LABAN/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies

What LABAN/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies does

The Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational, research, and arts & culture organization founded in 1978 and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, with 24 employees. Its core educational product is the post-Baccalaureate Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) certification program, a 520-hour curriculum built on Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and Bartenieff Fundamentals (BF) and delivered in NYC yearlong, modular hybrid, and modular intensive formats at international partner sites including Agape, Inspirees, University of Pretoria, Wingate, and INBA Mexico. The institute also offers introductory courses (LMA, BF, Anatomy & Kinesiology), continuing education workshops, the peer-reviewed Journal of LBMS, and the arts program Global Water Dances, and it operates the LBMS Community online platform.

LIMS operates with a diversified nonprofit revenue model spanning certification tuition, tiered annual memberships (Associate free, Professional $25–$130, 60+ $12–$65, Student $9–$45), conference registration fees ($225–$499), donations, foundation grants (Arnhold Foundation, HRK, CFGA), corporate sponsorships, and planned giving/endowment contributions. Its customer base spans performing arts professionals, somatic and healthcare practitioners, researchers and academics, business/leadership professionals, and movement enthusiasts, with a horizontal-segmentation approach. Research initiatives include the ReImaging Choreometrics project (3,000+ Lomax film clips at the Library of Congress) and the Moving Stories program exploring digital tools for embodied interaction. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Jan Whitener and led by Executive Director Curtis W. Stedge, with a CMA-mediated teaching talent pipeline that delineates the institute's central moat.

Name

LABAN/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies

Legal name

Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies

Website

https://labaninstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

LIMS is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1978 that trains Certified Movement Analysts (CMAs) through a 520-hour post-Baccalaureate program in Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals, supplementing it with membership, conferences, research, and arts programs for a global community of movement professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn, New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Certification Program Tuition: Revenue from 520-hour certification programs in various formats (Yearlong, Modular). Payment plans available with setup fees. Need-based scholarships offered.
2. Membership Fees: Annual membership with tiered pricing based on income economy (High/Middle/Low). Categories include Associate (FREE), Professional ($25-$130), 60+ ($12-$65), Student ($9-$45). Benefits include community access, research resources, discounted events.
3. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Tax-deductible donations to 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Includes one-time donations, recurring donations, campaign fundraising, and Irmgard's Legacy campaign. EIN: 13-3206848.
4. Continuing Education Courses: Fees for specialized courses including Anatomy & Kinesiology, Laban History, Decoding Choreutics, Mastering Movement, Embodied Meaning, and movement training for seniors.
5. Conference and Event Registration: LBMS 2025 International Conference registration fees with tiered pricing for members ($299-$399 early/late) and non-members ($399-$499), plus student rates ($225).
6. Planned Giving and Endowments: Planned gifts, endowments, naming opportunities, and corporate sponsorships as long-term revenue sources.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

LIMS is a nonprofit educational, research, and arts & cultural organization that delivers a professional post-Baccalaureate Certification Program in Laban Bartenieff Movement Studies leading to the internationally recognized Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) title, comprising 520 hours of training. It supplements this flagship offering with introductory courses, continuing education workshops, scholarly research publications, an online community platform, and signature arts programs such as Global Water Dances.

Product overview

The Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS) is a non-profit educational organization offering a portfolio of programs in three core areas: Education, Research, and Arts & Culture. The core education product is the Certification Program in Laban Bartenieff Movement Studies leading to the Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) designation, supplemented by Introductory Courses (Laban Movement Analysis, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Anatomy & Kinesiology) and Continuing Education courses. The Research arm publishes the Journal of LBMS, organizes conferences including LBMS 2025, and maintains Library & Archives. The Arts & Culture division runs the Global Water Dances program and supports community performances. Additional offerings include the online LBMS Community Platform and research initiatives like Moving Stories and ReImaging Choreometrics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Certification Program in Laban Bartenieff Movement Studies (CMA)
• Introduction to Laban Movement Analysis
• Introduction to Bartenieff Fundamentals
• Introduction to Anatomy & Kinesiology
• Continuing Education Courses
• LBMS 2025 International Conference
• Global Water Dances
• LBMS Community Platform
• Journal of Laban Bartenieff Movement Studies (JLBMS)
• Membership Subscription

Quantifiable outcome

• 520 hours of graduate-level training leading to CMA certification
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered international partner, academic partner, regional partner, core partner, flagship partnership, host partner, event venue and community partner.

