Including an exhibition of Karl Koenig’s illustrations for each verse.
May 19-22. 2024 at Glenora Farm, Duncan, BC, Canada.
There will be a eurythmy presentation of two Soul Calendar Verses, and daily artistic workshops of eurythmy, speech, singing, painting and nature observation.
By Leonore Russell
April, 2011
One of the first questions parents ask when they come to learn about a Waldorf school for their child is about the movement art taught in most Waldorf schools: eurythmy. What is it? Why does my child have to do this? After many years of working as a eurythmy teacher and in the administration of a Waldorf school, I find myself still answering these questions. Yet the answers grow and develop as the years pass and new knowledge both in science and education are bringing light to bear on the questions.
First of all, what is eurythmy? It is a movement art, living in the family of movement arts such as mime and ballet, yet standing midway between these two arts. It shares meaning and gesture with mime, yet it is married to sound rather than objects or recognizable actions, and shares the moving to music and words with dance, but seeks to follow the invisible movement within sound rather than move to it or juxtapose itself against it. It is the expression of the human soul through gesture and movement.
A student once asked: “Who thought this up?” after seeing the same gestures in the great art of the past. He had stumbled on the truth of the expressive gestures that artists such as Giotto and Michelangelo had mastered in their paintings. In the early part of the twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner pointed us toward these gestures to learn their meaning and to find a new art of human movement. He worked first with a young girl and then an ever growing group of interested artists to develop this new art of movement.
Eurythmy has developed over the years and has several unique qualities: it is an art form late to arrive; it is in its infancy, unlike music that has developed over thousands of years. Eurythmy, the hidden inner movement of the soul, emerged out of the work of a few individuals gathered around Rudolf Steiner and has become a worldwide art form practiced on the performance stage, in schools, in therapeutic settings, and in businesses and other social settings.
Eurythmy begins with human speech. The center of movement is in the heart/larynx area of the body and the gestures flow into the hands and arms primarily, but encompass the whole human form. Its name, “eurythmy” means beautiful rhythm, or harmonious movement.
Eurythmy began as a stage art, but soon people asked; this is beautiful and health giving, shouldn’t we teach it to children? And so school or “pedagogical eurythmy” was born. It found a home in the Waldorf schools in Europe and later in the Americas. Then the question was asked: Since this movement art expresses the whole human being, wouldn’t certain movements strengthen the internal organs and relate to illnesses? “Curative’ or “therapeutic” eurythmy was then developed with doctors and eurythmists collaborating and basing their work on Steiner’s work in curative education. Unlike pedagogical eurythmy, therapeutic eurythmy is usually one to one, rather than group activity. *
All three types of eurythmy are appropriate in the school situation. Adults and children alike need to see artistic performances. It is then that the adult really is able to comprehend the scope of this new art. Children see what they are learning in a whole experience. They light up with enthusiasm on seeing such performances and are motivated to learn. Teachers have found the presence of a therapeutic eurythmist on staff is the greatest help in understanding and working with challenges that more and more children face.
Eurythmy is a door to the human heart and all its expressions in poetry, music and drama, and a pathway from the inner world of the human being to the expression in outer life that carries meaning and purpose. In a time when much of education is moving to test driven, informational teaching, eurythmy offers experiential, artistic and social learning.
What role does eurythmy play in the school? Healthy children take great joy in movement. They experience:
A student once said: “Eurythmy helps us to become more human.”
This is the best answer I know why eurythmy is needed in the schools. It meets the ever-increasing demands of children of today, in health of the body and the soul. Even when watching eurythmy performed, adults feel the harmonizing effect. Eurythmy strengthens the healing effects of its sister arts, music and speech, and brings the curriculum alive.
A last word again from one of a student:
“Eurythmy helps us breathe.”
It is the breath that gives us life. Eurythmy is the breath of the school. The human being as part of the whole creation is communicated to the community in eurythmy.
If your school does not have a eurythmy teacher or one nearby, all is not lost. It is important to develop what I call “suction”, where the faculty cultivates movement throughout the curriculum and the school. If the whole school comes into movement activities with joy, eurythmists notice this and are interested in working in such an atmosphere. How is this done? By including movement in the rhythmic part of the lesson, having two or three (minimal) recesses outside and a teacher present who can teach rhythmical playground games, teach folk dancing of all sorts, play party games for young children, and of course, create many movements, cooperative games, and life gestures for the little ones to imitate.
For more information on bringing eurythmy into your school, contact the author leonorerussell@gmail.com or contact Editor@EANA (Eurythmy Association of North America, www.eana.org). *3
* Another aspect of eurythmy, focusing on the social aspect of eurythmy, has been developed in Holland and is useful for groups who work together. Eurythmy-in-the-Workplace is sometimes done with school faculties, but discussion of this is beyond the scope of this article.
*2. See Carla Hannaford, Smart Moves, Great Ocean Press
*3. Available for eurythmy in schools
Kinestheictc Learning n Adolescence, by Leonore Russell, AWSNA Publications
Eurythmy, by Sylvia Barth, AWSNA Publications
Articles by Thomas Paplowsky, Renewal Magazine, AWSNA Publications
For more on eurythmy, go to the web; key word: eurythmy.
by Leonore Russell
Published in being human, Spring 2012 of the newsletter for the Anthroposophical Society in North America
Editor’s note: We begin where many readers will have first encountered eurythmy, in a school…
One of the first questions parents ask when they come to learn about a Waldorf school for their child is about the movement art taught in most Waldorf schools: eurythmy. What is it? Why does my child have to do this? After many years of working as a eurythmy teacher and in Waldorf schools’ administration I find myself still answering these questions. Yet the answers grow and develop as the years pass and new knowledge both in science and education bring light to bear on the questions.
First of all, what is eurythmy? It is a movement art living in the family of movement arts, such as mime and ballet, yet standing midway between these two arts. It shares meaning and gesture with mime, yet it is married to sound rather than objects or recognizable actions and shares the moving-to-music and -words with dance, but seeks to follow the invisible movement within sound rather than move to it or juxtapose itself against it. It is the expression of the human soul through gesture and movement.
A student once asked: “Who thought this up?” after seeing the same gestures in the great art of the past. He had stumbled on the truth of the expressive gestures that artists, such as Giotto and Michelangelo, had mastered in their paintings. In the early part of the 20th century, Rudolf Steiner pointed us toward these gestures to learn their meaning and to find a new art of human movement. He worked first with a young girl and then an ever growing group of interested artists to develop this new art of movement.
