The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1912–1918

GA 277a — Düsseldorf

Notes on the Development of Eurythmy (Düsseldorf, autumn 1913)

Lory Maier-Smits, Notes from 1965

When we said goodbye to Dr. Steiner in September 1913, we had no idea that under his leadership there would never again be a mystery drama [...] But so I traveled, initially uninhibited, enriched inwardly by my time in Munich, with fresh courage to Stuttgart and, after completing the courses there, home. The start of work in a larger group had been agreed for the beginning of October.

Very soon after she had become acquainted with eurythmy as a “sylph” in courses and at our performance, Margarita Woloschin decided to spend the coming winter months with us at Haus Meer in order to delve more deeply into the “new art of movement.” [...] We had actually only thought of working among ourselves, and she also wanted to give me an impression and some basic knowledge of the Russian language, with the aim of perhaps then trying “Russian eurythmy” together.

The impetus for the expanded work came from Elisabeth Dollfus-Baumann. With her soft, graceful movements radiating seriousness, she – “the spirit of Johannes Jugend” in the Mystery Drama and therefore not participating in the “Sylphs or Gnomes” – took part in courses and in our performance, expressing her beautiful individuality from the outset.

Elisabeth Baumann-Dolifus, from: “Memories”

The experiences of that summer had become decisive for me. I felt that eurythmy would never let me go, that I had to devote myself entirely to it. Rudolf Steiner, to whom I spoke about this, strongly encouraged me in my decision and spoke to Mrs. Smits himself about the possibility of arranging for me to receive eurythmy training with her daughter in Düsseldorf the coming winter. Others heard about this, and it turned out that several people besides myself wanted to take part in this winter course. So at the beginning of October, we came together as the first nucleus of a eurythmy group, about eight people: three Russians – [Tatjana] Kisseleff, [Margarita] Woloschin, [Natalie] von Papoff – a Dutch woman, Miss Moltzer-Kloppers, and Lory's two younger sisters. Over the weekend, Edith Röhrle, who was then a handicrafts teacher in Cologne, and some younger friends from Düsseldorf regularly joined us. It was a beautiful, harmonious circle in which artistic and spiritual momentum united the participants. When I recall these months in their entirety, I see them bathed in the glow of morning atmosphere, morning freshness. The internationality of our community alone ensured diversity. Lory Smits knew how to leave each person's individual characteristics untouched and yet integrate each personality into the objective laws of eurythmic creation. Without compromising her authority as a teacher, she stimulated the intellectual activity of each individual when it came to working out a poem for the first time; while paying close attention to the precise execution of the exercises, she repeatedly directed her students to the essence of the exercises: their sensual and moral effect, through which the objective spiritual content was revealed. This invaluable spiritual heritage, which had become such a powerful part of her own experience during her lessons with Rudolf Steiner, will have been carried over by each of her students into their own later eurythmy work, in grateful memory of her teaching.