Newsletterof the Eurythmy Association of Great Britain and Ireland
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Spring 2016 Newsletterof the Eurythmy Association of Great Britain and Ireland Ed i t o r i a l Te a m : Elisabeth Bamford,Chas Bamford, Christopher Kidman [email protected] Reflections from the Council At the full and exciting Annual General Meeting (AGM) event in Stroud last October – still much in my mind but described elsewhere in this Newsletter so I won’t say more about it – we even managed to squeeze in an abbreviated council meeting. We welcomed Maurice Manning to the team. He, along with Tomie Ando (and with Michael Mehta helping when needed), will be specially concerned with any issues that come up in relation to eurythmists’ employment in schools, as well as being our direct liaison with the Eurythmy Outreach initiative. Roxanne Leonard, our other new council member, could not be present due to the Irish eurythmy tour [see page 3]. She will bring Ireland into the council, which will hopefully make us more aware of what is going on in that part of our Association. For instance, had anyone outside that island heard of the Irish eurythmy tour or known of the CONTENTS ongoing work there on the Foundation Stone Meditation? Refections from the Council........... 1 We are still honing our individual roles on council; learn- ing how to balance out responsibility for our own areas Eireann Eurythmy Ensemble........... 3 against collegiality and consensus. As everywhere nowadays, Eurythmy in the Mystery Dramas... 3 it seems that simple communication – ha, simple! – is the golden key. Eurythmy Association AGM Event.. 5 Working in India.............................. 7 On which note, not so long ago it seems that simple Speech formation and eurythmy.... 10 I needed to contact a member so I looked up their telephone communication – Eurythmy Outreach online..............16 details on the Association da- ha, simple! – is the Eurythmy in Gloucestershire...........17 tabase. When I called that number I was informed that golden key. A greatly accomplished Welshman..18 the person I wanted to talk Poetry with eurythmy in mind.......19 to had not lived there for the last four years! So obviously our database needs some at- Eurythmy form by Marguerite Lundgren.. 20 tention. Willemien Erenga, our treasurer and membership Whitsun eurythmy festival............ 24 secretary, is going to prepare an alternative layout of it. All of you who work in a particular geographical area will Vitaleurythmie…………………. 24 be in a section together; then one or other council member Eurythmy Therapy training…….. 25 will be getting in touch – if they are able! – to check your contact details. On occasion this might lead to a phone con- Vacancies………...…….............. 27 versation like the ones we had several years ago when we Diary………………………....... 28 asked you about your thoughts on future conferences. Instead, we began to talk about all manner of things eurythmical that Summer newsletter deadline….. 28 were currently on our minds. Catching up, in fact. Now, some really good news. After a sort of trying-out period to see what it entails, Elisabeth and Chas Bamford have formally agreed to take on the editorship of the Association newsletter, moreover saying they would be delighted! That ‘delighted’ is especially encouraging and bodes well for the newsletter’s next few years. They have experience in this area and new ideas. You can see from the autumn edi- tion that they are approaching the task creatively. They will be joining council for part of our February meeting so we can have an in-depth discussion on how the newsletter might develop and how best to afford this. [You can contact them at [email protected]] By the time you read this, the council meeting at the Barbican will probably have already happened. We have received many enthusiastic reviews of our AGM event last October and I’m sure the widely- expressed wish for a follow-up will be a major point on the agenda. May I just say again that if any of you have anything you think council should be discussing, please do get in touch via our secretary, Gabriella Vasas-Turnbull. Our next meeting will be in June. Finally, I hope that those of you who are currently working, or thinking of working, on an artistic eurythmy presentation or programme are keeping in mind that this year of 2016 is the 400th anni- versary of the death of William Shakespeare and this is being widely cele- brated. It can only serve our precious eurythmy to get on board. What a good excuse to dig up some of the lovely eurythmy forms by Rudolf Steiner or indeed to make some new ones for some of the greatest poetry in our language. Recently I was drawn again to some of the lyrics from the plays and was aston- ished anew at just what magical things they are: Rudolf Steiner’s eurythmy form for Where the bee sucks (bottom of the drawing is the front of the stage) Come unto these yellow