here some of the old videos of my first year. i like these choreographies. They are very much simple, and still for me much expressive.. we worked in both cases, starting from given codified eurythmical elements, which we eventually had to translate and transform into a spacial group choreography.
Staff choreography:
staff choreography
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS-9P0L0Syc
Evolutionary sequence:
evolutionary sequence
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqnHcpfc3_Y
31 jan 2011
GREEK RITUAL DANCE
An article By Brandy Williams ...for who might be interested:
Ancient Pagans dance across Classical vases holding graceful folds of robes
in their hands, frozen by the artist in a moment of bending and leaping and
twirling. How inspiring they are! Many a modern looks to the vases and says,
"I will reconstruct these dances!" The most famous of these, of course, was
Isadora Duncan, whose simple dances in homemade togas entranced Europe in
her lifetime.
Modern Pagans long to recover the ancient Pagan functions of the dance.
Greeks, of course, never ceased to dance, even while converting to
Christianity. Some of the ancient meanings of the dance remain-certain
dances are performed during the spring with clear fertility symbology. The
social implications have changed little. Dance provides a meeting place for
men and women, an emotional expression of community spirit, a form of
cultural bonding that identifies this person as a member of this village,
this country. But modern Greeks no longer dance in honor of the Gods and
Goddesses, and modern Pagans long to do so. How might we go about this?
In one sense, reconstruction is impossible. Ultimately, lacking actual
videotape of eighth-century dances, it's impossible to say with certainty
that we are performing an eighth century dance.
In another sense, reconstruction is trivial. Modern Greek dance retains a
link to its Pagan origins. The handholds, footsteps, groupings that ancient
writers describe and ancient vases illustrate are alive and well among Greek
traditional dancers. It's a favorite game among folklorists to attempt to
identify an ancient dance with a modern descendent. What we can say is, this
vase represents this ancient dance as having this handhold, and this modern
dance uses that handhold, showing us how to do it.
Most fruitfully, we can say: these are the reasons that Pagans danced in the
past, these are reasons that Pagans wish to dance now, and here are some
dances that fit those functions. In this way dance continues to be a living
part of Pagan religion.
Research and discussion are very important components of reconstructing
Pagan ritual, and dance is no exception. Ultimately though my advice to
Pagans interested in Greek dance is: learn to dance. I can post a syllabus
of a dance, make a reference to a CD that contains the right music for the
dance, but unless you've seen it, held hands with other people to do it, it
won't make a lot of sense. Like any other magical skill, it must be learned
and then practiced. That being said, here are some notes about ancient Greek
dance and modern equivalents.
Ancient Greeks danced in lines, processions, on festival days. The
procession might involve the entire populace, or only a portion of it-only
men, only women, only young women. Some processions were held in honor of a
particular deity, and might involve singing a praise to that deity, walking
to the deity's temple, or strolling before the deity's altar.
The procession is the easiest dance for modern Pagans. At its simplest it
can involve simply walking to a rhythm in a particular direction while
holding hands. Line dances, especially slow ones, are quite popular in
Greece, and any number of these can be adapted to the purpose of procession.
Sta Tria works especially well, adapting to both a slow and a fast rhythm.
In practice modern Pagans use a grapevine step most often-what the Greeks
term the in-and-out step: step right, cross in front, step right, cross
behind. The idea here is more than simply getting from one place to another;
the focal point of the dance will often be an altar constructed to honor the
deity. The dance forms one of the traditional offerings to the gods, along
with incense, meat, and flower garlands.
Modern Pagans are often tempted by Dionysiac dancing, intended to produce an
ecstatic trance. The ancient technique is physically dangerous, involving
snapping the neck, and I have seen a modern teacher substitute a different
movement that posed less risk to the dancers. In practice most modern Pagans
simply bounce up and down in place, or spin.
Other deities might have specific dance requirements. If the deity is
associated with an animal, the animal's movements might be imitated in the
dance. Zeus and other male deities require leaping movements, and the
banging of weapons and shields to make loud noises. (Here's a dance best
done in an isolated place!)
Those wishing to offer a dance to a particular deity do best to research the
deity and collect any writings which describe dances to the deity. That
makes a starting point for figuring out what type of movements to make-slow,
fast, leaping or processional, any special movements of part of the body.
Next, find a modern dance that approximates the basic movement, and use this
as a framework to build the specific movements upon.
There is that in the spirit of modern Greek dance which I believe
encapsulates the spirit of dancing, why we dance, the joy the gods mean to
impart to us and we mean to share with them through the dance. Modern Greeks
call it kefi, a feeling of high spirits, enthusiasm, which is expressed
through the skillful manipulation of the dance, through flair, panache.
Experiencing kefi involves dancing, learning specific dances, finding and
making places to dance them, and dancing them regularly. It's amazing what
understanding, joy, and communion with the gods will automatically follow.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hunt, Yvonne: Traditional Dance in Greek Culture, Centre for Asia Minor
Studies Music Folklore Archive, Athens 1996
Anyone hoping to find Pagan remnants of dance among modern Greek dances must
understand the cultural influences on Greece and Greek dance since the Roman
conquest. Hunt's book catalogues regional styles in exhaustive detail,
making it possible to find the oldest and most Greek dances. The book also
takes a snapshot of traditional dance at a moment when it stands in danger
of dying out and severing the link between modern and ancient dance.
Lawler, Lillian B: The Dance in Ancient Greece, Adam & Charles Black,
London, 1964
Lawler's extensive work catalogues the known types of ancient dance in
geographical and chronological order, quotes the ancient writings describing
the dances, and makes an attempt at defining the dances and with some dances
identifying a modern equivalent. A must-have for the Pagan choreographer.
Stratou, Dora: The Greek Dances Our Living Link with Antiquity, Dora
Stratou, Athens, 1966
Stratou's book gives hints of ancient connections with modern dances. Hunt
covers the same territory, and more clearly, in a single chapter of her
book.
copyright © 1996 Brandy Williams
Ancient Pagans dance across Classical vases holding graceful folds of robes
in their hands, frozen by the artist in a moment of bending and leaping and
twirling. How inspiring they are! Many a modern looks to the vases and says,
"I will reconstruct these dances!" The most famous of these, of course, was
Isadora Duncan, whose simple dances in homemade togas entranced Europe in
her lifetime.
Modern Pagans long to recover the ancient Pagan functions of the dance.
Greeks, of course, never ceased to dance, even while converting to
Christianity. Some of the ancient meanings of the dance remain-certain
dances are performed during the spring with clear fertility symbology. The
social implications have changed little. Dance provides a meeting place for
men and women, an emotional expression of community spirit, a form of
cultural bonding that identifies this person as a member of this village,
this country. But modern Greeks no longer dance in honor of the Gods and
Goddesses, and modern Pagans long to do so. How might we go about this?
In one sense, reconstruction is impossible. Ultimately, lacking actual
videotape of eighth-century dances, it's impossible to say with certainty
that we are performing an eighth century dance.
In another sense, reconstruction is trivial. Modern Greek dance retains a
link to its Pagan origins. The handholds, footsteps, groupings that ancient
writers describe and ancient vases illustrate are alive and well among Greek
traditional dancers. It's a favorite game among folklorists to attempt to
identify an ancient dance with a modern descendent. What we can say is, this
vase represents this ancient dance as having this handhold, and this modern
dance uses that handhold, showing us how to do it.
Most fruitfully, we can say: these are the reasons that Pagans danced in the
past, these are reasons that Pagans wish to dance now, and here are some
dances that fit those functions. In this way dance continues to be a living
part of Pagan religion.
Research and discussion are very important components of reconstructing
Pagan ritual, and dance is no exception. Ultimately though my advice to
Pagans interested in Greek dance is: learn to dance. I can post a syllabus
of a dance, make a reference to a CD that contains the right music for the
dance, but unless you've seen it, held hands with other people to do it, it
won't make a lot of sense. Like any other magical skill, it must be learned
and then practiced. That being said, here are some notes about ancient Greek
dance and modern equivalents.
Ancient Greeks danced in lines, processions, on festival days. The
procession might involve the entire populace, or only a portion of it-only
men, only women, only young women. Some processions were held in honor of a
particular deity, and might involve singing a praise to that deity, walking
to the deity's temple, or strolling before the deity's altar.
The procession is the easiest dance for modern Pagans. At its simplest it
can involve simply walking to a rhythm in a particular direction while
holding hands. Line dances, especially slow ones, are quite popular in
Greece, and any number of these can be adapted to the purpose of procession.
Sta Tria works especially well, adapting to both a slow and a fast rhythm.
In practice modern Pagans use a grapevine step most often-what the Greeks
term the in-and-out step: step right, cross in front, step right, cross
behind. The idea here is more than simply getting from one place to another;
the focal point of the dance will often be an altar constructed to honor the
deity. The dance forms one of the traditional offerings to the gods, along
with incense, meat, and flower garlands.
Modern Pagans are often tempted by Dionysiac dancing, intended to produce an
ecstatic trance. The ancient technique is physically dangerous, involving
snapping the neck, and I have seen a modern teacher substitute a different
movement that posed less risk to the dancers. In practice most modern Pagans
simply bounce up and down in place, or spin.
Other deities might have specific dance requirements. If the deity is
associated with an animal, the animal's movements might be imitated in the
dance. Zeus and other male deities require leaping movements, and the
banging of weapons and shields to make loud noises. (Here's a dance best
done in an isolated place!)
Those wishing to offer a dance to a particular deity do best to research the
deity and collect any writings which describe dances to the deity. That
makes a starting point for figuring out what type of movements to make-slow,
fast, leaping or processional, any special movements of part of the body.
Next, find a modern dance that approximates the basic movement, and use this
as a framework to build the specific movements upon.
There is that in the spirit of modern Greek dance which I believe
encapsulates the spirit of dancing, why we dance, the joy the gods mean to
impart to us and we mean to share with them through the dance. Modern Greeks
call it kefi, a feeling of high spirits, enthusiasm, which is expressed
through the skillful manipulation of the dance, through flair, panache.
Experiencing kefi involves dancing, learning specific dances, finding and
making places to dance them, and dancing them regularly. It's amazing what
understanding, joy, and communion with the gods will automatically follow.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hunt, Yvonne: Traditional Dance in Greek Culture, Centre for Asia Minor
Studies Music Folklore Archive, Athens 1996
Anyone hoping to find Pagan remnants of dance among modern Greek dances must
understand the cultural influences on Greece and Greek dance since the Roman
conquest. Hunt's book catalogues regional styles in exhaustive detail,
making it possible to find the oldest and most Greek dances. The book also
takes a snapshot of traditional dance at a moment when it stands in danger
of dying out and severing the link between modern and ancient dance.
Lawler, Lillian B: The Dance in Ancient Greece, Adam & Charles Black,
London, 1964
Lawler's extensive work catalogues the known types of ancient dance in
geographical and chronological order, quotes the ancient writings describing
the dances, and makes an attempt at defining the dances and with some dances
identifying a modern equivalent. A must-have for the Pagan choreographer.
Stratou, Dora: The Greek Dances Our Living Link with Antiquity, Dora
Stratou, Athens, 1966
Stratou's book gives hints of ancient connections with modern dances. Hunt
covers the same territory, and more clearly, in a single chapter of her
book.
copyright © 1996 Brandy Williams
BMC-Body Mind Centering
I am still following some courses related to it. And i personally advise it to all eurythmists who miss anchoring in the body. It is a method developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.. it is a research on experiencial anatomy: becoming more aware about our body through movement. the approach is very complete and involving thinking, feeling and action! so basically the soul in all its antroposophical aspects : )
the work is based on quality rather then quantity
and, not unexpectedly, many things we are studying in eurythmy departing from a cosmological perspective, are to be found back right into our body ...into our fluids, bones, organs... and for me, my all eurythmy training becomes rooted into a concrete feeling of my instrument.. space and weight get their right place!
there are courses and schools and workshops everywhere..
here below the site where you can find more about it!
the work is based on quality rather then quantity
and, not unexpectedly, many things we are studying in eurythmy departing from a cosmological perspective, are to be found back right into our body ...into our fluids, bones, organs... and for me, my all eurythmy training becomes rooted into a concrete feeling of my instrument.. space and weight get their right place!
there are courses and schools and workshops everywhere..
here below the site where you can find more about it!
ARTICLE FOR THE "EURITMIE KRANT"
Den Haag, november 2010
Last 9th october, Doorways (Patricia van der Molen, Peer Westerink and Elisa Martinuzzi) presented for Try Out two new pieces: “Autumn's reflexes” and “EpePa”. I was asked by Imke Jelle van Dam to write something about the public reactions and my personal reflections on my solo piece “Autumn's reflexes”. I had already performed this piece for a dance festival in Rotterdam but still not for a public accustomed with eurythmy, which was quite scarring me! Through this solo, I explored and stretched the borders of eurythmy, the codified eurythmical gestures are hidden and contaminated by my own felt personal interpretation and dramaturgy. What is it what I am doing? Can I define it as eurythmy? For the public seemed not an interesting question.. Beyond definitions, for many people it was an individualized form of art, it was sincere “work in progress”, it was genuine and felt from the inside. I also received very interesting reactions about the relationship between space and body movement: “you were very present in your instrument, but not as much in space”... what is it to really be able to fulfil space? These is the main topic I want to focus on in the further development of this piece. I want to reach deeper into my inner relationship to my movement/voice and, from there, develop roots and branches anchoring in space. I am very thankful about the many student's reactions, willing to find also their personal, individual truth in relation to eurythmy and all the people who are encouraging me to pursue my research.
Last 9th october, Doorways (Patricia van der Molen, Peer Westerink and Elisa Martinuzzi) presented for Try Out two new pieces: “Autumn's reflexes” and “EpePa”. I was asked by Imke Jelle van Dam to write something about the public reactions and my personal reflections on my solo piece “Autumn's reflexes”. I had already performed this piece for a dance festival in Rotterdam but still not for a public accustomed with eurythmy, which was quite scarring me! Through this solo, I explored and stretched the borders of eurythmy, the codified eurythmical gestures are hidden and contaminated by my own felt personal interpretation and dramaturgy. What is it what I am doing? Can I define it as eurythmy? For the public seemed not an interesting question.. Beyond definitions, for many people it was an individualized form of art, it was sincere “work in progress”, it was genuine and felt from the inside. I also received very interesting reactions about the relationship between space and body movement: “you were very present in your instrument, but not as much in space”... what is it to really be able to fulfil space? These is the main topic I want to focus on in the further development of this piece. I want to reach deeper into my inner relationship to my movement/voice and, from there, develop roots and branches anchoring in space. I am very thankful about the many student's reactions, willing to find also their personal, individual truth in relation to eurythmy and all the people who are encouraging me to pursue my research.
AGAIN ABOUT ART..
"In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay.
and unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable.
And help to change it. " Ernst Fisher
I think these two elements are together important: showing, denouncing, picturing and incarnating the decadent sides of our society and ourselves, and at the same time creating the alternative, the renewing, the rebirthing possibilities..
art as a social activism!
art as social commitment!
and unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable.
And help to change it. " Ernst Fisher
I think these two elements are together important: showing, denouncing, picturing and incarnating the decadent sides of our society and ourselves, and at the same time creating the alternative, the renewing, the rebirthing possibilities..
art as a social activism!
art as social commitment!
4 dec 2010
17 nov 2010
After performing for TRY OUT..
The dutch version is published in the "Euritmie Krant": a newspaper for eurythmysts, directed by Imke Jelle van Dam.
Last 9th october, Doorways (Patricia van der Molen, Peer Westerink and Elisa Martinuzzi) presented for Try Out two new pieces: “Autumn's reflexes” and “EpePa”. I was asked by Imke Jelle van Dam to write something about the public reactions and my personal reflections on my solo piece “Autumn's reflexes”. I had already performed this piece for a dance festival in Rotterdam but still not for a public accustomed with eurythmy, which was quite scarring me! Through this solo, I explored and stretched the borders of eurythmy, the codified eurythmical gestures are hidden and contaminated by my own felt personal interpretation and dramaturgy. What is it what I am doing? Can I define it as eurythmy? For the public seemed not an interesting question.. Beyond definitions, for many people it was an individualized form of art, it was sincere “work in progress”, it was genuine and felt from the inside. I also received very interesting reactions about the relationship between space and body movement: “you were very present in your instrument, but not as much in space”... what is it to really be able to fulfil space? These is the main topic I want to focus on in the further development of this piece. I want to reach deeper into my inner relationship to my movement/voice and, from there, develop roots and branches anchoring in space. I am very thankful about the many student's reactions, willing to find also their personal, individual truth in relation to eurythmy and all the people who are encouraging me to pursue my research.
Last 9th october, Doorways (Patricia van der Molen, Peer Westerink and Elisa Martinuzzi) presented for Try Out two new pieces: “Autumn's reflexes” and “EpePa”. I was asked by Imke Jelle van Dam to write something about the public reactions and my personal reflections on my solo piece “Autumn's reflexes”. I had already performed this piece for a dance festival in Rotterdam but still not for a public accustomed with eurythmy, which was quite scarring me! Through this solo, I explored and stretched the borders of eurythmy, the codified eurythmical gestures are hidden and contaminated by my own felt personal interpretation and dramaturgy. What is it what I am doing? Can I define it as eurythmy? For the public seemed not an interesting question.. Beyond definitions, for many people it was an individualized form of art, it was sincere “work in progress”, it was genuine and felt from the inside. I also received very interesting reactions about the relationship between space and body movement: “you were very present in your instrument, but not as much in space”... what is it to really be able to fulfil space? These is the main topic I want to focus on in the further development of this piece. I want to reach deeper into my inner relationship to my movement/voice and, from there, develop roots and branches anchoring in space. I am very thankful about the many student's reactions, willing to find also their personal, individual truth in relation to eurythmy and all the people who are encouraging me to pursue my research.
"AUTUMN'S REFLEXES"
Here is a short 2 minutes version of my last solo piece "autumn's reflexes". If you want to see it in a better resolution click here Autum's reflexes Promo
11 nov 2010
FINALLY ON VIDEO!!!
Yes, i managed to have a video of my last solo "autumns reflexes". If you want to see it , in my opinion it makes sense only if you are seeing it all! it is anyway an old version, i would like also to work with another person who plays little instruments here and there.... and i had the idea of integrated choral movements of 7-9 people at some specific point..
when you are coming to the video page, under the video there is the poem i am taking inspiration from and some informations you maybe would like to read before.
click autumn's reflexes here below and enjoy! ciao
Autumn's reflexes
or copy and paste : http://www.vimeo.com/16118954
when you are coming to the video page, under the video there is the poem i am taking inspiration from and some informations you maybe would like to read before.
click autumn's reflexes here below and enjoy! ciao
Autumn's reflexes
or copy and paste : http://www.vimeo.com/16118954
ALANUS FESTIVAL ECHOES..
I was asked to write something about the festival which took place in Alanus some time ago, something which could tell how the festival gave a contribution to the future of eurythmy.. here i am sharing the text with you:
"My name is Elisa Martinuzzi, I am 29 years old, I finished my eurythmy studies in july 2009 in Den Haag and, since one year, I am working in the field of performing arts.
I came to the festival because, in Holland, I do not get so many possibilities to see what is going on in the eurythmy world around Europe and because I do think that communication and exchange are so much fundamental to keep an art developing.
The general impression I got from the festival is that eurythmy is finally finding its way to individualize and embody itself. Through a process of individualisation, each performer can find and present his/her own personal true relationship to eurythmy.
I too often suffered a kind of dogmatic suffocation among eurythmists, which I think obstacles an honest, open, felt artistic expression and prevents eurythmy to blossom as a performing art.
I appreciated in the festival the open atmosphere and attitude towards all kinds of approaches to eurythmy. In the programme, there was space to be for different performers, who generally had no pretension to know how it should be for everybody, but a will to share their perspectives and researches with the public. Maybe, for a next edition, I would suggest to schedule a common reflection after each performance: a time where performer and public can come into a dialogue and exchange their experiences. I think it would be a fertile ground for a further development of eurythmy.
Personally I really enjoyed contaminations from the performative “outer” world which, I believe, can absolutely been integrated and digested so that eurythmy can build a dialogue with the artistic context we are living in and , at the same time, remaining in contact with its original core.
So, for example:
I appreciated to see that in different performances, the speaker was not just a voice sounding from the outside of the performative picture, but sometimes could instead been included in it through movement.... what if also a eurythmist could talk sometime? : )
I appreciated that some performances had no conventional beginning and end: for example, one performance began from the public space... as you would do in a street performance or in a “commedia dell'arte” piece. It broke the distance between public and performer, it opened the classical 4th wall experience.
I appreciated the use of objects on stage and a growing dramaturgical involvement towards them.
I appreciated a development and attention towards the costumes.
I appreciated a research in the field of time and expression which, in my perspective, acknowledges the impact and consequences of Cunningham's research in dance: must it be that eurythmists always move simultaneously with the music? Why wouldn't we enlarge our research on it?
More in general, I was sincerely happy to see many eurythmists' bodies move as incarnated instruments: with this, I mean that the lower body was integrated into the movement and that the lower “aanzatz”, the barycentre, was fulfilled with presence. Yeah!! I really wish that we can develop our body consciousness more and more, without loosing our inner content!!
I loved the diversity of the festival, I felt inspired by so many different approaches and encouraged to find my own flavour.
I wish there will be in future more opportunities to meet and taste at all graduations of eurythmy: from traditional, to modern, to postmodern!
Let's cultivate diversity and keep in touch!!!"
"My name is Elisa Martinuzzi, I am 29 years old, I finished my eurythmy studies in july 2009 in Den Haag and, since one year, I am working in the field of performing arts.
I came to the festival because, in Holland, I do not get so many possibilities to see what is going on in the eurythmy world around Europe and because I do think that communication and exchange are so much fundamental to keep an art developing.
The general impression I got from the festival is that eurythmy is finally finding its way to individualize and embody itself. Through a process of individualisation, each performer can find and present his/her own personal true relationship to eurythmy.
I too often suffered a kind of dogmatic suffocation among eurythmists, which I think obstacles an honest, open, felt artistic expression and prevents eurythmy to blossom as a performing art.
I appreciated in the festival the open atmosphere and attitude towards all kinds of approaches to eurythmy. In the programme, there was space to be for different performers, who generally had no pretension to know how it should be for everybody, but a will to share their perspectives and researches with the public. Maybe, for a next edition, I would suggest to schedule a common reflection after each performance: a time where performer and public can come into a dialogue and exchange their experiences. I think it would be a fertile ground for a further development of eurythmy.
Personally I really enjoyed contaminations from the performative “outer” world which, I believe, can absolutely been integrated and digested so that eurythmy can build a dialogue with the artistic context we are living in and , at the same time, remaining in contact with its original core.
So, for example:
I appreciated to see that in different performances, the speaker was not just a voice sounding from the outside of the performative picture, but sometimes could instead been included in it through movement.... what if also a eurythmist could talk sometime? : )
I appreciated that some performances had no conventional beginning and end: for example, one performance began from the public space... as you would do in a street performance or in a “commedia dell'arte” piece. It broke the distance between public and performer, it opened the classical 4th wall experience.
I appreciated the use of objects on stage and a growing dramaturgical involvement towards them.
I appreciated a development and attention towards the costumes.
I appreciated a research in the field of time and expression which, in my perspective, acknowledges the impact and consequences of Cunningham's research in dance: must it be that eurythmists always move simultaneously with the music? Why wouldn't we enlarge our research on it?
More in general, I was sincerely happy to see many eurythmists' bodies move as incarnated instruments: with this, I mean that the lower body was integrated into the movement and that the lower “aanzatz”, the barycentre, was fulfilled with presence. Yeah!! I really wish that we can develop our body consciousness more and more, without loosing our inner content!!
I loved the diversity of the festival, I felt inspired by so many different approaches and encouraged to find my own flavour.
I wish there will be in future more opportunities to meet and taste at all graduations of eurythmy: from traditional, to modern, to postmodern!
Let's cultivate diversity and keep in touch!!!"
29 sep 2010
crystal dolls?
We do not want to become crystal dolls wright?
If we want to find the golden key, we have to go into the mud!
We can not be scared by the dirt, we can not be scared about life!
If we want to find the golden key, we have to go into the mud!
We can not be scared by the dirt, we can not be scared about life!
16 sep 2010
DOORWAYS for FORUM TRY OUT 6
Doorways is a group of jung eurythmists, trying to research the edges of eurythmical movement. We try to work without censure, following what feels sincere to us. We are going to present our two new pieces:
"Autumn's reflexes" is the last solo project by Elisa Martinuzzi, worked out from her poem "Autunno". The poem,written in 2009 is based on the remembrance of different ages of her own life and on the desire of unity, love and death...
it is worked out through eurythmy, vocal improvisation and recitation..
"EPePa" is a trio with Patricia van der Molen, Peer Westerink and Elisa Martinuzzi. It is worked out as an humor silence piece. They applied the "round-straight" theme to build up a dialogue among different extreme characters.
The performance will take place SATURDAY 9 OCTOBER at 20:00 in:
Riouwstraat,1 (rode zaal)
Den Haag - Holland
price:7 euro, 3 euro for students
8 sep 2010
FESTIVAL EURYTHMIE UND PERFORMANCE
There are so few possibilities to join a eurythmy festival and find a time/space to share that i hope you will come!!!
if so, i will meet you there!!
Verantwortliche: Melaine MacDonald, Alexander Seeger, Ephraim Krause
Preise:
Gesamtkarte: 140 €
Gesamtkarte Studenten: 80 €
Einzelticket Abendvorstellungsblock: 20 €; Studenten 15 €
Einzelticket Mittagsvorstellungsblock: 18 €; Studenten 12 €
Information und Kartenbestellung:
Ephraim Krause - Veranstaltungs- und Projektorganisation Fachgebiet Eurythmie
Tel.: +49 (0)2222 9321 – 1274
E-Mail: ephraim.krause@alanus.edu
Auf Grund der begrenzten Platzzahl empfehlen wir eine frühe Anmeldung.
VOCAL MOVEMENT INTEGRATION
www.patriciabardi.com/VMI
Hi everybody, here is the website of Patricia Bardi. She is starting in september a new year of basic training in Vocal Movement Integration.
I followed it last here and i found it a great help to incarnate eurythmy in my body. She is working with experiential anatomy, improvisation, voice and movement from a qualitative perspective (not just mechanical). You will really feel your body!!!...and we need this, don't we?
introduction days in Amsterdam are on
Saturday 2 October, 2010
Saturday 9 October, 2010
cheers
Hi everybody, here is the website of Patricia Bardi. She is starting in september a new year of basic training in Vocal Movement Integration.
I followed it last here and i found it a great help to incarnate eurythmy in my body. She is working with experiential anatomy, improvisation, voice and movement from a qualitative perspective (not just mechanical). You will really feel your body!!!...and we need this, don't we?
introduction days in Amsterdam are on
Saturday 2 October, 2010
Saturday 9 October, 2010
cheers
3 sep 2010
AUTUNNO
Two nice pictures by Stefan Koopmans. This is my last solo project: AUTUNNO performed for the first time last june for Open Dans Festival 2010 in Rotterdam. video will come soon...
I will perform it again the 9th october for "Try out" in Den Haag (Riouwstaat,1-20:00)
come!!
29 aug 2010
SICILIAN FREEDOM
there is nothing to do...in my opinion the best is to experience eurythmy in nature!!
11 jun 2010
MUSIC VISUALISATION
As in this period i worked a lot with my hands, i was quite impressed by this video. He is a Sidi Larbi Cherkauoi: a very well known contemporary dance choreographer.
9 jun 2010
NOT WHAT< BUT HOW
The question of art is not a question of form but of artistic content.
Kandinsky
The artist elevates the material to form and gives form a substance.
Martinuzzi
Kandinsky
The artist elevates the material to form and gives form a substance.
Martinuzzi
31 mei 2010
LET'S BREATH
I realized that most eurythmists move in apnoea, without breathing. I asked to different teachers and eurythmists about breathing and i was always said not to focus my attention on that... from my experience, it is true that the movements must not be directly related to one way of breathing: this is so because the movement would loose its freedom of unlimited expansion in space if it had to depend and be bound to a specific way of breathing. Nevertheless breathing is fundamental!! and it is fundamental that we develop an observation for our patterns of breathing. Eurythmists have very often an high breathing: that means that they are not properly using their diaphragm, in this way the lower part of the body is not oxygenating, and this consequently hinderts the connection with the ground through the legs.
I am doing some exercises to improve my diaphragm breathing and i am thankful for the great results and effects on my eurythmical movement. Do you want to try? just send me a comment or mail me..let's do it together or at least speak about it!!!: )
30 mei 2010
ABOUT IMPROVISATION
This is a passage written by Masaki Iwana about the importance of improvisation in a butoh training. I think eurythmists often work not enough with impro (or do not work with it at all!), ...i hope this trend can change!!! : )
9 mei 2010
HANDS
I worked for a while with my hands, trying to build up a relation between my inner imaginations and them. These above are two short extracts of my research. In the first video I play an improvised dialogue , in the second video I am doing the "evolutionary sequence" : a sequence of letter movements suggested by R.Steiner.
10 apr 2010
FOR A MORE CONCRETE ART FORM
THIS SCRIPT IS THE RESULT OF A PERSONAL RESEARCH ABOUT THE VALUE OF THE BARYCENTER AREA FOR THE ART OF EURYTHMY. I REALLY THINK AND SEE THAT WE ARE NOT CONSCIOUS ENOUGH ABOUT OUR BODY BASE, OUR PELVIS FLOOR, OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GRAVITY. THIS RESULTS IN AN ABSTRACT MOVEMENT, WHICH REMAINS ONLY AN INTELLECTUAL MANIFESTATION OF A PHILOSOPHY, LOOSING ANY POSSIBILITY OF BECOMING A CONCRETE ART FORM.
FOR A SPIRITUAL ART (2008-2009)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-The soul as bridge between sensory and spiritual realities
-The body as instrument
-The vertical as the manifestation of integrated polarities
-Experiencing the lower body
-Back to eurythmy
-Experiencing the fourth aanzet in eurythmy
-Conclusions
-Bibliography
THE SOUL AS BRIDGE BETWEEN SENSORY AND SPIRITUAL REALITIES
"That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing." [Hermetic wisdom]
The physical world is a manifestation of the spiritual world. These two realities can be distinguished just intellectually: in fact, they inter-penetrate each other, they hide and reveal one another. These two realities can be experienced as unity in a human soul consciousness: it is, in fact, just the soul that can consciously create a bridge between these two worlds.
“Thus man participates in the three worlds, the physical, the soul, and the spiritual. He is rooted in the physical world through his physical body, ether body, and soul body and blossoms through the Spirit self, Life spirit, and Spirit man up into the spiritual world. The stalk, however, which takes roots in the one and blossoms in the other, is the soul itself” [Rudolf Steiner- “Theosophy”, p.43]
If we want that the art of eurythmy becomes a manifestation of the spiritual element in the sensory reality, then it is necessary a deep dedication of the soul towards the realities mentioned above. On one side, the soul communicates with the spiritual reality through a tension towards Truth, Goodness and Beauty; the soul can cultivate these three qualities in every day life, in the relation with the world and itself. The more the soul is disposed to open to these forces, the more she becomes a limpid filter for the spirit, a crystalline funnel. On the other side, the soul communicates with the physical reality: the more the soul penetrates the body, the more the body becomes a solid sensory base, a vigorous source of power and a sacred temple for the spirit. This double process of the soul creates pain; it requires courage, faith, constancy, patience and most of all great love.
“(...) you will have realized that my first aim has been to show you that it is out of the feelings, out of the soul life, that eurythmy must proceed. Eurythmic technique must be won out of a love for eurythmy, for in truth, everything must proceed out of love” [Rudolf Steiner-“ Word course”, p.206]
As a plant, a man's soul needs an harmonious balance between light and earth to grow: an excess of light burns the plant, an excess of organic life rottens it. As a plant, the human soul can healthily grow towards light only as much as it extends its roots deep into the earth; the soul can healthily strive to the spiritual as much as it permeates the sensory reality.
THE BODY AS INSTRUMENT
“(...) The learning of eurhythmy entails an actual transformation of the human organism. Any performance which reveals the slightest trace of struggle between body and soul must be looked upon as unfinished and imperfect. In a eurhythmy performance the whole body must have become soul” [Rudolf Steiner-“Word course”, p.204]
In eurythmy, we speak of our body in terms of “instrument”, the body must become the instrument in which music and words can flow through.
The body must be trained in such a way that the soul can permeate it and the spirit can be welcomed in it. From this perspective, the approach to technique in eurhythmy is quite different from the one used in most contemporary dance techniques. Several dancers train their physical body independently from the movements of their soul: the body becomes a perfectly-controlled instrument, whose movements often do not correspond to the dancer's inner activity. In eurythmy the outer and inner movements are meant to correspond: the body does not remain an execution machine but becomes a manifestation of the soul.
For this reason, just by observing one eurythmist posture and movement, it is directly visible how deep the consciousness is incarnated in the physical body and on which level one has crystallized patterns that hinder an integration of body and soul.
I often recognize a disharmony between upper and lower body in myself and many of my colleagues. By observing my eurythmycal movement, I noticed that my soul had the tendency of spreading in the upper space of my body, while my consciousness dis-incarnated from my lower body. Physically, I had the tendency of drawing the bodily center of gravity upwards, instead of holding it firmly in the abdomen region; I also had a tension in the area of the first lumbar vertebrae which hindered a free flow of energy through my lower body. The effect was that I could not be present in the totality of my instrument; the soul, instead of finding a supporting base in the body, escaped from it.
I lately tried to find a way to reestablish a harmony between upper and lower body, a functional balance that could give me back a feeling of totality and integrity in my movement. During this process I studied and worked on the vertical, the alignment of the vertical column and the importance of the connection with the earth through the lower body.
THE VERTICALITY AS THE MANIFESTATION OF INTEGRATED POLARITIES
“This story is about embodiment, the human being at home, each of us in our own body. To be present in our body is a form of awareness, and it is a first step toward being kind to ourselves and others. In coming into our body we become connected to our greatest home, the earth; we become a part of the earth and she a part of us. We are received into her, and she into us; we grow through and from her support and nourishment, and we express her qualities through our very being. She is our ground. Inseparable from this “earth” aspect is, in the human story, the mind, or consciousness. In Chinese philosophy, earth and heaven, yin and yang, body and mind, coexist harmoniously in us. This is the way of nature, the Tao, the way of being fully human. Too often, perhaps especially in modern Western culture, the union of body and mind, of the “earth” and “heaven” principles, is not harmonious.” [Linda Hartley-“ Wisdom of the body moving”, p.XXI introduction]
As human beings we stand between earth and cosmos, the vertical is the physical manifestation of this condition. The vertical connects a human being on one side to the cosmos and on the other side to the earth. From a macrocosmic perspective, the earth is our center, while the cosmos is our periphery. Earth and cosmos express their qualities in the structure and functioning of the human body; their opposite characteristics are interrelated, co-existing, co-active, both fundamental for the balance of the total human organism.
For example, let’s observe the structure of the human skeleton: the lumbar vertebrae have a large, almost cylindrical body, they are solid and they are bound to the pelvis through the sacrum and the coccyx. If we follow the spine upward, we see that the vertebrae gradually refine themselves till they become cervical vertebrae, whose body has almost desappeard: they are light and have a great mobility. Despite lumbar and cervical vertebrae have polar characteristics, they are continuously working together: a stable and solid pelvis is the prerequisite for a free movement of the neck.
The muscular and nerve system partake the same kind of functional hierarchy remarkable in the skeleton:
the lower body expresses the earth element: it gives stability, power, support, and balance. Through the lower body, one takes roots in the earth, in the center.
the upper body expresses the cosmos element: it enables differentiation, mobility, and detail. Through the upper body, one opens to the cosmos, to the periphery.
A stable, solid center is the pre-requisite for a free,wide periphery.
EXPERIENCING THE LOWER BODY
In the beginning of September I went to a BMC therapist and I made an experience which touched me a lot: I told the therapist about my difficulty in feeling my body and movement as an integrated totality. During one of the re- patterning exercises that we did, I had to focus on my navel center and, with the help of her touch, reconnect to it all extremities of my body (arms, legs, head and tail).
The feeling that I had after that session, has been a revelation for me: I felt relaxed and present in myself, I felt I could expand in all directions of space, the intention of my gestures had no boundaries: as if I could endlessly stretch it and still remaining within myself, centered in my belly. I had a feeling of freedom in my body.
She lately explained me that we worked on the so-called “Navel Radiation”: the dominant pattern of fetus movement in utero. This is the same pattern of radial symmetry that is found in the starfish and which can still be seen in a new born infant. As an infant moves, his actions appear to originate not locally, in the muscles of the limbs, but from the navel center. She said that at the earliest stage of pre- and postnatal development, movement is organized around the navel center; from here it radiates through all the six limbs of head, tail, arms, and legs.
By re-experiencing this pattern, I could feel my movement as the interaction of the individual parts of my body within a context of unity and wholeness. My consciousness could quietly be centered in the lower body and, at the same time, expand in the peripheral space. This experience gave me a lot of enthusiasm and new impulses to research more about the belly area.
I found a lot of information about the lower body in oriental traditions, meditations, martial arts, medicine, philosophy.
“Our abdominal center, which the Japanese call Hara is quite literally our physical and energetic core. Energetically, our first three chakras reside here, focusing on grounding, physical embodiment, basic needs and drives, and directed action. Physically, it is the locus of our power, gravity, and reproductive organs. Our legs extend the hara in connection with the earth, establishing rootedness as well as enabling mobility. Further, hara is understood as our life source and spiritual umbilicus and through its cultivation comes mastery, strength, wisdom, and tranquility. Children quite naturally are connected with their haras. They glow with an abundance of vitality, spontaneity, and playful curiosity. As we move towards adulthood, we learn to distrust and to distance ourselves from the lower body and we are taught to privilege and develop the mind (...) Westerns tend to be rigid, tense and overactive in the upper body and empty in the lower body, resulting in a top heaviness that throws them off/balance.” [Barry Kapke]
During my daily life, I often tried to become more conscious of my posture and connection with the lower body. I was amazed to realize that, just by focusing on my belly, I could make any action with almost no effort and tension in the rest of my body. I could spare a lot of energy, and still have a good result.
“Tension and effort occur as the body is fractionalized into parts. Moving from your hara will involve moving the whole body. Relax into the “shape” you are holding and initiate movement from your belly.” [Karlfried Duerckheim]
“The upright bearing is not a pulling upwards but is the manifestation of an axis which stands firmly on a reliable base and which by its own strength maintains its uprightness.” [Karlfried Duerckheim]
At all times, I began to check and try to reestablish the connection to the earth through my belly. I made use of many little exercises: balance exercises, theater exercises, dance exercises, meditation exercises, visualization exercises and eurythmical exercises.
As much as I studied and experienced the anatomical and energetic secrets of the lower body, as much I became more conscious about my legs and feet; I felt more centered in myself, and freer in the gesture of my arms. I gained a better feeling for my entire “gestalte” and for its movement.
