Eurythmy

Eurythmy: Its Birth and Development

Lessons, introductions & reports, 1912–1924 (CW 277a)

“This gave my mother the opportunity of mentioning to Dr. Steiner an idea…. Could one affect the physical body in a healing, strengthening, and regulating way through certain rhythmic movements of the etheric body—which, after all, was the center of all that was rhythmic—as well as of health and illness? Dr. Steiner not only enthusiastically affirmed this possibility, but also spontaneously declared himself ready to give the necessary directions, which I could then work out with my mother’s help.” — Lory Maier-Smits

Alongside original material by Rudolf and Marie Steiner, this volume features unique first-hand accounts of the birth of the art of eurythmy by a number of its early students and practitioners. The practical and artistic stages of its development are chronicled in detail, alongside reports from the first public performance onwards.

Rudolf Steiner offers inspiration to the original eurythmists to make their own discoveries—to perceive and fashion in movement their creative “inner voice.” The artistic principles are established for later development and elaboration, to reveal and foster human creativity in many poetic and musical contexts.

Through the texts, links gradually emerge between eurythmy and temple-dances that accompanied ancient initiations. The impulse to dance is rediscovered as inherent in the “lost Word,” or the primordial root language still available in “genetic etymology”—the sounds of speech used in all languages. Music eurythmy, we learn, did not start from dancing, but from the archetypal structure of the musical system. Consequently, we can witness directly how an eloquent performing art can properly develop when technique and inspiration meet. The text is supported by extensive supplementary material, including eurythmy forms, a chronological survey, notes, and indexes.

This book is a translation from German of Die Entstehung und Entwickelung der Eurythmie (GA 277a).

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up (see right). 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.