sands... Where the bee sucks, there suck I... Tell me where is fancy bred? Who cares who Shakespeare was? Whoever he was, he caught the highest spirit of the word in English! Christopher Kidman 01425 482416 (for the Eurythmy Association Council: Gabriella Vasas-Turnbull, Willemien Erenga, Tomie Ando, Maurice Manning and Roxanne Leonard) To contact the Council - an email to [email protected] will be sent simultaneously to all Council Members 2 was it a place in Byzantium, or was it a picture of The Eireann Eurythmy the body as Temple? And within the Temple there Ensemble burns a lamp, as expressed in the fery poem by Tagore, Touch me with Thy fre. The programme was framed beginning and end with music on the The eurythmy group from the northern parts of Irish harp. Ireland — Kazuhiko Kimura (Mourne Grange), Brigitte de Rhoter (Clanabogan), Gyongyi Slonszki Feedback from audiences was positive for both (Ballybay), along with Tom and Roxanne Leonard the programme and performance and we have (County Clare) — made a three-day tour of the been warmly invited to return. northern Camphill communities at the beginning of November 2015. As a group we bonded through travelling together and sharing meals and good conversation. And The Celtic theme of the programme included three the question arose, what do we call ourselves? Soul Calendar verses, a blessing of the Triune Eventually we arrived at a name which is inclusive and some poems by W.B. Yeats. These led into the of both north and south – The Eireann Eurythmy dramatic and pictorial Song of Amergin in which this Ensemble. hero of ancient times approaches Eireann from the nine-waves’ distance to conquer the land with a Roxanne Leonard resounding, ‘Yes!’. The programme culminated with [email protected] a poem by Tagore. Unique to the event was the recitation to harp The Eireann accompaniment of two poems by Yeats: The Song Eurythmy of Wandering Aengus and Sailing to Byzantium. Ensemble Overarching the program was a feeling for the (with harp expanse of the heavens, as seen in Yeats’ He second from Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven. Under this starry the left) canopy, one had the experience of a Temple — Eurythmy in the mystery dramas, a workshop with Werner Barfod This October weekend organised by The Stroud Mystery Drama Group took place in the Centre for Science and Art in Stroud and was full of creative activity. Actors and eurythmists attended, as well as eurythmy students and teachers from Eurythmy West Midlands. Werner Barfod took as his starting point the balanced human being as expressed in IAO and Light streams upward, weight weighs downward. Then he led us into the expression of the various beings in the Mystery Dramas: Lucifer, Ahriman, the Soul Forces, the Double, the Guardian of the Threshold, and the Spirit of Johannes’s Youth. Working with the colours and the dramatic gestures, we developed a common space where acting and 1. Thinking, feeling, will; Astrid, Philia, eurythmy could speak together. There was a mood of eager Luna; sagittal plane, horizontal plane, interest and a feeling of anticipation of future work together. frontal plane 3 This was the frst of a series of fve Stroud weekend workshops focussing on different aspects of the Rudolf Steiner’s Fourth Mystery Drama in preparation for working on it. Marie-Reine Adams [email protected] I found it intriguing to be able to get closer to understanding the rôle eurythmy plays in drama, specifcally the Mystery Dramas. It was wonderful to get a practical understand- ing of how movement is to be used by the different beings 2. Mercury planetary seal as form basis for Maria, Luna, Astrid and Philia; light streams up- that populate the scenes by being those beings ourselves! It wards exercise as basis for sylphs and gnomes. was incredible fun and powerfully informative. Werner Barfod was happily joined in the afternoon by Richard Ramsbotham, who introduced speech and dramatic elements. Richard showed how to integrate specifc dramatic movements with specifc styles of speech. I found that as soon as speech and movement were combined, a new world opened up which we explored in a wonderful way. There were diffcult moments of uncohesiveness and misunderstandings between speech and eurythmy, but overall I loved how Richard and Werner worked so well bringing those two worlds together in the intense scenes from the fourth play. It was good to be around a solid group of eurythmists. This brought a strong sense of learning as a group. Thanks to all who organised this event. 3. Lucifer and Ahriman: O and A; periphery and centre; curved and straight Ryan Kouroukis (the actor who played Johannes in the recent Stroud production of the Third Mystery Drama) Werner Barfod’s workshop was very inspiring, not just in relation to the Mystery Dramas but also for real life! After all, what unfolds in the mystery drama also speaks of our own journey seeking to grow towards what we truly are.