Group Theory and Modern Dance Composition

Abstract: This paper will examine the spatial reference systems typically used in Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), and the consequences of group actions on these systems. The elementary notions of inversion and transposition in choreographic composition can be defined in such a way that they can be shown to be group homomorphisms in all the reference systems of LMA. The notions of orbits and stabilizers on polyhedra are used to mathematically define these choreographic devices, and these same notions can be used to define new choreographic devices on the standard polyhedra used for spatial reference in dance.