Healing Broken Connections, One Movement at a Time
How the Movement Art Eurythmy Can Help You Connect With Yourself, Others, and the World Around You
The past few years, I have come to realise more and more how important it is that we seek connections to ourselves, to one another, and to the world around us. It is not only something that can help us lead more fulfilling lives, but something that we actively need as human beings, to feel a part of something. I also believe that this reconnecting to our human needs needs to be a part of any plan to tries to fix our society. How else can we ever hope to stop running from place to place, as we struggle to get by and remain forever stuck in senseless jobs and lives without any purpose or direction beyond ‘buy’ and ‘consume’ and ‘more’ and ‘more’. Only when we are no longer reduced to replaceable cogs in a greed-fuelled global system of exploitation and violence, can we hope to tackle the enormous problems we face, like environmental collapse, wars waged for power and resources, and the lack of any kind of say over the issues that truly matter.
As a result, I am always on the lookout for new ways that we can foster connections with one another, new ways in which we can rediscover our connection to the natural world and rekindle that estranged connection to ourselves. That is why I wanted to write a post about eurythmy, which is a movement art that Anne van Bergeijk practises as part of a bachelor’s course to become a eurythmy teacher. Besides being a keen-eyed editor with a special talent for finding double spaces wherever they try to hide, Anne spends a lot of her time learning about the connections between your inner self, other people, and the world around you.
Odds are, you have never heard of eurythmy before, yet it has been around for quite some time. It amazes me that it can awaken such strong feelings of connection and belonging through movement alone. In some ways, it reminds me of the ways in which yoga calms the mind and helps you connect to your body and the way it feels. Why do these kinds of experiences feel so surprising, I often wonder. I think part of that has to do with how far removed from Western culture these practices can feel. That says a lot about our society in and of itself.
Why did you choose to study eurythmy? Also, can you explain what exactly eurythmy is for those who are not familiar with it?
“I practised many different art forms throughout my life and am fascinated by interdisciplinary work. That is why I decided to study eurythmy, because in a sense it is a combination of multiple art forms. In eurythmy you work with movement, language and poetry, music and music theory, sewing, colour theory, social art, and probably more than I can think of right now.
Eurythmy is an organic art of movement designed by Rudolf Steiner, that focuses on harmony and development. It uses shapes and forms that are directly derived from the natural world and can help us to develop every aspect of our humanity. There are exercises that can be done in silence, but most often eurythmy is done to music (tone eurythmy) or to poems or stories (speech eurythmy). On a personal level, it creates inner harmony and helps you to grow as a person. On a social level, it creates connection and togetherness. The word ‘eurythmy’ itself stems from ancient Greek and means ‘beautiful or harmonious rhythm’.”
What are the different areas or fields in which eurythmy is used? For each area or field, how is it used and what kind of people are exposed to it?
“Eurythmy is in and of itself an artform, so it is used in the performing arts. Sometimes eurythmists work alone and other times they work in ensembles to create performances. These can have any theme and can be created for any target audience.
It is also used in education, especially in Waldorf or Steiner schools. Children of all ages and teens get eurythmy lessons at least once a week at these schools, because it supports their development. There are many exercises designed for each age group that meet the physical, emotional, mental and social needs of the child in every phase of growing up.
The third field that eurythmy is used in, is in therapy. Many anthroposophical doctors work with eurythmy therapists to help patients with a variety of issues, ranging from headaches to allergies to depression and more. Eurythmy stimulates the self-healing ability of the body and harmonises the body. By expressing certain sounds through eurythmy, cramps can be released and organ processes that are disrupted can be brought back into balance.
Lastly, eurythmy is used as a social art. This means it can be used to improve how people in a group work together and/or interact with each other. Eurythmists in this field typically do this with teams of people that work at companies of any kind. A great example of a eurythmist in this field is Annemarie Ehrlich, who founded the “Institute of Eurythmy in Working Life”. She has done eurythmy with employees from companies like KPN (a Dutch telecom company) for example, to help them uncover underlying issues in the teams’ social dynamics and start to work on them through eurythmy.”
Eurythmy often speaks of an inner world, which contrasts it to many other forms of dance. How does this focus on an inner world translate to what you see and do with it?
“In eurythmy, the movements always come from a source deep within yourself and the movements are never random. For example, we often work with ‘gestures’, given by Rudolf Steiner. These gestures are intended as gateways towards specific inner experiences and they should also be shaped from these specific inner experiences. Making it a goal just to physically execute the gestures ‘perfectly’ is actually pointless in eurythmy if there is no inner activity involved with the whole movement. As a professional eurythmist, you definitely do learn to make the gestures as similar to their intended way as possible, but when you are working with children for example, they do not need to make perfect gestures as long as they are experiencing the meaning of the gesture in their inner world, in their soul. Coming from 17 years of experience in classical ballet myself, where there is no such thing as expressing ‘turning a double pirouette’ simply by doing it in your inner world, I think I can say that this, among many other things like the technique that is used, is why eurythmy is actually radically different from many forms of dance.”
One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you about eurythmy, besides how much I enjoy talking to you about what drives you, is that I think something like eurythmy has the potential to benefit society, especially modern society, where people are often disconnected from both themselves and each other. What are your thoughts on that, and how could eurythmy be used to address that disconnection?
