eurythmy students jumping
What is Eurythmy?
Waldorf school founder, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), wanted to “bring a new impulse to the art of movement…and connect dance with its original impulse as a sacred art form inspired by the Muses.” (1) Eurythmy was born in 1912, and when the first Waldorf school was founded in 1919 a form of eurythmy was included in the curriculum. Seen as an important pillar of Waldorf education, schools strive to offer it today.
Eurythmy is a movement art that can be accompanied by music and speech, and it seeks to make speech and tone, typically sensed by the ear, visible to the eye. We have all had the experience of being emotionally moved by a piece of music or stirring speech. In a similar way, eurythmy also seeks to connect both the performer and observer in a way that is deeper than simply sight and sound.
Eurythmy for the Student
For the Waldorf school student, eurythmy helps the child experience rhythm and reverence, practice inner and outer grace, and to experience language, music and even geometric forms with the whole body. Euthrymy is performed as a class, so social bonds are strengthened as children learn to move and work together.
For some students, eurythmy may also play a therapeutic role. Similar to the cultures with a tradition of working with the energy of the body, Steiner felt eurythmy was a benefit to the “etheric body”, his terminology for the body’s invisible life-force, similar to the ideas of chi or prana.
Brian Sprengelmeyer, one of our past guest eurythmists, describes eurythmy for the young child in this way:
“Eurythmy was given to us by Rudolf Steiner as an essential element within Waldorf Education. Eurythmy class for the Kindergarten child is like a drop of golden sunlight in their week. The child eagerly looks forward to it like a special gift. Though relatively short in duration, (fifteen minutes per week) the content is taken in deeply. At this age the young child is learning primarily through imitation. Often by the second or third class he or she knows the entire story and movements by heart. Eurythmy at this age encourages the child to become the characters of a story through imaginative movement. The gestures the child imitates are movements for the sounds (vowels and consonants) that comprise the language of the story. Through doing gestures that express the quality and meaning of these sounds, the child’s relationship to true and beautiful speech is strengthened. Eurythmy is also done in a similar way with the tones and intervals in music. In Kindergarten, however, we focus mainly on speech Eurythmy. Through doing Eurythmy the young child grows strong in body, soul, and spirit.”
Eurythmy Offerings at Meadowbrook
Meadowbrook Waldorf School is grateful to be able to again offer a four-week eurythmy program to all of our students. Additionally, we are hopeful we can offer a taste of eurythmy to our adult community. If you would like more information please contact our office at info@meadowbrookschool.com.
More Information
For more information about eurythmy in Waldorf schools please see this article from Renewal Magazine, Eurythmy as Therapeutic Movement.