Laban Student Accepted to National Movement Education Conference
After enrolling in music professor Eleanor Cox’s Laban movement analysis course last fall, Kate Allen began conducting research on the “fascinating study.” She developed a project exploring different ways of coaching American Sign Language students, incorporating the Laban studies first introduced to her by Cox.
Then, she submitted a proposal to the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association’s (ISMETA) October conference in Santa Barbara, California. Last month, she learned her proposal was accepted.
“I am hoping that through this conference I will be able to share some of what I have learned with others,” Allen said. “I am also excited for my first conference to present research. This will be a great opportunity to get feedback on my skills as a presenter and on how I can improve my abilities in the future.”
Allen, a communication sciences and disorders major, is seeking a pre-speech language pathology bachelor’s with an associate in American Sign Language interpreting. She took her first ASL course in high school and is now completing the endmost ASL course available at ISU.
“Through this time, I have met many friends, become closer to the individuals in the Deaf community, and found my passion for Deaf Culture and learning more about this amazing language,” Allen said.
Cox’s fall 2019 class introduced Allen to Laban, a study focused on using kinesthetics and notation to study a range of motion and movement. Drawing from fields such as anatomy, kinesiology and psychology, Laban employs planes, scales and emotions to help individuals with how they move in their daily lives.
Using this method, Allen began developing her project, which helps interpreting students develop their formal register of ASL for their interpreting careers. She hopes to use ASL and Laban together to aid interpreting students in having a more natural movement with their formal signing registers.
The ISMETA conference will allow her to further develop her project, Allen said.
“I am interested to see research from professionals and what they have to teach us,” she said. “I want to learn more about how movements can be incorporated in our daily lives and what their unique studies have to share with us.”
The conference, entitled “Engaging Embodiment: Somatic Applications for Global Health, Education and Social Justice,” will be held October 22-25 at the Pacifica Graduate Institute.
“I was very excited to receive my acceptance letter,” Allen said. “The conference is held on my birthday this year, so it is a great present and I am grateful that I get to participate in it!”