What is Eurythmy?

So some of you may be saying “What is Eurythmy?” I always laugh when people ask me this because there are no short answers. It is so simple and natural yet with so many layers!  Eurythmy is a form of artistic movement in Waldorf education.  It allows you to express your feelings and thoughts without words… words that pale in comparison to what is actually being felt.  Words put a limit on what and how you can express yourself.  Have you ever said, “I just don’t have the words to express how I feel.”  Eurythmy allows you to break free of that.  Rudolph Steiner says, “Eurythmy is an attempt to create a visible speech in such a living form that it will be able to reveal the experiences of the human soul more vividly and therefore more artistically than tone and speech themselves can reveal them.” So these movements are actual speaking. Like a good friend of mine roughly put it, “It’s like interpretive dance for phonetic sounds.” These movements are gestures that represent letters of the alphabet, colors, or musical tones. But this is just one layer! There is also form walking, copper rod exercises, soul gestures, moods, grammar and syntax, and more!  Now I know your head is probably spinning!  But if you just stay with me and follow me on my journey, I will try to the best of my knowledge to help you understand all these things.  Eurythmy really is natural and simple once you get to know it!  I will try to break it down bit by bit and give you little by little!

photo from chicagowaldorf.org