The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1923–1925

GA 277d — 24 July 1924, Arnheim

Eurythmy Performance

From the educational lecture in Arnheim, July 24, 1924, morning session

Anyone who understands human beings musically knows that sound has an effect on them. What sits backwards in humans, where the shoulder blades meet, what begins there and shapes the whole human being from there, are the human forms that were constituted from the prime; if we continue to the upper arm, the form transitions to the second. And if we go to the forearm, we arrive at the third. And because there is a major and a minor third – not a major and a minor second – we have an upper arm bone; but we have a major and a minor third, and therefore two forearm bones: the radius and the ulna. The tonal scale is contained in all of this; we are formed according to it. And those who study human beings only externally do not know that human beings are shaped according to the tones. And when we come to the hand, we come to the fourth and then to the fifth. And in free mobility we then come completely out of ourselves; there we grasp the other nature. Hence the peculiar sensation one has with sixths and sevenths, especially when one lives into things in eurythmy. Just think how the style of the third, which appears relatively late in musical development, becomes such that the human being enters into his inner being, which lives in the third; whereas when the human being lives in the seventh, the style becomes such that one is best able to merge with the outer world. Self-sacrifice is particularly present in the seventh.

From the educational lecture in Arnheim, July 24, 1924, afternoon

In the field of eurythmy, for example, fate really did play a role to a greater or lesser extent. Today, one might look at the matter as if one day the idea had simply occurred that there had to be eurythmy. That was not the case, however. There was a family that had lost its father. There were a number of children, and the mother was worried about how she would provide for them. Something should become of the children. At that time, the anthroposophical movement was still small. The question arose for me as to what could become of the children. In this context, the first steps were taken to arrive at something eurythmic. This was done in the strictest sense. So the first eurythmic instructions were there. Fate had spoken: it had come about because anthroposophy existed and because someone within the anthroposophical community was looking for a life's work. And soon after, it didn't take long, the first people who had learned eurythmy at that time became teachers and spread it further. And so eurythmy—Dr. Steiner took it up—became what it is today. One can already come to the conclusion that eurythmy was not sought—eurythmy sought anthroposophy.