“Whether it is disconnection from your body, from your emotions, or from the outside world, everyone deals with it in some way, shape or form. And it can cause all sorts of problems, more often than not without you even being aware of it, ranging from medical issues to psychological issues to social issues and more. Our society is preoccupied with only using the mind, your rational thoughts, but what is often dismissed is the wisdom of our own bodies. You can tell a lot about a person by analysing the way they move, if you know what to look for. By connecting to your body through eurythmy, you open yourself up to the world around you in a whole new way. You discover what your qualities are and stumble upon qualities that you haven’t developed that much. Eurythmy can then teach you how to use your best qualities in different contexts and how to develop your less-developed qualities. So yes, eurythmy can help us to reconnect with anything we might have disconnected from, in a kind, healthy and organic way.”
I feel like this inner world, things like spirituality, and even on a more basic level just the feeling of emotions are routinely suppressed, neglected, or even ridiculed. Could discovering, or more accurately rediscovering, this inner world help people connect to their inner selves?
“Yes! Like I mentioned before, I think that disconnection in general is a major issue in our society. Especially when it comes to restoring the connection to our inner world and to our spiritual selves, I think that eurythmy is a perfect tool we can use to do this. Eurythmy is fundamentally transformative because it is movement. And like I explained before, not just movement of our bodies, but movement of our souls and of our higher selves. It might feel impossible to restore some connections but in my experience, eurythmy offers so much support in doing this kind of work. It connects you to all layers of your being; to your physical body, to your emotions, to your life force, to your thoughts, to your will, to your higher self. And it teaches you different qualities that exist in all of these layers and to experience and harmonise them with different exercises.”
Earlier, you mentioned education as a place where eurythmy can support the development of children and young adults. How can it help them find their way in our highly technological Western society, where you are constantly bombarded with messages and information?
“I mean, just the fact that the children and teens have some time to stand up and move about without the possibility of looking at screens and without a book in front of them is already helpful. It teaches focus and presence in their own bodies. What makes eurythmy different from other activities that require these same conditions, is that it is also artistic and social. It teaches children that they can create something with other people just using movement, focus and presence. They do not even necessarily have to do anything with the specific exercises that they learn during the eurythmy lesson, because above all they will learn to move as an individual as part of a bigger picture. They learn that they are always connected to something or someone and that their movements make a difference. Eurythmy teaches empathy, confidence, joy and strength, which is just what we need in this society.”
What is our society missing that something like eurythmy seems to address?
“Our society is… sort of harsh, isn’t it? In my personal experience at least, there are all these expectations and pressures to live a certain way and to only appreciate and develop certain qualities like being efficient, book-smart and assertive (but only within the confines of what’s acceptable). If you have different qualities like sensitivity, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, you’re honestly quite an outcast. And that separates us from each other as human beings as well. This was just one example, but there are so many isolated groups of people who have different qualities, views and values, who don’t understand each other very well. When did we stop appreciating all the different aspects of being human? Should we not strive to develop many more qualities of ourselves, to experience everything that a human life has to offer?
In eurythmy, all qualities of the human experience are addressed. The good and the bad, which are then used to become better versions of ourselves. If we can understand ourselves and each other better and find connection and empathy through the movement of eurythmy, we can be healthier and more complete individuals and a healthier and more complete society.”
What can people do if they want to learn more about eurythmy, or want to try it out to see if it can benefit them? Are there basic exercises they can do, like for instance with yoga, or are there courses they can take or places they can go to? Can you give some examples?
“Ideally, I would recommend taking a beginners’ course from a professional eurythmist, or try eurythmy therapy if you have some specific issues that you would like to work on. However, there are not a lot of beginners’ courses around. There is a yoga studio around every corner, but unfortunately this is not the case with eurythmy (yet!). If you cannot find a course in your area, I would search for eurythmists in your area and simply contact them. If you have a Waldorf or Steiner school in your area, you could also try to reach them and ask if they have a eurythmy teacher that you can contact. Eurythmists want nothing more than to bring eurythmy into the world, so do not hesitate to just ask them.
If you cannot find a eurythmist in your area that you can work with, there is at least one online option. Cynthia Hoven is a eurythmist who has worked very hard to create online eurythmy lessons.” [ed. You can find links to some of the exercises on her website at the bottom of this article]
I have asked Anne for video examples to show you what eurythmy can look like, to give you a clearer idea of the things that she has been describing.
“Here’s a video of me doing the Hallelujah exercise (in beautiful Scotland). The Hallelujah can be done to cleanse your energy and connect to your higher self, and/or to cleanse the energy of your surroundings. It is also often done to support loved ones who are sick on the path to recovery or to guide loved ones who have recently passed away to whatever is next.”
Here you can watch Anne doing a eurythmy improvisation:
And here you can watch her do one of the tone eurythmy solo works designed by Rudolf Steiner:
Other Examples:
Performance eurythmy with a group:
Performance eurythmy solo:
Social eurythmy:
Eurythmy therapy (for children):
Eurythmy for kindergarten:
Eurythmy for primary school:
“Below are links to a few exercises I can recommend to start out with, and you can explore the rest of her website and her YouTube channel as well, although I am not personally too familiar with it.”
Exercise on how to occupy space:
https://eurythmyonline.com/lessons/how-to-occupy-space/
Peace exercise:
https://eurythmyonline.com/lessons/peace-exercise/
Five-pointed star exercise:
https://eurythmyonline.com/lessons/pentagram-the-five-pointed-star/
If you have any more questions you want to ask Anne after reading this post, feel free to leave them in the comments below. You can also find her on YouTube, Instagram, and Spotify.
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Very interesting! Thank you for posting this interview. I’m listening to the exercise video recs on the bottom right now.