The Eurythmy Association of Great Britain and Ireland is co-ordinating a public festival this summer to celebrate the centenary of eurythmy in the British Isles. Michæl Mehta from the Association explains what it will be about

ABERDEEN (NNA) - The Festival from 17 to 22 July 2012 will be hosted by Newton Dee Community, a Camphill community set in the wonderful countryside of the Dee Valley just outside Aberdeen, Scotland.

It is open to everyone and will be an opportunity to celebrate what has been achieved in eurythmy, share what is going on at present and look forward to the future. Artistic presentations will be offered each evening by all the major ensembles in Britain - Botton Stage Group, London Eurythmy, Peredur Eurythmy and West Midlands Eurythmy Ensemble - together with contributions from new groups (Grail programme) and individuals.

Daily workshops will be held for all participants, both eurythmists and public, to experience eurythmy for themselves. On each main day a further series of workshops will explore how eurythmy manifests respectively in education, therapy and the social realm. There will also be opportunity for reflection in a number of discussion groups.

At the centre of the Festival will be the daily presentation in eurythmy of Rudolf Steiner’s Soul Calendar verses in English. As the Soul Calendar verses are also celebrating their centenary in 2012, this synergy has provided a wonderful impetus to our preparations.

Some ten groups around Britain and Ireland are preparing these and we hope that the majority of the 52 verses will be able to be shown in eurythmy. To our knowledge this will be the first time that so many will be presented in the English language.

Each main day will start with the Foundation Stone Verse. The recently produced Cosmic Verse Series (Cosmic Measure, Planet Dance, Twelve Moods and A Song of Initiation – A Satire) will open and close the Festival. All together some 90 eurythmists, speakers, musicians and lecturers have committed to share their work.

The Eurythmy Association hopes to welcome participants from the British Isles and around the world. The festival has been timed to allow people travelling to the Summer Eurythmy Festival at the Goetheanum to then travel on to Scotland.

Developed by the Austrian scientist, educator and philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861- 1925), eurythmy came into being as a new art of movement in the early decades of the twentieth century.  Through the instrument of the human body, it strives to reveal the fundamental creative principles underlying speech and music. 

Eurythmy began as a new performing art of movement but soon after its inception it found further application in the realms of education and therapy. More recently an additional application has been developed in the social realm working with the dynamics of personal relationships and team building within organisations.  

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Contact: Michæl Mehta, +44 20 7638 3202 or michæl.mehta@eurythmyassociation.org.uk

Booking forms are available at: www.eurythmyassociation.org.uk or www.eurythmassociation.ie

Item: 120416-01EN Date: 16 April 2012

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