Eurythmy begins with human speech. The center of movement is in the heart/larynx area of the body and the gestures flow into the hands and arms primarily, but encompass the whole human form. Its name, “eurythmy” means beautiful rhythm, or harmonious movement.
Eurythmy began as a stage art, but soon people said, this is beautiful and health giving, shouldn’t we teach it to children? And so school or “pedagogical eurythmy” was born. It found a home in the Waldorf schools in Europe and later in the Americas. Then the question was asked, since this movement art expresses the whole human being, wouldn’t certain movements strengthen the internal organs and relate to illnesses? Curative or therapeutic eurythmy was then developed collaboratively by doctors and eurythmists basing their work on Steiner’s work in curative education. Unlike pedagogical eurythmy, therapeutic eurythmy is for a specific individual condition and is practiced usually one-to-one, rather than as a group activity.
All three types of eurythmy are appropriate in the school situation. Adults and children alike need to see artistic performances. It is then that the adult really is able to comprehend the scope of this new art. Children see what they are learning in a whole experience. They light up with enthusiasm on seeing such performances and are motivated to learn. Teachers have found the presence of a therapeutic eurythmist on staff is the greatest help in understanding and working with challenges that more and more children face.
What role does eurythmy play in the school? All healthy children take great joy in movement. They experience:
Intentional movement that creates complex neural development (see Carla Hannaford’s ‘Smart Moves’)
A student once said: “Eurythmy helps us to become more human.” This is the best answer I know why eurythmy is needed in the schools. It meets the ever-increasing demands of children of today, in health of the body and the soul. Even as an audience watching a eurythmy performance adults and children alike feel harmonized by eurythmy. It strengthens the healing effects of its sister arts, music and speech, and brings the curriculum alive.
A last word, again from a student: “Eurythmy helps us breathe.” It is the breath that gives us life. Eurythmy is the breath of the school. The human being as part of the whole creation is communicated to the community in eurythmy.
For information on bringing eurythmy into your school, contact the author leonorerussell@gmail.com or email editor@EANA.org.
Seth Morrison
A selection of the senior thesis presented to Friends World College in 1977
“…The lawless leap of joy becomes a dance, the shapeless gesture a graceful and harmonious miming speech; the confused noises of perception unfold themselves, begin to obey a rhythm and weld themselves into song.” Friedrich Schiller, On the Aesthetic Education of Man, 1795
The art of eurythmy, as with every genuine occupation, has a transforming effect upon those who undertake it. Each occupation develops certain senses and mood of soul, as well as engaging the activity of the sense of self (ego) in a certain way. How does eurythmy educate the human being? All applications of eurythmy stem from its artistic nature.
The art of eurythmy enlivens the senses and transforms the living body into a genuine sense organ. Eurythmy disciplines the soul and vivifies its experience. It requires new relationships between its participants, a new social structure.
The sense of touch begins to perceive that which presses against it from the physical earth. The feet, which otherwise only carry the body, become sense organs that tell the soul of gravity and freedom from it in walking. The eurythmist is freed and then surrenders again to the earth in every step.
The sense of touch is joined in its activity by the life and movement. It is transformed for it begins to feel another force pressing against it, just as tangibly as the pressing of objects. Space becomes a sensible phenomenon, a mutable force that can be shaped by the movements of the body. The eurythmist senses how the living body determines space; just as the architecture of a dwelling determines an interior and exterior space, so does the eurythmist create space or as infinite numbers of possible spaces, for the eurythmist is both the architect and the architecture, alive and changeable, unlike the fixed materials used in dwellings.
As the artist learns to use space creatively, he or she must adjust the sense of balance. The forces of levity and gravity, right and left, in front of and behind reveal themselves as physiological and psychological realities. Every movement creates new relationships to these forces both within the body and in space. The way in which the soul can express itself depends upon these relationships, for body and space are its medium.
Through eurythmy the soul develops a new relationship to the body. It begins to reach into it and make it speak and sing. It begins to know the body as a living, moving, touching organ – a sense organ and an expressive organ of its invisible life. The body stands and moves in equilibrium amidst a world of viable forces.
When the body, through touch, life, movement, and balance, attains a harmony, the soul rejoices, for it feels its true relationship to the visible world. But the soul has a difficult task. It must become the stage for feelings greater than those of ordinary intensity. In speech eurythmy, the soul must become the poet’s soul; in tone eurythmy, the composer’s soul. Otherwise the poem or music will not speak or sing, but only the soul’s likes and dislikes, only personal feelings will become visible. The soul’s organs must be strengthened and enlivened so to aspire toward the true nature of verse and music.
This thriving for truth exercises the “consciousness soul. The harmonious interpenetration of body and soul yields a healthy sense of being. The sentient soul experiences this harmony that, by the way, is not always easily attained. The sentient soul must become an accurate organ, a true communicator of bodily sensations, as the positions of the body in space, to the I (ego). The effort to harmonize body, soul and spirit remains a goal for the developing eurythmist.
The senses of smell, taste, sight, warmth and hearing can only be discussed with regard to the soul. It is essential to remember that the soul is a unity in which three types of feelings interweave. These five senses take on new activities with regard to the soul. The eurythmist smells and tastes in a new way. These senses turn inward and expand into the soul. The atmospheres of soul life have a kind of smell and taste just as do gaseous physical atmospheres, only of a different nature. The soul experiences light, dark and colors; the eurythmist learns to see and to paint these. Also the soul experiences warmth and coldness of mood and feeling. The eurythmist must learn to sound within his or her soul, as has been indicated already. These five senses are metamorphosed into “soul senses” (in addition to their ordinary activities), for the eurythmist must awaken within and learn to discipline the life of the soul
The Ego sense undergoes a wonderful transformation through eurythmy. The cooperation and coordination of eurythmists, of truly intimate moods of soul, requires a true sense of community. The success of any eurythmical effort depends upon its social structure. The Ego sense must become a “Community sense;” the sense of self (through ego consciousness) must become a “We sense.”
