The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1912–1918

GA 277a — 27 August 1915, Dornach

The Apollonian Course XI

Following the macrocosmic dances (“Planetary Dance” and “Twelve Moods”), this hour featured the microcosmic dance as a replica of the human larynx, with both the sounds and the sensory forms distributed across three levels. The number of performers varies.

The microcosmic dance – representation on three levels

Nikolaus Lenau: “Himmelstrauer” (Heavenly Sorrow) A thought wanders across the face of heaven,
The gloomy cloud there so fearful, so heavy;
Like the sick soul on its bed,
The bush tosses back and forth in the wind. A melancholy rumbling sounds from the sky
The dark eyelashes blink many times,
— Soblinzen eyes, when they want to cry, —
And a faint ray flickers from the eyelash.— Now cool showers creep out of the moor
And quiet fog over the heath;
The sky, pondering its sorrow,
The sun casually fall from its hand.

A special kind of representation. The microcosmic dance 3 steps. . In the eurythmic forms for vowels and consonants, we see replicas, imitations of the human head and larynx, the positions that the organs assume when forming sounds. In the following list, we have something that actually comes closest to the image of the microcosm. //

In this representation, we have something that is close to the organism. It represents language; here we are closest to the microcosm, just as in the planetary dance we are closest to the macrocosm. This is how the entire human head and larynx are organized. // In humans, the vowels come from within, while in abstract thinking (consonants), they come more from outside. // The vowels come from within, the consonants partly more from behind or more from the front. This brings us closest to the microcosm, the human larynx – you have the head inside [in the word larynx].

[The following transcription follows the stages, i.e., it goes through the three drawings three times. There are slight differences between stages 2 and 3 in the versions by Mieta Waller [MW], Marie Steiner [MSt], and Tatiana Kisseleff [TK].]

1. Vocals // Vowels // Vocals
2. [MW] p b m r v f w s sch / [MS] b p m r o v f w s sch z/[TK] b (p) m r v f w s sch
3. [MW] d t n r l h g ch // [MSt] i d n r i g k e ch h j //[TK] d (i) n r i g (k) h ch

The words are now formed exactly according to the sound, on each step the relevant sound.

An upbeat can be danced before such representations, e.g., the ether wave.

Note: If you observe closely, there are two types of r. A rolling one in Rollen, e.g., Freude. Bursche Buasche: you don't roll it, it sounds like an a, a shade of a, // Soft r (joy, short sound): second level. Rolling R: below. Or you can do them both.

Dr. said you have to do what you hear, phonetically: Vata (ar, second level); Father (r, third level).

1. At the highest level (stairs) vowels that sound as if they come from within. In addition, in the movements of the radius, all concrete words and all time words. // The movement is in the radius, from which it follows that one performs in the sense of the time words [verbs] or the concrete objects.

One or more (1-3 people). // If there are three people, the movements are performed one after the other.

1. [The above-mentioned] consonants. On the second level, there is only standing, no movements. Here, all words that are expressed in rest are formed. All adjectives, prepositions, interjections, conjunctions. // All adjectives and personal pronouns // Here, adjectives, adverbs, relative pronouns, and conjunctions are expressed. 2 [to] 3 [to] 5 people // Six people.

2. The other consonants

On the lower level, various types of = crooked movements = mental, emotional, and abstract objects are performed. // Everything that refers to the abstract. // All abstracts. // Here, all abstracts, all round shapes, and straight lines are formed. //

Six people, or better yet seven, so that they do not cover each other. // 7 and space between them.

Further arrangement details

Or: Top 3 / Middle 7 / Bottom 6

7 / 6 / or in a triangle / 6 | mixed up? / 7 | look at it

Connection of the microcosmic dance with the Hallelujah

(Verbs, concrete objects) Vowels // 3 levels // b p / m / r / v f w / s / sch // stand. Adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, copula // 2nd level soft r
d t/ n / r l / g k / h / ch // Curved movements: mental, emotional, and abstract objects // rolling r at the bottom Hallelujah. 1r 1, 2 n, 3 d, t 4, 5 ch , 6 h, 7 g k

The letters only indicate the path that each must take from the above form to this one; a seventh is necessary. (and r is separated, for example.) Everyone does this.

Poetry examples

Psalm 146 Hallelujah.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2. I will praise the Lord as long as I live, and sing praises to my God while I am here.
3. Do not rely on princes, they are human beings, they cannot help.
4. For the spirit of man must depart, and he must return to the earth; then all his plans are lost.
5 Blessed is he who trusts in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.
6. The heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, he has made, and his faithfulness endures forever.
7. He executes justice for the oppressed, who feeds the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.
8. The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous.
9. The Lord protects the strangers and the fatherless. He sustains the widows and turns the way of the wicked.
10. The Lord is King forever, your God, Zion, forever and ever. Hallelujah. Psalm 150 Hallelujah.
Praise the Lord in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty fortress;
2. Praise him for his deeds; praise him for his great glory; 3. Praise him with trumpets; praise him with psaltery and harps;
4. Praise him with tambourines and dancing; praise him with strings and pipes;
5. Praise him with bright cymbals; praise him with melodious cymbals
6. Everything that breathes, praise the Lord.
Hallelujah

Tatiana Kisseleff's notebook also contains reflections on assigning sounds to the head and limbs, as the following drawings show.