Ann Hutchinson Guest
Sigurd Leeder was a remarkable man, an artist, dancer, choreographer and a world-renowned teacher of dance. He had an exceptional talent in conveying priceless gems of dance knowledge through his use of imagination and of imagery. His form of dance training, based on Rudolf Laban’s theories, was rich and varied. Observing what particular aspect of dance technique needed work, he would create a Study around that physical, spatial, dynamic or rhythmical need. This book presents ten such studies in contrasting moods and sensitivities. In the late 1930s Ann Hutchinson, a diligent student at the Jooss-Leeder Dance School at Dartington Hall in Devon, spent time working on the dance notation scores of the classroom training studies she experienced. These notations became a part of the preservation of that style of dance training and also the foundation of her lifetime involvement in the subject of movement notation and its enrichment for dance education. Realizing how little this form of training is now available, she determined to provide a start by publishing a selection of these studies from the Leeder heritage for the benefit of future dance students. Married to ballet historian Ivor Guest, she is aware of the importance of augmenting the dance heritage for the dance world.
