DANCE is Movement through Space in Time with Quality
— Laurel Martyn OBE
The Laurel Martyn Dance System (LMDS) fosters progressive training for students through progams shaped by their own teachers
LMDS is a holistic, flexible system which is tailored by the dance teacher to suit the needs of their own students
At every stage of training, LMDS facilitates development of the dancer’s understanding of what the body can achieve and the ability to use it as an instrument of expression. The body instrument is considered at all times as a whole, with equal importance given to arms, head and eyes, legs and feet, and all the artistic components of dance
This comprehensive and logical system was developed and codified by Laurel Martyn OBE, an Australian dance icon
A Vision for Learning
Laurel was a leader in all facets of her extensive and diverse dance career – dancer, choreographer, artistic director and educator. Key drivers throughout her marvellous career, right from her early student years, were her desire for understanding the fundamentals as a foundation for learning, and a passion for continuous improvement.
Her holistic method has its foundations in the Ballet Guild School which Laurel opened in Melbourne in 1946 in conjunction with the Ballet Guild Company. Augmented by Laurel’s own vast experience, and input from many knowledgeable teachers over several decades, LMDS evolved into a complete systematic approach.
Laurel brought this concept together in her teaching manuals, ‘Let Them Dance’ (first published in 1985, and ‘Help Them Dance’ which followed soon after.
She oversaw the application of this approach in several schools and it has been in continuous use subsequently.
In later years she focussed on providing a comprehensive training approach for dancers and improving the quality of dance teaching, co-developing the ground-breaking two-year full-time Diploma of Dance: Teaching and Management and coordinating its delivery from 1989.
The Laurel Martyn Dance System (LMDS) aims to allow every student, regardless of age or accomplishment, to move musically and expressively