A World in Motion: The Creative Synergy of Lawrence and Anna Halprin

Abstract

Lawrence and Anna Halprin emerged in the mid-20th century as major forces in their respective professions. Lawrence enlarged the scope of landscape architectural practice to include participatory planning, project work on multiple scales, and an emphasis on motion and movement in design. Anna Halprin, noted dancer, choreographer and teacher, established a unique pedagogy of dance instruction that incorporated a holistic approach to her art, promoting dance as a vehicle to create community while enhancing physical and emotional wellness. The Halprins embraced the explosive time and place in which their work was positioned while fueling each other's creative inquiries through interdisciplinary exchange. Lawrence Halprin's involvement with Anna Halprin's dance company, the San Francisco Dancers' Workshop (founded in 1959), revealed new possibilities of design thinking including approaches to site specific work, and design for movement and performativity. Anna Halprin, in turn, was exposed to the influence of designed and natural spaces on human motion, which equally informed her art. The couple's collaboration led to the development of the RSVP Cycles, Scoring, and refinement of their invented system of design and movement notation, Motation. This paper highlights influential experiences in the development of their ideology and describes how their synergistic relationship fueled and enlarged the scope and possibilities of each of their practices.