Faye's Bartenieff Notes

Irmgard Bartenieff 101
Birthplace: Germany
Early interests: Biology, art and dance
Professions: dancer, choreographer, teacher, Labanotation expert, Physical Therapist, pioneer in the development of Dance Movement Therapy, and a cross-cultural researcher

Important dates:
1900: Irmgard Bartenieff was born
1925: Met Rudolf Laban
1936: Fled Germany to the U.S. with her husband, Michail Bartenieff
1943: Irmgard Bartenieff graduated from New York University's Physical Therapy program
1954 –1957: Chief Therapist at Blythedale Hospital Valhalla, NY, an orthopedic hospital for children
1978: Founded Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies – LIMS in New York City
1980: Bartenieff’s text, Body Movement: Coping with the Environment, was published
1981: Bartenieff passes away

Life in Germany:
She studied, taught dance and toured around Germany with her husband.

Upon moving to the US:
Introduced Labanotation at the Hanya Holm Studio
Lectured at Bennington College, Columbia Teachers College, The New School for Social Research, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Beginnings of Bartnenieff Fundamentals:
As Chief Physical Therapist of the Polio Service of Willard Parker Hospital, NY, she worked to rehabilitate victims of the polio epidemic by teaching active participation instead on passive acceptance. This approach, combined with her work with the Choreometrics Project, became core to her body re-education method, Bartenieff Fundamentals.

Bartenieff’s Process of Exploration:
Peggy Hackney wrote in the preface to her book “Making Connections” that the focus of Bartenieff’s teachings would change from year to year. Bartenieff Fundamentals “developed in application,” meaning that the focal point of her theory that year was directly related to what Bartenieff was experiencing and investigating in her own body.

What is FUNDAMENTAL?
Change is fundamental: The essence of movement is change
Relationship is fundamental: Relationship is connection
Patterning Body Connections is fundamental