The Ego is the instigator of conscious human activity. The Ego is a spiritual activity – and activity of pure will. The will force surges through the nervous system culminating in so-called motor impulses, causing movement. The eurythmist must learn to order the transformation of nerve activity to muscle activity. In learning the elements of which a eurythmical composition consists, the eurythmist must be able to think clearly, but during movement, all the will activity is fully in the body. The activity of the eurythmist is fully present in every moment of movement. The life-body, in time, develops memory and a metamorphosed thinking activity. Through eurythmy, the spiritual in Man embraces the whole the human being.
The educative value of eurythmy is not limited to its own sphere of activity. Through his or her own experiences of movement and form, the whole world reveals its own – for all things are moved by their own forces or by forces exerted upon them. The eurythmist experiences the life of the human being and then its life within nature. The eurythmist is able through enlivened sense, feeling and thought, through metamorphosed will to enter into creating a world conception.
“The art of eurythmy is one of the channels through which the spirit is again revealing itself to human consciousness. It is a path through which man may again find a way to that self-knowledge which is also knowledge of the universe.”
Raffé, Harwood, and Lundgren, Eurythmy and the Language of Dance (London 1979), p. 27.
RUTH TSCHANNEN
If you are a musician and you are asked to play, you pick up your instrument and you start to perform. What about the idea that one’s own body is an instrument and that life’s circumstances provide the music?
Or in words expressed by Novalis, a German poet of the Romantics: “There is only one temple in the world, and that is the human body. Nothing is more sacred than this high form.” Going back to the image of the instrument we might say that our bony structures serve as the frame for this most remarkable instrument, and the nerves provide the strings on which life’s mysteries are played.
The human body on the other hand can also be experienced as a trap if we feel pain or if we realize its limitations. How can we break through this wall that hinders us to go beyond the mere physical reality of the material world? We are often tempted to use drugs to break the walls of our own limitations, but only for a short time. What happens if the trip is over and we are faced once again with our own self?
In our time of the 21st century the understanding that there is something more than what the eye beholds is more and more spoken about. Meditation workshops, yoga classes and other forms of self development are offered everywhere in Western society.
What role does Anthroposophy play in this expanding awareness and how does eurythmy contribute to this? I am asked almost daily to explain what eurthmy is about. I have many different answers depending on who is standing in front of me. I might say: ”Eurythmy is a meditation in movement”, or “speech and music made visible”. Many listeners let it go at that, but those who want to know more might say: “show me something.”
Rather than demonstrating at first I might say: “lift your arm up above your head.” This seems fairly easy, anybody can do that. Now I say: “Try to do the same movement and experience as you move your arm up, that there is the same arm movement going down as an invisible counter stream.” So now when we lift our arm we try to pay attention to this space underneath the arm. We might notice that by doing this simple exercise our otherwise heavy arm can become almost weightless without using our physical muscles. Have you ever wondered how a conductor can lift his/ her arms for over two hours without feeling tired? Where is the buoyancy coming from? What is the secret? The secret is the life forces or etheric forces. The same forces which open the buds and blossoms in spring and are involved in all growing and becoming.Eurythmy works with these very same forces.
HOW DID EURYTHMY COME ABOUT?
In a lecture given in Wales in 1923 Rudolf Steiner sums it up in the following way: “Eurythmy within the anthroposophical movement has come about like a gift of destiny.” Because, much earlier, in 1912 he was asked the following question: “Would it be possible through certain rhythmic movements via the etheric body (the body which is the seat of all rhythms as well as health and illness) to work into the physical body in a healing, strengthening and regulating way?” Rudolf Steiner didn’t only enthusiastically affirm this question; he immediately offered to give instructions. And so from this one question asked at the right moment, it became possible to bring into being the new art form of eurythmy ( “eu”- well or good, “rhythmos” – rhythm, movement). I have lived and worked with eurythmy for a long time and have come to know the great power and strength which can break walls spiritually. If eurythmy sounds interesting to you, here are some exercises you could try:
Fix a sheet of paper to the floor and sit in a chair in front of it. Put a pencil or crayon between your big toe and second toe of each foot. The first thing to do is to place both feet at the top of the page on the midline of the paper and draw two parallel lines towards the bottom of the page. This movement can be done repeatedly until you feel that the lines become stronger.
The next step is to draw a circle by starting at the top of the paper and draw both halves simultaneously bringing the feet together again at the bottom of the page. The important thing is to work with both feet at the same time, always mirroring the forms on the midline. A fun thing to do next is to write the alphabet in this way, keeping in mind that the right half is as we know the letters but the left is mirrored.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WRITING WITH OUR FEET?
First of all we change our habits. We usually write with our hands, and now our consciousness has to reach down to our toes. Our hands are the expression of our soul. The feet on the other hand connect us to the earth: they carry us through life. We are mostly unaware of the work of our feet. The drawing with our feet helps to penetrate our own instrument to the most removed parts of our physical body, the toes. The next exercise involves the picture of the six figures below; called the six figures of Agrippa von Nettesheim (This meditation should be done silently. The capitalized words “I THINK SPEECH” etc, should be said inwardly.)
METAMORPHISIS: etheric level
When you become comfortable with these six positions, a next step could be to look at the metamorphosis from one position into the other and to pay attention to the stream/counter stream of the etheric. Compare the positions that are of the 1st, 4th and 6th form compared to the 2nd, 3rd and 5th. How different they are from each other! In the first three we have the metamorphosis of the cross (from the horizontal to the diagonal to the vertical). And it is in the 4th position where we most easily perceive the invisible stream of the arms made visible within the movement of the legs. In the second three we mark important places within our body: larynx, heart, top of the head. The forms related to the cross are within a square, the others within a circle.
SOUL: astral level
In the words of Rudolf Steiner on July 12th 1924: “If one teaches eurythmy to adults, and one starts with this exercise, they will be able to easily find their way into the eurythmical element. And furthermore when the gestures in this exercise are made one after the other, they belong to the soul harmonizing, healing eurythmical gestures. Especially if people are so inwardly fragmented, that it manifests itself in metabolic illnesses, this exercise will be of great help in all cases.”
Within this exercise we can find the three soul forces: Thinking expressed in the words of the meditation, feeling shown through the movements of our arms/hands and willing made manifest through the stepping of our feet.
