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"The work of Irmgard Bartenieff and her many collaborators and pupils is of the very greatest importance in research on mother-infant relationships, the social behavior of primitive people, choreometric styles around the world, work with psychiatric patients, studies of animal behavior."
Margaret Mead
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Irmgard Bartenieff (1900-1981) was a student of Rudolf Laban and one of the earliest proponents of his work in the United States. A physical therapist, Bartenieff applied developmental principles and Laban’s theories to her work with polio patients and dancers, originating a physical reeducation method we now call the Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF) sm.
Bartenieff was also a cross-cultural movement researcher, dancer, notation expert and pioneer in the field of dance therapy. She initiated the professional training program in Laban Movement Studies in 1978.
In 1980, Bartenieff’s comprehensive text, Body Movement: Coping with the Environment, was published. Today Bartenieff's students carry on her work in ever broadening applications.
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