“I Hear America Singing”

Jolanda Frischknecht was born in Switzerland and lives in Portland, Oregon. She is co-director of the Eurythmy training initiative Pacific Eurythmy and a member of Portland Eurythmy which performs locally and in the Pacific Northwest. She teaches eurythmy at the Micha-el Institute (teacher training) and homeschool classes. She is also a therapeutic eurythmist and works with children and adults in the Portland area.

Barbara is Artistic Director of both the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble and the professional training (2005 to present). An alumna of ESV, Barbara has been on the faculty since 1988. She has developed over thirty eurythmy programs and has performed throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and China.

In various contexts Rudolf Steiner refers to eurythmy as “Angel Dances” and explains that in eurythmy the human being is “already standing in a higher world,” rising up “to an angelic form of Being,” such that “when one watches eurythmy, one must carry the question in one’s heart, ‘Yes, are those all angels?’” He connects this with the fact that “in eurythmy the movements of the etheric body come in the place of the physical body” so that “the etheric body actually moves in the physical world.” In this course we will explore how this can be achieved in practice.

An alumna of the Eurythmeum, Dornach, Jan taught there and at the London School of Eurythmy. She founded and directed the Jerusalem Eurythmy Ensemble (1990) and the Jerusalem Academy of Eurythmy (1992). Jan has held master classes worldwide, including at the Goetheanum and within the Alanus MA Program in English.

The two-day workshop will awaken in the participants an experience of the significance of this original Trinity of Vowels which Rudolf Steiner used in September 1912 in order to begin; and how this path can be used as we search for a poem’s choreography and gestures.

Gail is a poet, eurythmist, visual artist, and witness. An alumna of Emerson College and Eurythmeum Stuttgart, Gail performed and taught worldwide with the Else-Klink-Ensemble; for the last 21 years freelance in Spain, Germany, England, Russia, and South and North America. Gail is an award-winning poet with an MFA in poetry from Drew University. Her recent film, Voiced: words from asphalt; performance piece: SteelWords; and publication: firegarden / jardín-de-fuego, GetFreshBooks.

The Bay Area Eurythmy Ensemble invites you to join our performance piece here in Spring Valley, “The Grain That Was Like an Egg” by Leo Tolstoy. Participants in this workshop will open with fundamental exercises from the early eurythmy indications and move on to learn eurythmy forms and sounds to be in the opening scene. Eurythmy enthusiasts are welcome to participate in this workshop and then perform with us. Workshop participants should attend both sessions of this workshop in order to be prepared to perform.

The Bay Area Eurythmy Ensemble has been in existence since 2013 and will be premiering their seventh program at the Eurythmy Festival. Ensemble membership changes as new eurythmists come or leave the San Francisco Bay Area. We are devoted to offering eurythmy as a performing art in the hope that it may inspire young people. Lilith trained at the American Eurythmy School, Mt. Shasta, CA.

This two-day workshop is offered twice (Workshop 3 and Workshop 5) to allow for more participants. Please do not sign up for more than one of the two workshops with Annelies.

Annelies Davidson has performed and taught in adult education since 1975 in London, England, and at Eurythmy Spring Valley. Although retired in the Netherlands, Annelies still returns each year for a month to Spring Valley to teach.

Continued from Part I in Workshop 2.

In this collaborative eurythmy exploration for anyone ages 18-25 (or young at heart), we will move and create contemporary poetry and music as an expression of the questions living in our hearts and in the world.

Sea-Anna is a member of the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble and a faculty member of the School of Eurythmy. She leads public eurythmy courses and workshops within the contexts of biodynamic agriculture, Biography and Social Art, the Christian Community Church, and the Anthroposophical Society in North America. Sea-Anna holds an MA in Performance Eurythmy from Alanus Hochschule, Germany.

This two-day workshop is offered twice (Workshop 1 and Workshop 4) to allow for more participants. Please do not sign up for more than one of the two workshops with Dorothea.

Dorothea Mier, an alumna and former teacher of the Lea van der Pals School in Dornach, was a member of the Goetheanum Stage Group under the preeminent eurythmist and director Marie Savitch. From 1980 until 2005, Dorothea was the Artistic Director of Eurythmy Spring Valley. Dorothea continues to teach at ESV and offer workshops worldwide.

Continued from Part I in Workshop 5.

A new musical narrative of the Parzival story including eurythmy, theater and visual arts!