The importance of this 6 step exercise can be understood when you realize that the “I” is working through each step at successive levels of awareness: physical (1st position), etheric (2nd), the astral (3rd), spirit self (4th), life spirit (5th) and spirit man (6th). If you practice these two basic exercises, you may have some interesting experiences of becoming conscious of your instrument, the temple of the human body, and to gain a different experience of your position in space.
This article was originally written for ILLUMINATING ANTHROPOSOPHY – Anthroposophical Prison Outreach Newsletter – Spring 2005. We are reprinting this article with their gracious permission – more at www.anthroposophyforprisoners.org
Ruth Tschannen works with members of the Cascadia Society in North Vancouver, is involved in activities at the local Rudolf Steiner Centre and has been a student of Anthroposophy all her life. We will continue this topic in the next issue and focus on local activities.
When I did eurythmy for the first time, I felt that my soul could breathe. Then I noticed that I saw the world differently, for example, when walking down the street I would notice what looked like a sculpture, but on coming near, it would be a dead tree! I began to see the formative qualities in life around me. Now I wonder if this is how our Waldorf alumni perceive the world.
Eurythmy is a movement art and the name eurythmy comes from the Greek words ‘eu’ meaning harmonious and rhythm. The human form is the instrument and through eurythmy gesture and movement, one may achieve balance.
Moving together in eurythmy helps the students overcome many hindrances, establishing a sense of spatial relations and an inner sense of directionality. Movement is an activity of the will, and while moving together we round off our rough edges; one result is that social harmony is created among classmates. It is said that a school who sings together, breathes together. And it has been observed that eurythmy helps create social harmony on many levels within a school. Great transformations occur through the practice of anthroposophical arts.
For some time I have been interested in how children learn. After observing many children in Waldorf schools, it is apparent that the curriculum is inspired and truly meets the child at each stage of development. When hindrances to learning arise, the teachers meet to determine what special remediation or therapy is best appropriate. The therapeutic eurythmist works one on one with each student, who is asked to practice at home with parental help.
Constitutional Types of Children are helpful guidelines for the teachers.
A most helpful guide for child observations can be found in the material that Rudolf Steiner gave to the first teachers. The threefold human being (Anthropos) has a physical, soul, and spiritual nature. The forces of thinking, feeling, and will are aspects of the soul. As we live in a three-dimensional world, we can experience polarities that pull us into opposing directions. For example, gravity and levity can be expressed in an exercise, “Light stream upward; weight bears us downward,” an exercise given to his students even before eurythmy was created by Dr. Steiner in 1912. One can imagine stretching upward with the arms, while the feet are apart, keeping one grounded. Our likes and dislikes can be described as sympathies and antipathies, definitely a soul experience; this comes in eurythmy as contraction and expansion: “Joy and woe are woven fine, a clothing for the soul divine” (William Blake). Whoever has moved with a group, contracting in oneself, then all moving forward so that the circle of people contract, finding the moment when the movement shifts so that the gesture opens and then the circle of people expand, this is truly a breathing movement, a breathing of the soul. Isn’t that the first difference that people notice when seeing eurythmy performed for the first time, the developed back space of the eurythmists? Usually we do not confuse up and down or back and front, but right and left is so symmetrical, until a dominate side is strengthened. When asked, most people put their hands on their hearts when asked to find a center of their being. Although the heart lies in the center of the chest, it is tilted, so that we think of our heart-side as being on the left. (I have not been able to confirm the degree of the angle, but it is thought to reflect the tilt of the earth on its axis.) This heart-side is the feeling side, the more receptive side. The teachers of the early childhood classes move their circle games in the direction of the sun, clockwise for us in the Northern Hemisphere. Of course, exercises are given to help the children strengthen their dominate side, right or left. Thus we experience the three-dimensions through the width of space (right and left), through the fore and back space (as soul breathing of self with the world) and in the forces of gravity and levity (the heights and depths).
Teachers hone their observations of children, which informs us how they learn. When the child is in balance, learning comes naturally. When one pole or the other predominates, ways need to be found to rebalance. The ancient Greeks spoke of a virtue as having two opposing vices: courage is the virtue that holds the balance between fearfulness and fearlessness, while both extremes prove to be dangerous. Rudolf Steiner, in his observations of the human being, spoke of the constitutional types of children. He described gave seven different constitutional types, with the soul in-breathing and out-breathing between the polarities. One knows the feeling of being stuck, too fixed, and the opposite of being too loose, lacking form. Yet we seem to be able to swing between these polarities, as we try to maintain a fluid balance in life. When would therapy be recommended?
The active child will be in the midst of the play, but may have difficulty coming to quiet. The quiet child stands and observes without entering into the play. The teachers provide an altering rhythm between active play and restful activities throughout the school day. Both play and rest are important and every parent knows the struggle of transitions from one activity to another. Surprisingly, Dr. Steiner suggests that the active child would benefit from more fruit in the diet, to help the child take control of limb activity. And for the quiet, sedentary child…root vegies to help the digestion learn to assimilate salt. The doctor teaching in the Therapeutic Eurythmy Training in North America recommends eating the four parts of the plant (roots, stems, leaves, fruits, including grains and seeds) daily for a balanced diet.
Recently I worked with several kindergarten children, who had challenges (with much name calling and tender feelings) in the social realm with other classmates. After an initial evaluation, it became clear that these children were very sensitive, what could be called thin-skinned constitution. Our skin is the largest breathing organ we have and our soul breathes with the world. The eurythmy gestures create a protective sheath for the young child; however a few of them needed extra support. After therapeutic eurythmy, these children are socializing in first grade, happily forgetful of past insults or injuries. The other polarity would be a thick-skinned constitution; this is a child who will show boundary issues, as well, but in a more awkward manner, bumping into people and things. Therapeutic eurythmy helps these children become more aware of and sensitive to others in movement.
Imitation is how the child assimilates the world.
The young child learns through imitation, by doing what is seen, and through the activity, knows it. Imitation is not just a copy or simulation. We know that the young child is at one with the world, living in the soul state of wonder, as long as they are protected from too much sensory overload. The gesture for wonder is open, the eurythmy sound, Ah. A good example of this state of oneness can be observed while watching a parrot. When I move my finger, the parrot moves his head following my finger. The parrot does not seem free to not move his head, for how long I don’t know as I give up long before he is tired of this game. What is a better word than imitation, oneness? This is such a powerful force that allows one to learn to speak one’s mother tongue or even a second language before one can write it, to take in the world actively and to make it one’s own, to know the environment in every sense.
