July 31 to August 2, 2026
Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro
MAM Rio
Keynote Opening Lecture
31 de Julho às 11h
Cinemateca do MAM Rio
Marco Lucchesi
Poet, writer, essayist, translator, and historian Marco Lucchesi will have the honor of delivering the keynote opening lecture of the LABAN 2026 Conference. A member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, of which he served as President, Lucchesi is Full Professor at the Faculty of Letters of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), a researcher with Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and a visiting professor at several international institutions.
His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has received major distinctions in Brazil and abroad. Among these are three Jabuti Awards - Brazil’s most prestigious literary prize - and the Alceu Amoroso Lima Award for his lifetime achievement. He has served as editor of the journals Poesia Sempre, Tempo Brasileiro, and Mosaico Italiano; directed the eighth phase of the Revista Brasileira of the Brazilian Academy of Letters between 2012 and 2017; and, since 2023, has served as President of the National Library of Brazil. In the same year, he was awarded the National Order of Scientific Merit by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in recognition of his outstanding contribution to science, culture, and the production of knowledge in Brazil.
Lucchesi is also widely recognized for his profound knowledge and engagement with the work of Dante Alighieri. In 2021, he curated the exhibition Dante 700 Years: The Eyes of Beatrice and has published numerous essays on the Florentine poet. Among his books, Nine Letters on the Divine Comedy: Navigations through Dante’s Classic Masterpiece (Rio de Janeiro: Bazar do Tempo, 2021) stands out as an invitation to journey through the cantos of the poem in the company of one of its most insightful contemporary readers.
Lucchesi’s presence at the International Conference LABAN 2026 offers a unique opportunity to foster dialogue among literature, philosophy, art, and poetic imagination - fields that profoundly shape his intellectual and creative trajectory.
International Artists
July 31st
MAM Rio’s GLASS ROOM
Bala Sarasvati
MFA, CMA
Artistic Director/Choreographer, CORE Contemporary and Aerial Dance;
Jane Willson Professor in the Arts at University of Georgia (1990-2022)
Invited Faculty for LIMS NYC and Seattle LMA/BF Certification Programs
Assisted by Emery Martin and Regan Sadowski
WORKSHOP FOLLOWED BY
A SHORT LIVE PERFORMANCE
LMA/BF Movement Exploration:
Intention, Curiosity and Relationships Supporting Contemporary Movement Forms
Intermediary/Advanced Level with LMA/BF previous experience
This workshop is intended for movers/teachers/creators who enjoy exploring subtle LMA/BF concepts and approaches and developing these into more complex movement forms.
The movement session will begin with some familiar Bartenieff-based movement approaches explored through floorwork, level changes, and partnering sequences that lead into moving through space in three-dimensional movement activities such as looping, threading, rotating and spiraling. Referencing Laban’s Effort and Space Harmony elements, we will consider certain interrelationships to explore movement processes that involve engage/release, riding on the wave of momentum, free-falling and regenerating internal lines of energy.
An informal short live performance by Emery Martin and Regan Sadowski will conclude the experience.
Important: It is necessary to be registered at the LABAN 2026 Conference to have access to workshops.
International Artists
Martha
Eddy
DEP, CMA, RSMT, EdD, and Licensed Teacher of Body-Mind Centering, is an international advocate of Somatic Movement Education & Therapy and speaker on the BodyMind or Somatic Connection in Health, Wellness, & the Arts.
This year she is celebrating being the Founder and Director of the Dynamic Embodiment® Somatic Movement Therapy Training program (35 years), Co-Founder of Moving on Center (30 years) and Founding Director for https://MovingForLife.org®.
Dr. Eddy has served on the certification program faculty for both the School for Body-Mind Centering® and the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (also as President & Executive Director) and as President of ISMETA. She has worked in many renowned Dance Departments: Geraldine Ferraro Fellow of Social Justice and Movement at Marymount Manhattan College, St Marys of CA, Columbia, Princeton and New York Universities, as well as in Kinesiology and BioBehavioral Sciences. She brings attention to movement science, somatic studies and social change to whatever she does. As the author of Mindful Movement: The Evolution of the Somatic Arts and Conscious Action, Dr. Eddy brought attention to the global & indigenous roots of the Westernized systems of Somatics. She and Shakti Andrea Smith published Dynamic Embodiment of the Sun Salutation during the pandemic, heralded for its usefulness in healing the nervous and hormonal systems.
She is currently an Honorary professor in BioBehavioral Sciences at Columbia University and working with the Yale School of Medicine on neurodevelopmental and somatic approaches to back pain for surgeons. She is often invited to do public speaking and innovate new projects and performances. She serves on the founding steering committee of GlobalWaterDances.org .
We are pleased to share the attached SAVE THE DATE for the Rio and London events and the Call for Proposals for Laban Around the World, a full-day program taking place on April 18 at Trinity Laban, London, as part of the Laban Guild International event The Art of Movement: Laban’s Legacy in Dance–Music–Drama.
We warmly invite artists, scholars, educators, and practitioners to consider submitting proposals for arts-related articles, presentations, and workshops engaging critically and creatively with Rudolf Laban’s evolving legacy.
Please find detailed information on themes, submission guidelines, and deadlines in the attached document. We would be delighted to receive your proposals and to welcome you in London to this international exchange.
With best regards,
Regina Miranda, Darren Royston, and Ligia Tourinho
Laban Around The World Coordinators