--- ga: 277 title: "Notes on the Development of Eurythmy" location: Munich words: 1936 --- # The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1912–1918 ## GA 277a — Munich ### Notes on the Development of Eurythmy (Munich, August 1913) *Lory Maier-Smits, notes from 1965* Even before rehearsals began, “introductory courses in a new art of movement inaugurated by Rudolf Steiner, eurythmy” had been announced in Munich for the month of July, arousing interest and open-mindedness, but also much speculation. The head of the Munich working group, Miss Sophie Stinde, who had been following the development of the new art with keen interest since January 1912 in Kassel, had made one of the society's “art rooms,” located in Schwabing like the gymnasium, available for these introductory courses. There, in the time that was still free between rehearsals, i.e., in the early morning and early afternoon, a very lively activity began. Many people at that time got to know eurythmy with joyful enthusiasm and spontaneous understanding by eagerly participating in the courses, some of them in more than one. Many, however, came only to watch and explained that Dr. Steiner had urged them to go to the art room on Herzogenstraße and see “our new art of movement, eurythmy.” So Erna Wolfram, who usually helped me during these hours, and I often had to pick out our course participants from the crowd of spectators, at least in the afternoons! After many hours, we had to hurry, hurry to the rehearsals, which began punctually at ten and five o'clock, with all the sylphs and gnomes, with Theodora, Strader, Ahriman, the doppelganger, the “spirit of Johannes Jugend” and the soul forces, with farmers and Knights Templar. These first courses were imbued with a delicate, expectant glow, like the atmosphere of early morning, when one senses the splendor and beauty of the sun to come. This glow came from the heartfelt and joyful willingness that everyone showed toward the new art form, which then made it possible to venture a first orientation performance for all the members gathered in Munich on August 28, 1913, in the large concert hall of the Tonhalle, as Dr. Steiner had wished. After Dr. Steiner's introductory speech at this first performance, we tried to give as comprehensive an impression as possible of the “basic elements of eurythmy” (the title of Annemarie Dubach-Donath's book, which she so aptly coined many years later). “Do it similarly to how you did it at Haus Meer,” Dr. Steiner had said, “but try to strive for an even more cohesive, artistic form!” So we began with a solemn prelude, in which striding, a few soul gestures, head postures, and, as a conclusion, the Evoe, directed together toward the center, were combined into a whole. But we also showed rhythms, some staff exercises, “I and You” and the “Energy and Peace Dance” with the solemn and strict form of entering and exiting, as Dr. Steiner had described in Bottmingen, that “one could have seen it in the temples dedicated to Dionysus in Greece”! After a joyful and lively “We,” which was, of course, much more beautiful and skillful than it had been at Haus Meer, there were all kinds of lemniscates, almost elevated to a dance, and at the end of this part, three groups of three figures each, one of which was also performed by three male figures, with the “Cloud Shiner.” This third group consisted of Mr. Joan Abels, who participated in all the courses not only with great enthusiasm, but also with a very special characteristic—I believe he was born in India as a Dutchman or had spent his youth there—and later, one can say, had a “pioneering” effect in eurythmy. special characteristic—I believe he was born in India as a Dutchman or had spent his youth there—and later had a truly groundbreaking effect on eurythmy, until the first signs of his long, serious illness appeared, which ultimately condemned this previously so remarkably agile man to almost complete immobility. The second in the group was Max Benirschke, who had already worked with us in Düsseldorf and Haus Meer, and last but not least Max Gümbel-Seiling, who, despite the heavy demands of his role as Strader, had also taken part in several courses and had also taken on the recitation in this first performance. After the “Wolkendurchleuchter” (cloud illuminator), we then showed the movements for the individual vowels and consonants, as well as sound combinations, and ended the group exercises with ‘Hallelujah’ in connection with Psalm 150: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Hallelujah!” After a short break, during which Miss von Eckardtstein masterfully “pinned” my golden yellow dress on me so that it really looked very “Greek,” Goethe's ‘Charon’ was performed as the final number. Then Dr. Steiner stood up and said just one short sentence: “I think Goethe was really pleased with this birthday present!” This afternoon performance was a kind of conclusion to our eurythmic work in Munich, but not quite the final one. Before our departure, my mother and I went once more to Adalbertstraße, where Dr. Steiner stayed with Miss Stinde and her friend, Countess Pauline Kalckreuth, when he was in Munich. When he asked me about my future plans, I told him that I would first go to Stuttgart to give introductory courses there and that then, in October, the longer course of work already discussed with him and Miss von Sivers would begin at Haus Mcer, this time with a larger group. He was pleased that the desire for eurythmy courses had already become so lively in the very active and important Stuttgart branch, and he was very satisfied with the enthusiastic reception that the friends had given to eurythmy in general. He received us in the same room where he had given the first instructions for i, a, and