---
ga: 277
title: "Notes on the Development of Eurythmy"
words: 1789
---
# The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1912–1918
## GA 277a — Leipzig
### Notes on the Development of Eurythmy (Leipzig, April 1914)
*In April 1914, Rudolf Steiner gave two notes to Elise Wolfram (1868–1942) – branch leader in Leipzig and long-time esoteric student – with the position and movement details for the zodiac and planetary gestures (see below, NZ 7445 and 7446). Rudolf Steiner's notes on this (see below, NB 238) can be found in the same notebook as his preparations for the lectures on “The Human and Cosmic Thought” held in Berlin in January 1914.*
*On April 2, 1914 (RSA 089), Elise Wolfram wrote to Rudolf Steiner that she wanted to dance the “Deeds of Indra” from the Rig Veda: “[...] I am now missing the gestures of the planets, which you said you would be kind enough to tell us about at some point.” By April 20, she must have already had the information, because she asks in a letter: "When the second is struck and the planetary dance begins as discussed, what is still missing is when she raises her gesture? At the end?“ Presumably, the information had been handed over in Vienna, where Rudolf Steiner gave the lecture series ”The Inner Being of Man and Life Between Death and New Birth" from April 9 to 14, 1914. Elise Wolfram had previously requested a meeting there. On June 28, 1914 (RSA 089), she wrote to Marie Steiner: "I have been studying the planets and zodiac relationships for a long time, as far as possible. Last year I also gave lectures on the Egyptian zodiac with slides at the general meeting. The Doctor has been very kind in supporting my studies. Through the Doctor, I have gained knowledge of the occult gestures of the zodiac and planets and their relationships to each other. I asked the Doctor in Vienna if we could dance this in the spirit of the ancient temple dances. In Vienna and Berlin, my audiences were devoted to this topic; Dr. permitted me to develop the planetary dance for Dornach; indeed, we even agreed that the 12 signs should stand on the 12 columns of the smaller domed room." Elise Wolfram was probably thinking of the opening ceremony of the Dornach building, which was then still planned for Christmas 1914. Her plans – including performances of the “Planetary Dance” and other pieces during the cycle on “Occult Hearing and Occult Reading” planned for August 18-27, 1914, in Munich – led to disagreements with Marie Steiner, as further correspondence on this matter shows. Marie Steiner pointed out to Elise Wolfram, among other things, that the “achievements” of other groups, namely those of Lory Smits in Düsseldorf, Elisabeth Dolfus in Munich, and Tatiana Kisseleff, were also being considered for Munich. Rudolf Steiner wrote to Elise Wolfram on July 1, 1914, on this matter (draft letter, RSA 068): "Let us take the case of the ‘planetary dance’. You asked me about its nature. I was happy to provide you with information, as I have always done in similar cases. But remember that when Dornach was being considered, I used the phrase: if something like this can be done in Dornach, then the space and facilities there will allow for an appropriate arrangement. But also remember that I said: I don't know how and when Dornach will be considered."*
*Alice Fels reports that after the war began in the summer of 1914, Rudolf Steiner sent “a special person to Leipzig” to say: “These forms should not be used now, because it is inadmissible to bring such things into the astral storms of this war.” This person was probably Alice Fels herself. It was not until 1924, in the lectures of July 8 and 9, 1924, that Rudolf Steiner presented the positions and gestures with additional information as a working basis for all eurythmists.*
*Erna Wolfram-van Deventer, from: “After the Munich Mystery Play Season”*
A fifth mystery play was also to be performed in the summer of 1914. At the same time, Rudolf Steiner wanted to speak in Munich about “Occult Reading and Occult Hearing.” What was the fifth mystery play to give us in this so significant year? — All we know is that it was to be performed at the Castalian Spring, that the Orphic mysteries were to be mentioned, and that the Greek incarnations of the personalities from the other four mystery plays were to be part of the content. We were to be shown a review of the personalities from the four other mystery dramas in the Greek era.
How is Rudolf Steiner preparing for this Munich festival in the field of eurythmy? At the end of May 1914, he sent two sheets of paper with details of movements and postures for the twelve signs of the zodiac and the seven planets to Erna Wolfram and her mother in Leipzig with the instruction to “practice these nineteen movements in silence” so that Erna Wolfram would know which movement or posture belonged to which constellation. In August, he wanted to have these movements performed in Munich during the fifth mystery play. He expressly asked that this task not be discussed.
