Warren Lamb Archive

Background

Creating access to these archive materials is not possible without carrying out a programme of preservation and cataloguing work on the collection. This type of archive work is time and resource intensive and avenues for funding are limited, however, following Warren’s death on 21st January 2014, aged 90, the National Resource Centre for Dance (NRCD) are determined raise funds to process, preserve and make accessible the Warren Lamb Archive to ensure that the work of this remarkable man is available to researchers from a broad range of disciplines.

Some funds were raised through an appeal in 2015 and the University has invested support for staffing, however, there is still work to be done to complete this collection. We will continue to seek financial support  through applications to University sources of funding, charitable foundations and other funding bodies but personal donations continues to  play an important part in this project. The overall funding required for preserving, cataloguing and making the collection accessible is £30,000.

All donations, no matter how small, are very gratefully received and will help us both progress towards this project target and provide leverage with other funding sources. We will work with partners, such as Warren’s family and colleagues and Dr Carol-Lynne Moore and Motus Humanus in the USA, to generate funds and advise the project.

About Warren Lamb

Warren Lamb enrolled in the Art of Movement Studio in 1947. He trained with Rudolf Laban and then worked with Laban and F.C. Lawrence using their workplace movement analysis system, initially known as Laban-Lawrence Industrial Rhythm, completing Personal Effort Assessments.

Using Laban’s theories and frameworks, Warren further developed this work, observing and assessing how people’s dynamic movement and non-verbal behaviours signalled core motivations and cognitive processes behind actions and decisions, and this in turn, provided an indicator of people’s behavioural tendencies in a variety of situations. His work is now known as Movement Pattern Analysis. His work broke down the decision-making process into three stages – Attending, Intending and Committing. His approaches were used predominantly in management consultancy and personal development but also in therapeutic settings (particularly through his associations with Irmgard Bartenieff and Judith Kestenberg in the USA).

Warren Lamb’s management consultancy was very successful, working with companies such as Trebor, Saatchi & Saatchi, American Express and Hewlett-Packard. His theories were applied worldwide in corporate management settings and he also worked with the US Government. Since the mid-1960s, over 400 organisations have utilised Movement Pattern Analysis with more than 30,000 individual assessments completed. The Warren Lamb Archive could be utilised in research by a broad range of disciplines including Management, Human Resources, Coaching, Counselling, Dance (particularly Movement Therapy) Somatic Studies, Psychotherapy and other therapeutic areas.

An exceptional man, Warren was actively working right up to the time of his death aged 90 and it is intended that the legacy of his work will be protected via the Warren Lamb Trust administered by Motus Humanus and through his archive held at the National Resource Centre for Dance, University of Surrey.

Donations

Funds raised from personal donations help support the staffing and material resources required to ensure that the archive collection is appropriately processed and preserved for the long-term and will also provide leverage funding for other funding applications; this will prove a huge help in getting the project started.

Make a donation