o a year ago. Again, I had to stand upright—but now I was to “go with my left hand to my left foot and stretch my right hand and right foot parallel to the right sideways”! Very surprised, but still quite willing, I tried to execute the somewhat strange position, “went with my left hand to my left foot” by bending as far to the left as possible and “stretching my right hand and right foot parallel to the side.” We had already become accustomed to all sorts of things from the gnomes, but this time I only received a very astonished laugh from Rudolf Steiner for my repeated efforts, according to his literally repeated instructions, until he finally exclaimed, still laughing: “But why are you always bending over?” That sounded so authentically Viennese, and now I understood what he wanted, because in Austria “the foot” starts right at the top of the hip! What he wanted to show was the movement for “I am here,” which in this first instruction was to appear only from the very rapid parallels of foot and hand formed in succession to the right and left, without being completed by an a. ![277a-71](images/277a-71.webp) > I am here / I am looking up / to be seen from the side Can't this intention be clearly seen in the drawing? I always felt that the limbs moving alternately to the right and left were like a darker core or shadow that quickly appeared and then disappeared again in the auric egg shape suggested in the drawing. Secondly, he made a movement that was supposed to express the experience of “I am looking up.” He wanted to draw it first, but then decided that it wasn't possible and said: "Make a pronounced # movement with your arms, high above your head, and now slowly sink down deep into your knees – not onto your knees, stay on your feet, and as you sink down, bring your arms back in front of your chest, lowering your head at the same time, remain in this position for a moment, and now slowly straighten up again, taking your arms and head with you, until you return to the starting position. If you really let this movement arise from the feeling of ‘I am looking up’, it will be a particularly beautiful and solemn movement." Now that the field has become so much more extensive, if students were encouraged to always work on one Dionysian poem and one Apollonian poem, they would be able to keep all the possibilities offered to them in eurythmy alive and ever-present within themselves. These tasks would have to be carried out alongside the group work. I look up: squat with hands folded (palms together); then slowly rise. *Elisabeth Baumann-Dolifus, from: “Memories”* An overview of the entire structure of eurythmy was given, with particular emphasis on the group exercises, which we had worked through very carefully over several weeks. Particularly impressive were the so-called “peace dance” and the “energy dance,” which Rudolf Steiner called a renewal of ancient Dionysian temple dances. When the leader, the representative of Dionysus, who as the calm center directed the beginning and the positioning of the participants by silently raising and lowering his staff, called out the sounds ie and u at specific intervals, a minor third with a “short-short-long” rhythm, the group movements emerged in ascending and descending intensity and speed - then every member of the audience could feel the invisible threads that mysteriously connected this newly emerging art with something ancient, long since lost in human development. The “cloud illuminator” [...] and the subsequent demonstration of the individual vowel and consonant movements allowed the audience to experience firsthand how it was not the external aesthetic appearance that was essential here, but how the spiritual background convincingly and invigoratingly overflowed into them and allowed their ethereal nature to resonate. No external aids such as lighting, colorful veils, and robes, without which it is impossible to imagine a performance today, supported the effect at that time. Everything took place in the sober afternoon light on the unadorned orchestra podium, enclosed only by a few green laurel trees. We wore simple white, rather long robes, held together by a silk cord. The intensity of the inner experience, the resonance in sound and form, was thus expressed directly through movement. To conclude this first performance, Lori Smits had worked out “Charon” [...]. Rudolf Steiner himself had recommended that she create a eurythmic interpretation of this highly dramatic poem, but left the elaboration of it entirely to her own artistic and eurythmic sensibility. He gave only a few external suggestions; for example, he felt that the white robe was not appropriate to the drama of the content, but wanted a rather severely cut, long-sleeved, golden yellow, almost orange silk robe with a wide belt. The instructions from the lessons in 1912 stated that the eurythmic gestures of the sounds v, b, and s should be supported in their individual character by an object held in the hand (veil, staff, etc.). Rudolf Steiner had a wooden hammer made, which was then gilded, and Lory Smits had to perform the sound movements b, s, v with it without impairing the sound gestures. It was certainly no easy task to pick up this hammer in the middle of sound and form creation and then put it down again. She did it with great skill, and this first performance of a eurythmic-dramatic poem was an unforgettable, impressive experience for all the audience. The recitation of “Charon” was taken over by Max Gümbel-Seiling, who had also previously participated in group eurythmy with two other gentlemen and who, despite his heavy demands as the role of Strader in the Mystery Dramas, had found time during the course of this week to intensively familiarize himself with eurythmy.