Arbor Vitae Project In Ottawa

Sylvie Richard has recently completed her eurythmy training in Spring Valley, and she is not letting grass grow under her feet in Ottawa. She is already giving public performances of tone eurythmy and leading adult workshops - in English and in French! Of particular interest is the Arbor Vitae project...

I have prepared an artistic project called ARBOR VITAE project which I am promoting for the Waldorf schools and eventually for any group of children as well as to adult groups interested in participating in this artistic production. As the tittle alludes to, I use the very rich stories and images, poetry and music that exist around this reality of the Tree of Life. This is meant to be a co-creation with my participants so already the children in grade 6-7 at the Ottawa Waldorf School have created their own short poems about trees directed by their teacher in their exploration of the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) which we will be weaving into the fabric of the production. The format of work is in block of 4 weeks (ideally 3x/week), and we will have 4 phases in the project. Phase 1 is to work on skills which will allow the participants to be sufficiently comfortable with eurythmy gestures and forms. Time will be used as needed toward this goal- depending on the group. Since it is a co-creation I am very interested in the creative unfolding that will emerge through the different phases of the project. Some of my own artistic work solo will be weaved as well in the final production, so that one will be able to experience a multi-level of artistic capacities.I believe very deeply in the artistic capacities that live in the human being, and that is so very alive and mobile in children. We have started this week at the OWS with the grade4-5 and 6-7 classes and it is already full of promises!

Performance Makes Strong Impressions

"...And there are those like you and me and many many others
Who can never forget the Man with the Broken Fingers.
His will, his pride as a free man, shall go on.
His shadow moves and his sacred fingers speak...."

The Remembrance Day program by Grasshopper Productions at the Toronto Waldorf School left very strong impressions on the audience. The Carl Sandburg piece, "The Man With The Broken Fingers" was especially powerful. In this post, I am restating (largely in my own words) some of the comments I have heard from high school eurythmy students. I have also invited other audience members to submit their own articles...MM

"Not bad.." This was meant as a compliment - the performance was actually very interesting to him. "Edgy...surprising...shocking..." It seems that the students were gripped, and they really felt engaged with what was happening on the stage. The eurythmy was not just happening "out there", but "in here". They used words like "weight...grounded...immediate...," and seemed surprised when they remembered they were talking about eurythmy.

There has been some discussion about the relationship between eurythmy and drama. It was very effective when the speaker very ceremoniously put on the boots, and began the Gestapo investigation. But when the costumes are so realistic, is it still eurythmy? Does the speech take over? Do we lose the power of eurythmy, and enter a realm of purely physical drama? Does it matter?

The students appreciated the artistic sequence. The Levertov pieces, which opened and closed the program, involved a rhythmical interplay of different elements, and provided a balance to the more visceral parts of the program. One student felt that the eurythmists somehow managed to maintain a spiritual quality while entering a very physical realm.

I have heard very little about the tone pieces...perhaps this is slowly working on a deeper level...

I asked, "if we showed the piece on YouTube, would people have a similar experience?."

They replied (in so many words), "No."

Youth Movement - Part Two

This summer, at the Whitehorse Conference, I enjoyed a performance evening by Marjorie Taliano-Nordas. Marjorie spoke with affection and gratitude about her first eurythmy lessons with Christa Kuehn in Montreal. She is now the Director of the Eurythmy School in Oslo, and feels an enduring relationship to Canada.

Lori Scotchko, also from Canada, is currently studying at the Oslo school, and has promised an article about her experiences at this excellent school. I have also heard recently from Marie-Eve Piche, who is studying in Spring Valley. (Marc-Antoine Brodeur is studying in the UK, and you can see his earlier post here.)

It's wonderful that they are using the Internet (email and blog postings) to reach out. Although each of us often feels isolated, it's inspiring to re-discover tha we are part of an international community. We have so much to learn from each other, and this is a great way to start.