the human relations movement) began to encounter one another in Europe and the United States. In this process, performance, bodywork, economy and knowledge of the psyche forged a connection, which has been the subject of very little theoretical and historical reflection to date. This paper outlines this connection on the basis of the concepts developed by Rudolf von Laban and Fritz Giese. Laban, a choreographer, dancer and dance theorist of German Modern Dance, and Giese, a psychologist and specialist of “‘Psychotechnik’”, regarded rhythmic movements as bearing the potential of modern man, a potential which was both aesthetic and economic. The connection of performance and labour brought non-rationality, affectiveness and corporeality, subjectiveness and the workings of the psyche to the fore of thinking about efficiency and approaches to optimisation. Work and its optimisation were now re-defined from an artistic, economic and psychological perspective: improved performance was expected not only through the optimisation of sequences of motions (Taylorism) on the basis of scientifically determined standards (scientific management), but also through self-direction in the context of a comprehensive rhythm, which aimed to create “job satisfaction” through movement and thereby to increase productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
