John Hodgson

The definitive work on the life, achievements and theory of the great choreographer Rudolf Laban Like Picasso in painting, Stravinsky in music or Stanislavski in theatre, Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) has been a seminal influence on the arts in this century. The impact of his theories and practice have influenced the whole course of modern dance and choreography, and his ideas about physical life and expression have also influenced performers in other fields. His mark can be found in the work of artists as diverse as the German dancers and choreographers Mary Wigman, Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch and the British theatre artists Joan Littlewood, William Gaskill, Joan Plowright, Malcolm Ransome and many others In this major new study John Hodgson looks at the different facets and phases of Laban's life and writings to unravel the many strands of his thinking and its application. This is a masterful synthesis of Laban's work, providing a practical understanding of how the human body moves and creates both beauty and purity through movement. It will become a central text for practitioners of dance and theatre as well as the major record of the history and creative development of Rudolf Laban himself.

Like Picasso in painting, Stravinsky in music, or Stanislavski in theatre, Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) has been a seminal influence in contemporary arts. This is the first major study of Laban's movement theories and practice, exploring the ideas on mastering movement and giving the reader a practical understanding of balance and harmony in the human body - the core of Laban's thinking. John Hodgson looks at the different phases of Laban's life and writings to show that Laban's thoughts about human movement and its mastery and control are the building blocks for a practical understanding of how the human body can create both beauty and purity through movement.

New Zealand Pasture and Crop Science is the first textbook to bring together in one volume the scientific information on pasture and crop production in New Zealand, the efficient conversion of plants to animal products, the use of trees on farms, and how sustainable pastoral and cropping systems can be maintained. It provides a much needed description of our understanding of modern plant production in New Zealand. The text provides a general account of the effects of the environment on individual plant functions and crop and pasture production with a particular emphasis on the temperate climate.

This is the first student edition of Sherlock Holmes stories and the first to reflect the recent critical interest in Holmes. The fifteen major stories are accompanied by a selection of nine essays representing a variety of contemporary critical approaches. Editorial apparatus includes an introduction, afterwords, headnotes, glosses, appendices and an index.