In 1923 Rudolf Steiner gave a series of lectures at a Summer School in
Penmaenmawr, which have since been published under the title The
Evolution of Consciousness. These lectures formed the main event
of the School, but there were other activities as well. Steiner had
brought with him a group of Eurythmists and a performance was arranged
in spite of the inadequacy of the stage and its equipment. On the day
before the performance he gave the introduction to this new art of
movement, which appears in the following pages.
Eurythmy differs from other arts of movement in that it is an
interpretation of speech as well as of music. Steiner here deals
principally with the interpretation of speech, perhaps because he
considered that his audience would be most interested in this aspect
of Eurythmy. But he always regarded it as essential that in a
performance there should be the interpretation of speech as well as of
music.
The performance at Penmaenmawr was followed by others in London, and
gradually sufficient interest was aroused to promote the building of a
small theatre to be dedicated to the development of Eurythmy, the
Rudolf Steiner Hall, in Park Road, Baker Street, now the location of
the London School of Eurythmy.
Steiner would have been profoundly happy to see the development of
this new art since his death. Performances at the Goetheanum in
Dornach, Switzerland, now include the interpretation of whole
symphonies, in which different Eurythmists, or groups of Eurythmists,
interpret the parts of the different instruments. On that great stage,
with its superb lighting, Eurythmy can be seen in its highest
development. But there are flourishing Schools of Eurythmy in other
centres as well, and recently a Congress of Eurythmists held at the
Goetheanum was attended by over six hundred Eurythmists from every
part of the world. Eurythmy also plays a vital part in the Rudolf
Steiner Schools and Curative Homes which have been established in
nearly all European countries, as well as in the Americas and the
Southern hemisphere. But Steiner always emphasised (as he does in the
Introduction) that educational and curative Eurythmy cannot exist
without the establishment of Eurythmy as an art in its own right, just
as painting, sculpture and music exist as arts in their own right,
although they may be used educationally in schools and institutions.
This Introduction anticipates some of the difficulties which the
newcomer may experience with an art of movement based on new and
profound considerations as to the nature of man. It gives a
comprehensive picture of the whole field of Eurythmy and of the need
for such an art in the modern world.
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