Address on Eurythmy

A third aspect is what must be described as pedagogical-didactic. And it has certainly proven itself at the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, where eurythmy is a compulsory subject in every class from the beginning of elementary school to the highest grades we have today. I must say that in education, eurythmy is a kind of animated, spiritual gymnastics, whereas ordinary gymnastics is based solely on human physiology, that is, on the physical. This is not to say anything against ordinary gymnastics, but it only takes the physical aspect into account. When children are taught this soulful gymnastics, which is what eurythmy is for them, they put their whole being – body, soul, and spirit, and certainly their body too – into the movements. This develops something very special in the child, above all, for example, initiative of will, which is not cultivated at all by ordinary gymnastics, but which is and will be so necessary for our generation in the near future.