When a young child has difficulty imitating the gestures in eurythmy, a specific therapeutic eurythmy exercise has helped many children (in nursery/kindergarten through second grade). If we speak the Latin vowels, it is a progression from the back of the mouth with Ah and moving forward past the lips with U. Also it is a soul progression. As the young child lives in wonder (Ah), any sense of self-awareness gives another mood. As the open gesture of arms wide in Ah, the arms now cross and touch; any touching is an experience of self. To point or indicate with one arm extended, that is assertion of the self. The sounds of the Latin vowels are A, E, I. For the child who is unable to imitate, lead from one sound to the other and then move back in reverse. One may swing the arms from open, crossed to one stretched arm; switch to the other arm, cross arms and end with the open gesture. Then ask the child to jump these positions, three jumps forward and then three jumps back. I speak, “Ha, Hey, Hee; Hee, Hey, Ha.” It is important that they hear the sounds with the gestures. And as they gain agility, they may jump faster! Often the tricky part is crossing the legs moving back. After working with one there-year-old child, the nursery teacher remarked how his behavior changed, that he was able to imitate. And then I realized that this exercise leads the child back to wonder, Ah! As this hygienic exercise was given to teachers and not directly in the therapeutic eurythmy course for doctors and eurythmists, it is an exercise to be used by teachers.
Specific therapeutic eurythmy exercises are beneficial for all imbalances in the constitutional types of children. However the eurythmy teacher may offer hygienic eurythmy exercises for a class or a group of students presenting a similar condition, such as puberty. When the middle school students arrive for class in state of high excitement, the eurythmist senses that this is the time to introduce an exercise for puberty. As the legs kick high, with the energy of wild horses, the arms slowly create a balancing gesture to bring calmness to the turmoil erupting below. The image I give them is the Charioteer of Delphi, whose statue is exhibited in the Delphi Archaeological Museum, Greece. The large-eyed, far-seeing Charioteer stands upright, but one has to imagine the two-wheeled chariot with the racing horses. The intention is to bring calmness and a sense of order to the tumultuous forces arising. Many students have enjoyed this exercise, especially because it meets them right where they are in the moment.
Eurythmy as an art, as therapy, as meditation for the individual
It is important to recognize the role of arts in our lives. The arts were central to the Anthroposophical Movement from its earliest days. Eurythmy and speech formation came into existence through the collaborative efforts of Rudolf Steiner and his wife, Marie Steiner-von Sivers. It was a most creative time for those who were present at that time. In our age, unless one consciously pursues an art (visual or movement art, crafts, music, drama, etc.) it can seem a luxury, not necessary for life. Yet, developing artistic sensibilities is part of becoming truly human. Without artistic endeavors in their lives, many people today seek art as therapy. Waldorf Education is education as an art, on all levels, personal, social, and in the work itself. One only needs enter a public school to see how stressed the children are with too early abstract learning and testing; and how their breathing deepens and calms when they are given handwork. We come into the world to create, to build, to make an imprint and to bring about change. We are creative beings.
Eurythmy is visible speech and visible music, so the laws of language and music apply. What makes it therapeutic is to engage one’s imagination in the activity of forming consonants, picturing oneself in the activity, as consonants give us form. The vowels are soul expressions and when we speak vowel sounds, we intone healing vibrations; then listen, as this is the realm of inspiration. The therapist may give a sequence of eurythmy sounds to practice, and this arises from intuition.
I know many people who practice eurythmy daily. Eurythmy invigorates one’s etheric (life) forces. There are many verses and exercises from which to choose. Some may help us relax or helps us focus and feel more centered, but all strengthen the ability of the self to take hold and grasp this instrument of the human form. For example, “Light stream upward; weight bears us downward,” calms the autonomic nervous system. Instructions may be found at www.rsarchive.org under Lectures (Lecture given on the January 12, 1924, in Dornach, Collected Work GA0233a).
Another example is to practice the evolutionary sequence of consonants on the zodiac. It is an excellent remedy to jet-lag, if used as a preventative several weeks before take-off! Please ask a eurythmist.
Eurythmy Meditation
I seek within me
Creative forces working
Living powers creating.
It tells me
the earth’s weighty power
through my feet Word,
It tells me
the airy forming power
through my singing hands,
It tells me
the heaven’s light power
through my sensing head,
How within the human being
The Cosmos is speaking, is singing, is sensing.
Rudolf Steiner
There are therapeutic eurythmy exercises for all illnesses.
It is my experience that eurythmy is much more powerful than we have begun to realize. Eurythmy has its origin in the Cosmic Word, the language that gives us form. For individuals interested in therapeutic eurythmy, it takes a commitment to practice the exercises daily. It is a process that engages the entire person. I have been witness to those people who are set free from fear and worry, once they take their healing into their own hands. It becomes a blessing!
Maria Ver Eecke
Chestnut Ridge, NY
For more information: www.therapeuticeurythmy.org
Maria began teaching in 1975 at an English-medium preparatory school, Maseru, Lesotho, Africa. In 1980, she graduated with ‘D’ course from the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley, NY, and began teaching eurythmy at the Green Meadow Waldorf School. In 2011 Maria graduated from the Therapeutic Eurythmy Training in North America and received her diploma from the Medical Section of the Goetheanum. Presently she practices eurythmy therapy at the School of Eurythmy, Spring Valley. She continues to perform eurythmy in the New York area. For seven years she participated in the Mystery Drama Productions, Spring Valley, New York.
Reflections on eurythmy in our schools and in teacher education programs
My first experiences with eurythmy occurred when I was three years old. A small group of children in Spring Valley, NY, were given the opportunity to enjoy some stories, verses and songs in movement with Lisa Monges. She taught us in her large living room (the space that is now the Fellowship Community for the elderly) and I remember the unusual experience of being in a larger group wearing red overalls and funny slippers, and meeting new children through movement. As a dreamy Waldorf student in the years that followed, I had eurythmy twice a week throughout the grades and into high school, even doing some additional individualized therapeutic work to help with back problems one year. I remember in particular the experience in seventh grade when we were asked to write poems and then the eurythmy teacher did them with us in class. Much to my surprise, my poem was better in movement!