Why Parzival in this day and age, what is the relevance of his brother Feirefiz in these times, and what are the universal and timeless human experiences in this story?

In the spirit of this being a shared experience, Emmanuel and John will introduce their 28-year collaboration and vision for this musical narrative; Alexandra will invite participants to explore some scenes in eurythmy, to be shared toward the end of the week.

Some elements of this workshop may contribute to a eurythmy flashmob in Central Park on the last day of the festival, if there is interest and enthusiasm for this.

Dr. Emmanuel Vukovich, violin and artistic director of The Parzival Project; John McDowell, composer, piano/percussion; Alexandra Spadea (ESV’ 94) upper school eurythmist at Rudolf Steiner School, NYC.

Workshop 5, Friday; continues in Workshop 6.

“The 1915 angle-gestures are movable do expression!” We will explore movable-do practice in singing, briefly consider the records of the angle-gestures, and begin to take up the gestures as movable-do expression. The earliest records of the angle-gestures are in the new edition of Eurythmie als sichtbares Gesang. Please see my articles on the subject: “Fixed Do and Movable Do in Our Eurythmy: Does It Matter?” (EANA website, spring 2022); “The Earliest Records Show the Angle-Gestures as Movable Do” (EANA Newsletter, autumn 2022); and “The 1915 Angle-Gestures are Movable Do” (Performing Arts Section Newsletter Nr. 78, Easter 2023).

Kate is a eurythmist with degrees in English literature and music; a long-time anthroposophist; and a pianist for eurythmy. She has experience with orchestral instruments, choral and chamber singing, poetic recitation, sculptural art. Her research includes the foundation of music eurythmy, speech eurythmy, and recitation of Shakespeare’s pentameter.

Continued from Part I in Workshop 3.

Andrew offers a public course on the planets in eurythmy, with experiences through form, poetry, and speech sound. He will go through each planet’s color, day, gesture, sound and character.

Andrew is a performer and teacher of eurythmy. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria, and toured Europe with a professional eurythmy stage troupe. Andrew lives in Los Angeles and continues to perform eurythmy in Europe and the US.

Workshop 6, Friday; continued from Workshop 5.

“The 1915 angle-gestures are movable do expression!” We will explore movable-do practice in singing, briefly consider the records of the angle-gestures, and begin to take up the gestures as movable-do expression. The earliest records of the angle-gestures are in the new edition of Eurythmie als sichtbares Gesang. Please see my articles on the subject: “Fixed Do and Movable Do in Our Eurythmy: Does It Matter?” (EANA website, spring 2022); “The Earliest Records Show the Angle-Gestures as Movable Do” (EANA Newsletter, autumn 2022); and “The 1915 Angle-Gestures are Movable Do” (Performing Arts Section Newsletter Nr. 78, Easter 2023).

Kate is a eurythmist with degrees in English literature and music; a long-time anthroposophist; and a pianist for eurythmy. She has experience with orchestral instruments, choral and chamber singing, poetic recitation, sculptural art. Her research includes the foundation of music eurythmy, speech eurythmy, and recitation of Shakespeare’s pentameter.

This workshop will help eurythmists work more effectively with story texts. My experience as a professional storyteller and a college poetry major influenced my work as a eurythmist and likewise, my work as a eurythmist greatly influenced my work as a storyteller and author. To share this experience, we will look at a few sample texts from my latest book, Tree with Golden Apples: Botanical and Agricultural Wisdom in World Myths, in which the stories are written with a strong attention to the use of sound in language. We will compare this with story texts that lack this element and practice how to infuse a text with sounds, repetitions and syntax effects without creating an obvious or contrived effect.

Susan Strauss is internationally recognized as a storyteller, keynoter, and for her signature Passionate Fact Workshops: Storytelling Science. Past performances include: Smithsonian Natural History Museum, US National Park Service, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh, National Geographic Society, National Gallery of Art, and the Oregon Symphony. She is the author of five books: Tree with Golden Apples: Botanical and Agricultural Wisdom in World Myths; When Woman Became the Sea: A Costa Rican Creation Myth; The Passionate Fact: Storytelling in Natural History and Cultural Interpretation; Wolf Stories: Myths and True Life Tales from around the World; and Coyote Stories for Children; as well as six recordings and original narratives for museum exhibits, a National Forest Service salmon watershed restoration project, and a National Park Service film on the wolf in mythology used in Yellowstone National Park. She has been teaching eurythmy since 2010.