LMA IRL

By Alexa Palmer

Working and living in NYC can feel like a rat race with no winner. We live in an area with the moniker “the city that never sleeps.” One of the principles that guides the work of movement analysts is the exploration of exertion and recuperation of our movement. Laban wouldn’t really approve of the NYC city lifestyle, or any city lifestyle these days, would he? So in order to continue doing the “adulting” thing, I am constantly balancing the polarities of working and resting, thinking and being. In order to do this, I draw upon another principle- the polarity of stability and mobility. I am constantly mobilizing through my day, thinking and moving, planning and executing, and with that, always using my breath, grounding, and movement as a stabilizing agent throughout the day. It’s almost like a super power, you know?

Though no longer single, I look back on my online dating days and how LMA/BF influenced my experience. Wild right? Using the four categories of movement conceptualized through LMA: Body, Effort, Space, and Shape with additional categories like Relationship and Phrasing, I was able to observe and assess for myself my movement preferences. What are the qualities of movement that I am “in love with,” for lack of a better term, or what qualities absolutely “turn me off?” By tapping into my knowledge of my movement preferences, I was able to notice how, when one gentlemanly courtier would posture or gesture with movement disaffinities, or what one’s intense stare and direct attention to space-or me- might say about they’re inner experiencing and my dating desires. Was it the impulsive phrasing of text messages or the impactful string of lude statements that gave me the first clue? Was the conversation led through his evenly phrased talk about himself, never taking a beat to notice I was still sitting across from him? Like I mentioned before, while the act of finding points of stabilization or grounding can feel like a super power in this modern world, LMA can be your super power while navigating online dating and other relationships.

 

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