• Agapeinternational partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational educational partner hosting LIMS Certification Program modules (Modular Intensive format). Provides in-person training location for movement analysis certification.
• Inspireesinternational partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational educational partner hosting LIMS Certification Program modules. Collaborates in bringing LBMS education to global community.
• University of Pretoria (UP)academic partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouth African university partnership for LBMS certification delivery. Logo displayed among international program partners.
• Wingateinternational partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner organization hosting LIMS Certification Program modules.
• Moving Forthinternational partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner for LBMS education delivery and certification program hosting.
• INBA Mexicoregional partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerMexican partner organization for LBMS certification program delivery in Latin America.
• TDRSinternational partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner hosting LIMS Certification Program at various locations worldwide.
• HNUinternational partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational educational partner for LBMS certification program delivery.
• University of Maryland (UMD)core partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Irmgard Bartenieff and LIMS Archives. Special Collections in Performing Arts holds comprehensive LBMS materials. Also a site for certification program delivery (Maryland cohort).
• International Council of Kinetography Laban/Labanotation (ICKL)flagship partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for LBMS 2025 International Conference at Ohio State University. Joint program sessions including keynote by Bebe Miller and shared social events. Historic gathering of notation and movement analysis communities.
• The Ohio State Universityhost partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venue for LBMS 2025 International Conference. Provides venues including RPAC, Thompson Library, and Theater/Film/Media Arts Building.
• The Fives (Columbus)event venueOthersRestaurant venue for LBMS 2025 Sunday Night Gala event.
• Dancers Without Borderscommunity partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Arts & Culture initiatives supporting international dance community.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Pilobolus: Pioneering dance company with an affiliated International Dance Center offering shadow-based and creative-process training to professionals and non-dancers. Comparable to LIMS as a movement-focused organization that sells training experiences around a distinctive embodied methodology, though more commercial and performance-oriented.
• Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute: Organization that trains practitioners in Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing modality, with a certification pathway and continuing education. Comparable to LIMS as a body-based, certification-driven training institution in the broader somatic education space that overlaps with LIMS's healthcare and therapy use cases.
• Pittsburgh Dance Movement / Continuum Movement: U.S. dance/movement therapy and somatic-education practice offering professional training and certifications in Laban-based and related frameworks. Comparable to LIMS as a smaller-scale provider of Laban-influenced certification and movement analysis training serving performing arts and clinical populations.

Direct peers

• Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance: UK-based conservatoire formed from the merger of Trinity College of Music and the Laban Centre — historically the European home of Rudolf Laban's movement lineage — and is the closest institutional analog to LIMS in curriculum lineage, graduate-level dance/movement training, and research orientation.
• Laban Centre / Faculty of Dance (Trinity Laban) — Historical: Historical peer is the now-merged Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London, which was the original European counterpart to LIMS under the same Laban lineage. Trinity Laban retains the institutional continuity of that peer relationship, sharing faculty networks, journals, and overlapping alumni.

Broad incumbents

• Mark Morris Dance Group: Major nonprofit dance organization that runs The Mark Morris Dance Center with professional-level classes, community programs, and teacher training. Comparable as a nonprofit combining performance, education, and community programming around a signature movement methodology.
• Interlochen Arts Academy: Residential arts high school and summer camp program offering conservatory-style training across dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. Comparable to LIMS as a nonprofit educational institution providing structured movement/dance curricula, credentialed programs, and scholarship-supported access.
• The Ailey School (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater): Professional dance training school affiliated with one of the most recognized modern dance companies in the world. Comparable to LIMS as a nonprofit dance-education institution offering multi-year professional certificates, scholarship programs, and global brand prestige, although the curriculum centers on Ailey-based technique rather than Laban frameworks.
• Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance: Long-established school and company offering professional training in a single named modern-dance tradition (Graham technique). Comparable as a flagship dance-education institution with proprietary methodology, certification-equivalent programs, and global brand recognition, though focused on choreography rather than movement analysis.

Others

• International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA): Professional association that registers somatic movement educators and therapists, and which already approves LIMS's certification program. Comparable to LIMS as the industry body governing the same practitioner credentialing ecosystem and an obvious partner/peer within the LBMS community.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/labaninstitute
• Facebookfacebook.com/LIMS.labaninstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/labaneff_institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LABAN/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies