Greetings! I have found a few comprehensive articles which encompass
light beat exercise in the Waldorf schools. The practice is part of
what is known as Eurythmy. Meaning "good rhythm," the term comes from
the Greek "eu", meaning good, and "ruthmos", meaning rhythm.
The effects are many and seemingly of a positive nature. One web site
stated "The intricate rhythms in speech and music are experienced
through various forms of movement. This helps the children to develop
a sense of coordination, grace, and beauty in their movements. Taking
eurythmy for many years can be extremely helpful, for example, to the
adolescent boy who has grudgingly executed eurythmical movements and
now finds that his gangly limbs are beautifully coordinated on the
basketball court."
The above is from the article "Eurythmy" by Victoria Mansuri and you
may read the full text at
http://www.corvalliswaldorfschool.org/eurythmy.html. The article also
cites Eurythmy as assisting a growing child in the literature, science
and mathematics subjects in years to come.
Another excellent explanation is on the site
http://www.awsna.org/publications-renewal-eurth.html. However, this
was a bit hard on my eyes because it is white letters on a dark
background. If you have the same problem, you may remedy this by
simply cutting and pasting the text into a word processing program
where it will be much easier to view or simply highligh the entire
article to view the text more easily . This article breaks down the
benefits of Eurythmy in different grades and states concerning grades
one through three:
"The young child experiences joy in music but through eurythmy is able
to experience music through his or her whole physical body, and not
only in its beat and rhythm but also in its harmony, melody, and other
aspects. It is important that in these grades the child also
experiences the foundations of geometry. To various rhythms and
melodies, the child walks and runs the pentagon, the circle, and the
lemniscate or figure eight. The child learns to feel, rather than just
to think, the difference between a straight line and a curved line.
Later, the child will experience geometry as something alive rather
than just a set of abstract principles carried in the head."
The article, "Eurythmy in the Waldorf School - An Enigma Explained,"
(from the Spring 1998 issue of Renewal, A Journal for Waldorf
Education ŠThe Association of Waldorf Schools of North America) goes
on to cite the benefits in higher grades as well. The author, Thomas
Poplawski, concludes the piece by stating "Today the pressures of
modern industrial and technological society are deeply affecting our
children. More and more children have emotional and learning
difficulties, and even "normal" children are affected by the stresses
of an increasingly fast-paced and unbalanced way of life."
There is also a page of FAQs on Eurythmy located at
http://www.eurythmy.org.uk/faq/eurythmy_faq.html and an in-depth
explanation of it at http://www.eurythmy.org/abouteurythmypart1.htm.
Included in the latter are these headings:
About Eurythmy
~ About Eurythmy - Part One
~ About Eurythmy - Part Two
~ History - Part One
~ History - Part Two
~ History - Part Three
~ Experiencing Eurythmy
~ Careers in Eurythmy
~ Article 1 - by Seth Morrison
~ Article 2 - by Maria Ver Eecke
Each of these has live links on the page. Additionally, a resource
page may be found at
http://www.usq.edu.au/library/liaison/education/80981.htm that offers
modes of study for "Thinking and Movement in Early Childhood
Education." It refers to a publication by Earl J. Ogletree titled
"Eurythmy in the Waldorf Schools" and its abstract reads in part "In
the classroom, eurythmic movements have a therapeutic function in
which the child's development is supported and enhanced through its
various stages. This article discusses the application of eurythmy in
the Waldorf Schools curriculum, where eurythmy is used to enhance
speech, writing, music, mathematics, literature, history, and
creativity instruction."
Lastly, I discovered a newsletter from the The Council of the Eurythmy
Association of North America (Summer 1999). It may be viewed at
http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:DQPjGfzuUKYC:www.eana.org/SUMMER%25201999.pdf+Eurythmy+in+the+Waldorf+Schools+Ogletree&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
or in PDF form at http://www.eana.org/SUMMER%201999.pdf and may give
you additional information on the practice.
I hope this information proves of assistance in your understanding and
if you need clarification before rating my answer, please request it
and I will be happy to conduct further research in this area.
SEARCH PHRASES:
Waldorf school exercise
Waldorf school eurythmy
explaining eurythmy
Eurythmy in the Waldorf Schools Ogletree |
Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
10 Nov 2002 12:08 PST
In addition, pertaining to the title of your question, I discovered
the following:
The Joy of Movement and the Shoe String Circus
http://www.scwaldorf.org/website/waldorf/scws_articles/joy_of_movement.html
In this article, the author states "Children need to move-they need to
sense themselves and others in their environment. They are developing
their bones, muscles, and organs for their lives of physical activity.
Movement education in the Waldorf curriculum provides children with
physical activities appropriate to their stage of development." This
is a good article on Bothman Gymnastics in general from an educator's
point of view.
The practice stemmed from the Eurythmy of Rudolph Steiner. A
biography of Steiner is available at http://skepdic.com/steiner.html.
Another good resource regarding Bothmer Gymnastics is located at
http://www.bothmer-gymnastik.com/bothmer/Inteview/baker.html where the
interviewee, Martin baker, states "I believe that if a child enjoys
movement and is able to play with self-confidence, that has an effect
on other things too. The joy to be capable of doing something, to
achieve something reflects in their relationship to life and
learning."
From the Waldorf homeschoolers web site at
http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/willactivities.htm is the
statement "Through indications given by Rudolf Steiner to Bothmer, a
systematic body of information was compiled for this new art of
gymnastics. Botbmer considered that he had come, not through
intellectual thought but through the practice of bodily movement, to
an experience of what he called "forces of space." While he was
practicing and developing his gymnastic exercises, which he did long
and often he became aware of the creative, spiritual forces of space
which work upon the human body. It was a fundamental principle of
Bothmer's pedagogical striving to bring to the growing child a real
experience of this spiritual quality of space, wherein the ideal
picture of man and of his bodily movements is to be found."
Again, should you need further clarification before rating my answer,
please request it.
SEARCH TERMS:
bothmer gymnastics children waldorf
eurythmy rudolph steiner
bothmer gymnastics children
bothmer gymnastics children effects
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Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
22 Nov 2002 08:39 PST
Thank you for your comments and rating. The mention you request
concerning Bothmer, a "student" of Steiner, the originator of
Eurythmy, in using the Steiner principles:
From http://www.antiochne.edu/prospects/ed/edwaldorf/edwalcrse.html#10
-
"Bothmer Gymnastics
This course is an introduction to Bothmer Gymnastics, a series of
exercises created by Count von Bothmer out of indications given by
Rudolf Steiner. Through this new, living form of exercise, students
explore their relationship to space and work to find the balance
between two kinds of forces: the centric, earthly forces, and the
peripheral forces."
This echoes what I posted in my answer above:
From the Waldorf homeschoolers web site at
http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/willactivities.htm is the
statement "Through indications given by Rudolf Steiner to Bothmer, a
systematic body of information was compiled for this new art of
gymnastics. Botbmer [sic] considered that he had come, not through
intellectual thought but through the practice of bodily movement, to
an experience of what he called "forces of space." While he was
practicing and developing his gymnastic exercises, which he did long
and often he became aware of the creative, spiritual forces of space
which work upon the human body. It was a fundamental principle of
Bothmer's pedagogical striving to bring to the growing child a real
experience of this spiritual quality of space, wherein the ideal
picture of man and of his bodily movements is to be found."
For your convenience, there is also a "Request A Clarification"
feature that may be used before closing a question. By using the
Clarification feature, you have the opportunity to add more detail for
the researcher to consider before rating his or her answer.
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