Eurythmy classes continued in a European Waldorf high school, but often my peers and I took more joy in tormenting the instructor than anything else. I cringe when I look back on how we hid her watch, scarf, and other items…. driving her to distraction (that particular teacher had some personality traits that made our antics ever so tempting). Then there was a break from eurythmy during college, and it was with mixed feelings that I encountered eurythmy again in my Waldorf teacher training in Garden City, NY. Much to my surprise, here everyone loved our Friday afternoon eurythmy classes! This was in large part because our teacher charmed us with her joy and light-hearted approach. We did some amazing work, and the relationship with that particular eurythmist has since lasted a lifetime.
As a faculty member at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School we often did eurythmy before our business meetings. Our discussions were much more successful when preceded by movement. Then, in my first decade at Antioch University supporting Waldorf teacher education, I started a Collaborative Leadership Program which we took to schools around the country. Two gifted eurythmist colleagues took turns leading a particular aspect called “Eurythmy-in-the-Workplace,” a social form of eurythmy that helps teachers, parents, administrators, and board members develop group skills, communication, leadership and much more. We did a series of three institutes in a half dozen schools in the 1990s. In 2014 we continued this work, now under the auspices of Antioch’s Center for School Renewal in a program for Waldorf school administrators and leaders.
Over the years, eurythmy has been a vital component of our Waldorf teacher education program at Antioch and Center for Anthroposophy. In fact, both the founder and the second director at Antioch were themselves eurythmists. Many, many students in our elementary and high school teacher education programs have become better teachers because of our inspired eurythmy instructors. Just recently we did an alum survey, and eurythmy ranked way up there as one of the most successful aspects of our teacher education program over 40 years.
During Renewal 2019, Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble came to our summer site in Wilton to share a marvelous program on the Pine Hill stage. It was exquisite, one of the best I have ever seen. But my joy was ever greater when I started to feel how the audience around me was moved. Laughter, sadness, tragedy through story-telling, poetry, music…..all transpired before us in living color with veils and amazing lighting. At the end, as with one accord, the entire audience gave them a long standing ovation. In a way that seldom happens any more in this cynical world, the audience was transported through the beauty of the art.
Of course I am not a eurythmist (although both my mother and sister-in-law were), but I have had an experience as a teacher educator over three decades that I wish to share here: When I teach my courses, mostly research, administration, and evolving consciousness, my classes are ever so much more successful when my students do eurythmy and the other arts before they come to me. It is hard to describe why. When they walk into the room without the artistic experience ahead of time, they are still good people seeking to learn, but the cognitive work only goes so far. Things can easily stay intellectual and abstract, and I have to work ever so hard to “warm them up” and lift them into imaginative, participatory spiritual work. But when they do eurythmy for an hour or so first, they are ready! They come in smiling with a healthy glow, they take up with work holistically, they seem integrated and truly open to new ideas. Learning after artistic experience is exponential rather than just summative.
Why does this happen? From the perspective of this one lay-person, I offer an observation: We each have a higher self that strives to move us forward in life. Our deepest intentions as an individual on this earth hover as potential within us, waiting to be realized. If we can connect with archetypes that are true, helped if we can recognize the ever-present reality of the spiritual world, and it can happen through music, painting, poetry, story-telling and many other ways even by those who are not overtly spirit seekers, there is an opportunity to let the spirit self work ever more actively with our more earthly oriented Self or “I”. In the experience of eurythmy, this growing incarnation of the self aware “I” can work more actively with our consciousness and begin a transformative process. There are many spiritual paths that work with the transformation of consciousness. But what happens in eurythmy, at least in my experience, is that through consciously willed movement, the experience does not just remain in the one sphere, but delves into the vast ocean of life forces and right down into the physical. In short, the whole human being in all dimensions is engaged when doing eurythmy! The deepest soul experiences become visible through speech and tone.
If teacher education is all about transformation, becoming the person our children need us to be, then I cannot think of any better way to accelerate the process than working with the arts, eurythmy, speech, music, painting, spacial dynamics, drama.
For decades now, may educators have been subjected to standardized testing, pre-packaged curriculum plans, learning outcomes, and more and more online instruction. Many have told me that they know these methods are not in the best interests of their children, but they feel they have to conform as “employees” in a hierarchical system that often fails to listen to teachers. Now out of necessity due to Covid-19, almost all children are at home doing lessons online week after week. Of course, as in times of war and famine and other catastrophes, one has to do certain things out of necessity. But I predict we will have a new challenge to deal with after this is all over: online deficit disorder. Yet that goes beyond the scope of this article….
As for Waldorf teacher education, there are of course areas where zoom and other tools can help. Valuable content and some methods work can be done reasonably well. If one has established a good working relationship with students, one can even do individual practice with virtual prompts (I recently did the allelujah in a webinar, led by a eurythmist). It was, at least for me, all front space but no “back space”. The totality of the experience of the exercise in the past was simply not there, not to mention the joy of experiencing others in the circle. Just as stay at home families can have fun playing monopoly and yet cannot bring those bills to the store to buy groceries, so one cannot pretend something is what it is not. We may watch movies about walking the Appalachian trail, but it is not the multi sensory experience of actually walking the Appalachian trail. In this time of “alternative facts” it is ever so important that we are truthful, truthful to ourselves and our students. Let us distinguish between reality and semblance, and let us not use the same name for both.
Also, as a scholar and writer, it is deeply ingrained in my being that the work of others needs to be fully acknowledged with accurate citations. It is a matter of integrity. The practice of eurythmy is also a matter of authenticity and professional standards. It is not to be overlooked that the training to become a eurythmist requires 4-7 years of work. If we do not hold to authenticity, the substance we offer (in any profession) becomes dissipated and may no longer have much value.
Our world needs fully integrated teachers who are able to work with multiple intelligences and teach holistically. Eurythmy develops social/emotional intelligence, helps us engage all the senses, helps with aesthetic judgment formation, lifts us to that which is noble through visible music and speech, and helps us become integrated, healthy human beings. These are the things humanity needs now more than ever. I urge all my readers to summon the courage to stand up for the arts as never before, and to stand for all that is beautiful, good, and true.
