Eurythmy and the Impulse of Dance
“Eurythmy is that very thing that dancers with a true idealism have been unconsciously seeking—the inner harmony and balance that was a natural condition of the Greeks, visible in their statues and carved figures, so that, even in a standing pose, movement seems to flow through them.”
Eurythmy is an expressive art of movement in which specific gestures relate to the sounds and rhythms of speech, to the tones and rhythms of music and to soul experiences, such as joy and sorrow.
In this succinct and accessible booklet, the authors present a clear introduction to this contemporary art form in the context of the impulse of dance today. What is eurythmy, and how does it relate to other arts of movement and dance? What is eurythmy’s purpose, and why did Rudolf Steiner create it in the early twentieth century? These and many more questions are answered in this extended essay, supplemented by 35 sketches of eurythmy figures by Rudolf Steiner that illustrate gestures of movement, feeling and character.
About the Author
A. C. Harwood (1898–1975) was educated at Highgate school and Oxford and was a lifelong friend of the the writers Owen Barfield and C.S. Lewis (and later one of the trustees of Lewis’s literary estate). Harwood developed a career as a Waldorf school educator. He wrote The Recovery of Man in Childhood and The Way of a Child.
Marguerite Lundgren (1916–1983), was born in London. She was able to attend the Michael Hall school, which stimulated her interest in eurythmy. She went on to study with Lieselotte Mann in England. In 1946, following her training, she joined the stage group at the Goetheanum, where her originality and talent were quickly spotted by the troupe leader, Marie Savitch. In 1948, she was asked to return to England to take over the eurythmy school of Vera and Judy Compton-Burnett, where she worked closely with Owen Barfield and Cecil Harwood, whom she married in 1953.During final years of her life brought the death of her husband, from which she never recovered, and her eurythmy school moved from London to East Grinstead in Sussex.
Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner’s multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.
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