The Origin and Development of Eurythmy 1923–1925

GA 277d — 21 October 1924, Hamburg

Eurythmy Performance

From a letter from Rudolf Steiner to Marie Steiner, Dornach, October 23, 1924

M. l. M. I have now inserted everything into the Oberon-Titania scenes for which I have been able to find forms. So it seems that everything up to Titan: “... find the arbor” can be combined. Only “bean blossom, mustard seed” does not work and must be omitted. But what follows on p. 46: with the best will in the world, I cannot find a form; I think it would only spoil the effect.

So I believe that you now have everything you can have. I think you will receive the matter more quickly if I give this letter to Dr. Wachsmuth, who is traveling to Berlin this evening. [...]

I follow your activities with warm thoughts; I was very happy to receive your letter from Lübeck and also the news that things went well in Hamburg for the second time.

From a letter from Marie Steiner to Rudolf Steiner, Berlin, October 24, 1924

Dear E., thank you very much for your long letter, which I hope did not tire you too much, and for all the items you sent. We now have everything we need for Johannisnachtstraum, even more than we need, as there will not be enough time for the scenes with Zettel. We will save those for our collaboration with the actors. Incidentally, there is not much missing now to complete the ghost scenes. And I thought that, since you now know what you want to do yourself, you might like me to send you all the scenes in which something is still missing. I am enclosing them here. I have indicated the pages and marked the places where something still needs to be done. What remains mostly relates to the adventures of the Athenians. I have also deleted this from the speeches we are now presenting. However, it would be necessary if we were to work with the actors. So I am enclosing them for your review in any case.

Now we have our first matinee behind us. It went very well, and there was no opposition whatsoever—only applause. What the press will say could be different. It is said that a scathing article appeared in the Berliner Tageblatt on Friday. In any case, it had no effect on the matinee; the Lessing Theater was sold out, and the audience was completely captivated.

In general, the press treated us well this time. Sometimes against their will, as in the Hamburger Nachrichten, but precisely because of that, they say, it made an impression. Only me did they occasionally criticize, or find my poems useless. My voice obeyed me quite well on this trip. Only in the members' performance in Stuttgart was I a little embarrassed, and in the second performance in Hamburg I felt the effects of the cold I had caught in Lübeck. (Not in Lübeck itself.) The Kammerspiel Theater in Hamburg is also acoustically unfavorable; the Thalia Theater is very good. The Lessing Theater here is also acoustically favorable.

However, I now have a somewhat daunting task with the Midsummer Night scenes, as I have some clumsy people in the choir and little time. Every day, in addition to the performance, I rehearsed the elf scenes, which was a great effort. (We were allowed to stay at the Lessing Theater for quite a long time.) Now I woke up this morning before the matinee with a severe migraine and foaming at the mouth. But since this happened at 5 a.m., I was able to get myself ready by 12 noon, and no one noticed anything. The only thing is that talking to people is what upsets me, and I hardly have the strength for it anymore. So unfortunately I was unable to fulfill your wish that I participate actively in the conference. Yesterday I was too busy with the two rehearsals, and today I am having to make a considerable effort to keep myself going. Tomorrow I have a lot of rehearsing to do: the Michaeli program for Tuesday and Wednesday, and the new one.