Many new to Waldorf education often ask, “What is Eurythmy?” when they hear it is offered as part of the curriculum.
At its simplest, students learn intentional movement through exercises, patterns and games that increase in complexity through the grades. They learn to move in thoughtful and disciplined ways in collaboration with others. While this art is soulful and expressive, it also teaches skills like cooperation, spatial and sensory awareness, midline crossing for brain building, motor skills and more.
Rudolf Steiner said Eurythmy is :
"music translated into movement..."
"visible speech, visible music..."
"offering to the human being a means of expression suited to his whole organisation..."
Susan Elmore, In her article published on the Waldorf School at Moraine Farm blog speaks more deeply about the “whys” of offering this art form as a curriculum subject:
“Eurythmy both requires and develops focus and goodwill. There is power in listening, imagining, and moving together, with the shy ones overcoming their reticence, the loud ones their desire for attention, the slow ones their inertia, and the assertive ones their desire to be first. Everyone can generously become part of something bigger, and in so doing, find balance.”
Read the article at Waldorf School at Moraine Farm
Photo Credit: Waldorf School of Baltimore
- Waldorf Education