Tone and Speech Eurythmy

Tone and Speech Eurythmy

“Beauty is not the divine in a sensory-real garment; no, it is the sensory-real in a divine garment. The artist does not bring the divine to earth by letting it flow into the world but by raising the world up to the sphere of the divine. Beauty is semblance because it conjures up before our senses a reality that, as such, represents an ideal world.” — Rudolf Steiner (Art and Theory of Art, p. 20)

When Marie and Rudolf Steiner developed the art of eurythmy in the early twentieth century, their aim was to awake, in a spiritual way, the musical element in the human form. In this unique form of movement, both music and the spoken word are made visible through dance and gestures.

Drawing on her first-hand experience of learning eurythmy from Marie and Rudolf Steiner, celebrated eurythmist Elena Zuccoli describes the development of eurythmy and offers her personal account of the challenges that faced the early students as they sought to master this new discipline.

Available for the first time in English, this fascinating book is ideal for eurythmists who wish to deepen their understanding and practice of tone and speech eurythmy, as well as anyone who wants to learn more about the history and practice of this special art.

Originally published in German as Ton- und Lauteurythmie (Verlag Walter Keller, Dornach, 1997).

C O N T E N T S:

Foreword

1. The First Impulse in 1915
2. Reawakened Interest in Tone Eurythmy
3. The Birth of the First Eurythmy School
4. The Christmas Conference 1923/24
5. New Foundations of Tone Eurythmy
6. Tone Colors
7. The Eurythmy Figures
8. Speech Eurythmy
9. Costumes
10. Eurythmy Work with Marie Steiner

Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Elena Zuccoli (1901–1996) was born in Milan, Italy. In 1922, she began training in speech and tone eurythmy at the Eurythmy School in Stuttgart, Germany, which had been inaugurated by Marie Steiner. Zuccoli later taught eurythmy at the school in Dornach, Switzerland, for a decade, until 1934. She continued to teach and perform across Europe until shortly before her death.