Torin Finser
Chair of the Department of Education and Core Faculty in the Waldorf Teacher
Education Program at Antioch University New England, Center for Anthroposophy
The San Francisco Youth Eurythmy Troupe for 2019 featured a new full-length program, created by Artistic Director Astrid Thiersch and premiered in three performances over two days on January 31 and February 1. The title, Awakening Within, was taken from a text by Rudolf Steiner that opened the program.Every year Astrid invites guest artists to join in the program; this year, in the spirit of Waldorf 100, it was students from sister Waldorf schools: our own seventh grade with Monika Leitz, Peninsula Waldorf School high school students with Michaela Bergman, Sacramento Waldorf School’s fourth grade with Julie MacArthur, and Sierra Waldorf School’s eighth grade with Susan Strauss. In addition to these students, with their parents and teachers, classes also came from Marin Waldorf School, East Bay Waldorf School, and Berkeley Rose Waldorf School. It was wonderful to welcome so many colleagues and friends, as well as our own students, teachers, and parents from nursery through twelfth grade, and also many friends and alumni. A festive atmosphere prevailed throughout, and we reached a new high for attendance: the San Francisco program was enjoyed by over a thousand people.
Photo credit by Scott Chernis.
Sea Star Waldorf School in Boca Raton, Florida is seeking a part-time Eurythmy teacher for the 2018/19 school year. One block of eurythmy study is desired: six-weeks up to one semester-long period.
The sunny and diverse community at Sea Star is searching for an enthusiastic eurythmist to enrich our school’s program.
Job Description: Teaching twelve classes per week, including one nursery class, two kindergartens, 1st, 2nd, 3rd grades, combined 4th/5th grades, and combined 6th/7th grades. Faculty eurythmy would be provided once each week. Additional classes (such as parent classes) and yard duty positions could be added to the schedule, as desired. A large, open room with piano and an accompanist is available for the grades classes. Pay per class: $45. Transportation and housing costs are covered by the school.
Our ideal candidate will possess a eurythmy training certificate from a recognized and accredited eurythmy school. This includes completion of a pedagogical eurythmy training, and at least two years of classroom teaching. Skills in leadership, collaboration, and consensus work are expected as is an effective, positive manner of communication with parents, colleagues, and community members.
Our private school in Boca Raton, Florida is a state licensed school and a recognized member of AWSNA and WECAN. We serve all of South Florida, including Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Classes include a Parent/Toddler group, Early Childhood Development, Kindergarten and Grades One through Eight.
Sea Star is in its 12th year with 104 students enjoying many vibrant programs: Puppetry, Gardening, Woodworking, Spanish, German, Music and Eurythmy. A strong administrative and executive committee guides us toward clear goals for our future. Sea Star’s faculty is an extremely dedicated group of teachers from diverse backgrounds, committed to working out of anthroposophy and the indications of Rudolf Steiner. A weekly study group meets on campus.
Boca Raton is a city on Florida’s southeastern coast, known for its golf courses, parks and beaches. Large, oceanfront Red Reef Park is home to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center with trails, a butterfly garden and a sea turtle sanctuary. These treasure are just minutes away from Sea Star’s campus.
We would love to hear from you!
Please submit a letter of interest, including a brief biography, and a resume with three references to:
Olga Domokos E-mail: olga@seastarinitiative.com
http://www.seastarwaldorfschool.com
2450 NW 5th Avenue, Boca Raton, FL 33431
(561) 394-7674
An additional job awaits the adventuresome type: LifeWays Early Childhood program in Florida is holding its 2019 sessions near Boca Raton. They are seeking a eurythmy teacher for each session. For further information: barbara jimenez babster27@yahoo.com http://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/overview/
Earth Water Air Fire
The four elements as a portal to the four major composition styles in music.
February 20, 9 am –23, 4 pm, 2018
With Carina Schmid, Dornach Switzerland
Location: East Bay Waldorf School, El Sobrante, CA 94803
A four day professional conference in the beautiful Bay Area.
How does a piece by Bach call for a different treatment of our instrument than Chopin, Mozart or Beethoven? Carina Schmid will lead us in this stimulating exploration of the different musical and movement styles. In addition, Carina will teach a morning class to pass on the memories and insights of her work with Lory Maier-Smits. To round out the day, we will have a pedagogical sharing and colloquium in the afternoon.
Cost: $250 for workshop (includes lunch and snack).
Evenings are open for individual pursuits.
Please RSVP to reserve your space at eurythmyconference@gmail.com
A registration form will be sent to you with more detailed information.
Register early, space is limited
Woodland Star Charter School is a Waldorf Charter School located in Sonoma, California. We have approximately 250 students from kindergarten through 8th grade. Our dedicated, experienced faculty is supported with a faculty/college, education director, administrator and staff. We have a strong, diverse parent body that is focusing on increasing the feeling of community in the school. We are looking for a eurythmy teacher to teach one 5 to 8 week block that will include grades k through 8. If possible we would like to give the whole school the experience of eurythmy during the block including classes for the faculty/co-workers and parents.
Sonoma, California is a small city with a small town ambience. It is located in the scenic wine country of Northern California with easy access to San Francisco and many beautiful natural sites. If you are interested please view our web site http://www.woodlandstarschool.org/ and contact Robert Bucher robert@woodlandstarschool.org curriculum director to discuss the possibility.
Full-time position for an enthusiastic eurythmist who is committed to bringing eurythmy to children.
Wasatch Waldorf Charter School opened its doors in August 2016 to 540 students. In this foundational year, the school has been blessed with visits from Eurythmy Spring Valley, Kim John Payne, Jack Petrash and other inspiring individuals. All of the teachers are trained or in the process of training. Teachers receive ongoing mentor support and professional development opportunities throughout the year.
We are looking for a committed eurythmist to join our faculty. Responsibilities include teaching grades one through five, serving on the festival committee, assisting with parent meetings, leading faculty eurythmy in tandem with the two other eurythmists at the school and collaborating on artistic eurythmy projects.
The school building houses a beautiful large eurythmy room with a sprung floor. The auditorium is connected to it and has the possibility of opening up to transform the space into a stage for eurythmy.
There is a pianist on the staff that will accompany every eurythmy class.
Teachers at Wasatch Waldorf enjoy a competitive salary and generous benefits that include health and dental insurance, professional development opportunities and a retirement savings plan.
To apply, send resume and letter of intent to Prairie Adams at padams@wasatchwaldorf.org
October 21 – 30, 2016 in Chicago Illinois at 2135 West Wilson Avenue
(note change of date from July)
The course is warmly recommended for trained eurythmists, eurythmy therapists, medical doctors and music therapists (see report below from Ballytobin, Ireland).