But what are these movements? In 1914, Rudolf Steiner only wrote that they belong to the planets and signs of the zodiac, and had them practiced, but gave no explanation. It was not until ten years later that he gave the corresponding sounds. [...] During those ten years, Rudolf Steiner did not explain which sounds these gestures were connected with, but he wanted them to be performed in the fifth mystery play. This was prevented by the outbreak of the First World War. The lecture cycle that Rudolf Steiner wanted to give at the plays in Munich was also prevented. [...] And when we know that this fifth mystery play was to represent Orphic mysteries, and we know that Rudolf Steiner calls Orpheus the son of Apollo, who knows the secrets of language and music, is it any wonder that he gives these “spiritual gestures” of language as a preliminary exercise in preparation for this fifth mystery play? Did he not thus lead us from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic word in art, which was to serve the word, just as the Goetheanum itself was to become the “house of the word”?
It seems to me that there is a logical thread running from May 1914 to the “Apollonian Course” in August 1915 in the White Hall of the Goetheanum!
*Rudolf Steiner's notebook and note entries on the zodiac and planets*
*In 1924, Rudolf Steiner revised his notes from 1914 in preparation for the lectures on July 7 and 8, 1924, as part of the eurythmy course. Only the entries from 1914 (written in ink) are transcribed below. A complete transcription can be found in “Eurythmy as a Visible Language,” GA 279, 6th ed. Basel 2020, pp. 362-366. Rudolf Steiner gave or sent the following pages (NZ 7445-46) to Elise and Erna Wolfram.*
277a-72
> Aries: Body bent forward/downward, / touching the chin with the right / hand. //
> Taurus: Head wrapped around right arm, left hand covering larynx.
> Gemini: Feet turned inward, arms intertwined with fingers.
> Cancer: Right arm placed on back, left arm placed on chest.
> Sun: Head and arms with outstretched hands, right forward, left backward, and rotating in a circle.
> Venus: Left arm backward, rotating in a circle, right arm forward, remaining still.
> Mercury: Right arm forward, rotating in a circle, left arm backward, remaining still.
> Moon: forearms crossed over each other, first left over right, then right over left.
277a-73
> Sagittarius: Feet: one foot forward; / both hands forward; / left hand embracing the elbow / of the right hand.
> Capricorn: Left hand slightly clenched into a fist / above the forehead; right hand at a slight distance in front of it with the back of the hand facing backwards.
> Aquarius: both hands forward, the left hand down, the right hand up. // fingers bent
> Pisces: Standing on the left foot; right foot slightly raised / leaning against the left: right hand vertical, left hand bent at an angle.
> Mars: Upper body with arms held out (and fingers bent) moving up and down.
> Jupiter: Right hand rotating in a circle around the left arm held out.
> Saturn: Hands held to the forehead; slide down again and lift back to the forehead.
277a-74
> Leo: Both arms are raised so that they are bent while being raised and then stretched out in the / horizontal plane. / outward; / all fingers / spread apart
> Virgo: Arms along / the body, only / the right left bent at a / slight angle
> Libra: Both arms crossed in front of the body.
> Scorpio: Arms along the body, only the right arm bent away from the left.
277a-75
Aquarius: both hands forward; / left hand down; right hand / up. Fingers the bent
Pisces: Standing on the left foot, right foot slightly raised; left hand against the body / right hand vertical; left hand bent at an angle.
Aries: Head bent forward and downward, right hand touching chin.
Taurus: Head embraced by right arm; left hand covering throat.
Gemini: Feet turned inward; arms intertwined with fingers.
Cancer: right arm behind the back; left arm on the chest.
Leo: Both arms are raised forward, slightly tilted outward; all fingers spread.
Virgo: Arms along the body; only the left arm bent at a slight angle.
Libra: Both arms crossed forward.
Scorpio: Arms along the body; only the left arm protruding.
Sagittarius: Feet: one foot forward; both hands forward; the left hand embracing the elbow.
Capricorn: Left hand slightly clenched into a fist then above the forehead; right hand at some distance in front of it, with the back of the hand facing backward.
277a-76
> Sun: arms with fingers extended; / right arm forward; left arm / rotating backward in a circle.
> Venus: left arm rotating backwards in a circle; right arm held forward, resting.
> Mercury: right arm rotating forwards in a circle; left arm held backwards, resting.
> Moon: forearms crossed over each other, first left over right; then alternating with right over left.
> Mars: upper body with arms held out in front; (fingers bent) moving up and down.
> Jupiter: right hand rotating around the left arm held out in front in a circle.
> Saturn: bent hands at the forehead; then slide them down until they are stretched out; back to the forehead.
