In his exposition on the geometry of movement, Choreutics (1966), choreographer and dance theorist Rudolf von Laban attributed the ancient Greek term choreosophia, a combination of choros meaning circles and sophia meaning wisdom, to Pythagoras and his followers; however, Laban added that “the wisdom of circles is as old as the hills” alluding to powerful magical traditions. Other combinations of these terms build upon the root of choros: choreography, choreology, and choreutics. Choreography is the drawing of circles. Choreology is the study of circles. Choreutics is the “practical study of the various forms of (more or less) harmonised movement.”1 Laban’s interest in the geometry of space and movement began with his study of architecture at the École des Beaux Arts.

1. Rudolf Laban, Choreutics, ed. Lisa Ullman (London: MacDonald and Evans, 1966), viii.