Information and Registration: abdalma@gmail.com
Some free accommodation available on a first-come, first serve basis.
Inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s indication that tone eurythmy therapy should be developed in addition to speech eurythmy therapy, the eurythmist Lea van der Pals and the medical doctor Margarete Kirchner-Bockholt worked together in the early 1970s to develop a sequence of exercises in connection with the diseases discussed in Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman’s book “Extending Practical Medicine”.
This course, which includes a review of all of the elements of tone eurythmy, was taught for many years by Lea van der Pals within various eurythmy therapy trainings, and the effectiveness of the exercises was shown in practice. When for health reasons Lea van der Pals was prevented from continuing to teach, she passed the torch to Annemarie Baeschlin, who took over holding the course and assisted Lea van der Pals in bringing the material into book form.
At this time Jan Ranck held the practice sessions within Annemarie Baeschlin’s courses, and was also involved with compositional and editorial suggestions for the publication “Ton – Heileurythmie”, Verlag am Goetheanum 1991, published in English in 2009 as “Tone Eurythmy Therapy” by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum.
Jan Ranck was born in America, where she studied music and comparative arts at Indiana University in Bloomington. She accompanied the London Stage Group on their 1976 USA tour and went on to study eurythmy in Dornach with Lea van der Pals. She was a faculty member of the Eurythmeum in Dornach and The London School of Eurythmy. After completing a eurythmy therapy training in Stuttgart in 1989 she moved to Israel and is currently the founding director of the Jerusalem Eurythmy Ensemble (1990) and the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy (1992). She is also an instructor in the Jerusalem Waldorf Teacher Bachelor Program in David Yellin Academic College, and a guest teacher in various venues worldwide, including the Goetheanum and the MA Program in Eurythmy held in Emerson College and Spring Valley. She is the representative for Israel in the International Department of Eurythmy Therapy (“Eurythmy Therapy Forum”).
Besides the material mentioned above, Lea van der Pals’ book “The Human Being as Music” (Robinswood Press 1992), published in German in 1969 as “Der Mensch Musik”, is highly recommended as background reading for the course.
Report from the course held in Ballytobin, Ireland:
English Speakers Take Note!
This spring, a unique event took place in English for eurythmists from all over the world. In Camphill Ballytobin, Ireland, eighteen eurythmists came together from 1-10 April under the invigorating guidance of Jan Ranck, founding director of the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy, to learn and experience the Tone Eurythmy Therapy Course as developed by Lea van der Pals and Dr. Margarete Kirchner-Bockholt. Long held in German by Annemarie Bäschlin, this is the first time since the 80’s that it has been accessible in English. There were eight eurythmists from Ireland, five from Australia, two from Japan and one each from Taiwan, Sweden and England. Jan put us through our paces by bringing us back into contact with the basics of Tone Eurythmy—beat, rhythm and pitch, major/minor triads, ethos/pathos, scales, intervals….If one had been listening at keyholes, one might have thought we were in training for the circus as we ‘swallowed our rods’, swung on trapezes, and held acrobats on our arms (we even attempted to become Octopi!)—all images calling for great inner – outer activity! Having laid the basic foundations, Jan then brought us through nine sequences of tone eurythmy exercises developed in relationship to specific illnesses, emphasizing the importance of our own skill and mastery of the elements of eurythmy in order to convey them to the patient.
In addition to Jan’s demanding yet entertaining approach, we had the privilege of having the concert pianist Michael Zelevinsky at the piano, also from Jerusalem. It was a great joy, especially for the many of us who work without accompanists, to move to music so beautifully and sensitively played. Every evening Michael gave a recital on the Steinway grand, a rare opportunity to feed one’s soul!
We are indebted to Gina Poole for having the idea of bringing the training to English-speakers and to Camphill Ballytobin for their generosity in giving us the free use of Castalia Hall for our work. Thanks also go to the Anthroposophical Society in Ireland for their generous donation towards covering costs. Most especially we thank Jan for bringing this training to the English-speaking world. It was the deep feeling of all of the participants not only that the course be repeated one day in Ballytobin, but that others may imitate Gina’s initiative in other locations world-wide. Jan confirmed that she is open to the idea.
Thank you Jan!
Roxanne Leonard
to be held in the USA by Jan Ranck
for trained eurythmists, eurythmy therapists, medical doctors, students of medicine and music therapists
July 24th – August 2nd, 2016 — Venue TBA
Inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s indication that tone eurythmy therapy should be developed in addition to speech eurythmy therapy, the eurythmist Lea van der Pals and the medical doctor Margarete Kirchner-Bockholt worked together in the early 1970s to develop a sequence of exercises in connection with the diseases discussed in Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman’s book “Extending Practical Medicine”.
This course, which includes a review of all of the elements of tone eurythmy, was taught for many years by Lea van der Pals within various eurythmy therapy trainings, and the effectiveness of the exercises was shown in practice. When for health reasons Lea van der Pals was prevented from continuing to teach, she passed the torch to Annemarie Baeschlin, who took over holding the course and assisted Lea van der Pals in bringing the material into book form. At this time Jan Ranck held the practice sessions within Annemarie Baeschlin’s courses, and was also involved with compositional and editorial suggestions for the publication “Ton – Heileurythmie”, Verlag am Goetheanum 1991, published in English in 2009 as “Tone Eurythmy Therapy” by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum.
Jan Ranck did her eurythmy training in Dornach with Lea van der Pals, and her therapeutic eurythmy training in Stuttgart. She was a faculty member of the Eurythmeum in Dornach and The London School of Eurythmy and is the founding director of the Jerusalem Eurythmy Ensemble (1990) and the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy (1992). She is also an instructor in the Jerusalem Waldorf Teacher Bachelor Program in David Yellin Academic College, and a guest teacher in various venues worldwide, including the Goetheanum, and the MA Program in Eurythmy held in Emerson College. She represents Israel in the International Department of Eurythmy Therapy within the Medical Section (“Eurythmy Therapy Forum”).
Besides the material mentioned above, Lea van der Pals’ book “The Human Being as Music” (Robinswood Press 1992), published in German in 1969 as “Der Mensch Musik”, is highly recommended as background reading for the course.
Information and Registration: tali.wandel@gmail.com