From a psychological point of view, I realized that working and focusing on my lower body gave me a feeling of tranquility: my thoughts became less disturbing; in eurythmy I could reach a kind of relaxed concentration and a clearer perception of my vital-emotional conditions.
BACK TO EURYTHMY
In eurythmy, we speak about different “aanzets”: the “aanzet” is a place in the body where a certain intention is initiated. Among eurythmical literature, the only reference concerning aanzets is given by Werner Barfod in his book “Ich denke die Rede”. He describes three main aanzets: the spiritual one, the soul one and the etherical one.
I characterize these three aanzets upon my experience and with my words as follows:
The first one is our psychic aanzet, which is located in the area between the eyebrows. From here, I activate self observation and reflection, I decide what I want, I give to my movement a specific, precise form and direction. From here, my consciousness always precedes the action I am going to initiate (“voorgrijpen”), from here I can create an imaginative space and work with visualization.
The second one is the emotional aanzet, which is located in the area around the heart. From here I can fill my outer movement with an inner activity, I can expand and contract my “aura” in space. From here, I can change my emotional sphere, I can give a different quality to one same gesture, I can sing and speak though my movement.
The third one is the vital aanzet, which is located in the area of the solar plexus: that is midway between the navel and the base of the sternum, where the diaphragm divides the upper from the lower organs. From here, I can give all movements a dynamic and a lively development, I can experience a sequence of movements as a process.
What about the area below the solar plexus where the physical center of our body lies? What about the abdomen region which is so important for all arts of movement?
Werner Barfod writes about it: “Die physische Mitte spielt fuer die Eurythmie keine Rolle” (“The physical center plays no part in eurythmy”). I can not completely agree with such statement. It is true that in eurythmy we are not moving this center as in other dance forms (for example in belly dance), this does not mean that we can have less awareness about it.
An eurythmist disregarding his/her physical center can not be entirely conscious about his/her own body, thus, about his/her own expressive instrument. Our soul must thus incarnate till and through the physical centre if we want that our inner/emotional impressions find a concrete appropriate expression in the visible movement of the body.
If the soul does not use the physical centre as its anchor, than it looses its connection with the Earth element. As a consequence, the eurythmical movements will appear to an observer as an abstract, always repeating floating of arms, which has few expressive possibilities and no connection with the concrete sensory reality.
I will thus say that there are not three bur four main aanzets:
The fourth one is the physical aanzet, which is located under the navel, it corresponds to the barycenter of the human body. From here, I give support to movement, I develop stability, power and balance. Through the mastery of this aanzet, I can individualize my movement, free the gestures of my arms, enlarge the peripheral space and give a concrete expression to my inner impressions.
EXPERIENCING THE FOURTH AANZET IN EURYTHMY
The fourth anzet can be activated in time and with a patient work. I think everyone should feel free to choose the exercises which better fit with his/her own personality. I personally think that all eurythmical exercises can be used to focus on the fourth aazet, develop a consciousness about it and integrate it with the other three aanzets. Among eurythmical exercises which I often used:
Ich schaue auf : “Carry out a U movement with your arms, right up, far over your head, and now sink slowly”. While sinking, try to maintain the vertical alignment of your column. “In the going down bring your arms back until they arrive in front of your chest, and at the same time lower your head. Remain somewhat in this position, and now return slowly to the uprightness, taking your arms and head with you till you reach the beginning position.” It is very important to maintain the vertical alignment !! When you reach the beginning position, go on with the movement by standing on your fore feet. It is a good exercise to strengthen the lower body and your legs. The fourth anset is activated by any exercise which implies a balance ability.
Three-folded step: you can indirectly work on your fourth aanzet every time you try to feel the ground with your feet, or try to feel your legs while walking. In the “schreiten”, try to maintain the pelvis always on the same height!!
W: try to do the movement for the letter W with your whole vertical column. In this way you exercise the flowing of energy through you whole body: before relax and sink down into your pelvis, then feel the ground with your feet and use its resistance to grow in your vertical. Upper and lower body will slowly harmonize.
I tried to find among eurythmical exercises, some elements which more than others can find their appropriate expression when the eurythmist is aware of the fourth aanzet. Here follow just a few of them:
There are forms to express three main activities of the human soul: thinking, feeling and willing. In the forms which express the will, it is very important that the eurythmist holds his/her barycenter low in the body, the vertical must firmly stand on the center of gravity, from here all movements in space must start. Only then, the willing activity will find its proper expression.
There is a particular step to express an alliterated sound in poetry. The eurythmist should stamp into the ground on the alliterated syllable, the power to initiate the step must originate from the fourth aanzet. Lory Maier Smits, one of the first eurythmists, writes about it: “the intire human being, right down into the limbs has to feel involved in this event, so that with each strong and conscious step, you feel you have gained new ground along your path”.
Every color has its translation into movement. For the red color, a strong flow of energy must go through the whole vertical column, the powerful impulses of the gestures can be effective only when the eurythmist remains conscious of his/her gravity center.
There are different gestures for the planetary influences on the human soul. The planet Mars expresses in the human soul the aggressive faculty. The eurythmist must strongly rock the upper body upwards and downwards. The rotation point is the gravity center, which allows the powerful bending movement.
CONCLUSIONS
It was very important for me to know more about the physical structure of my body-instrument, to know more about the lows which govern my physical body such as the gravity low and its manifestations in my organism, to know more about my abdomen, its organs, its functions, its possibilities.
I am very thankful to euryhmy for giving me the tools to approach my research and results through movement, through a movement which can permeate my bones with consciousness and feeling, which can make of a human body a sacred temple for the spirit.
I believe that only if eurythmists accept the physical implications of their art, eurythmy can blossom in a spiritual art of this world and time.
I feel this is my task as eurythmist and as human being: not to escape the material reality and my physical body by looking for an external spiritual truth, but to recognize the spiritual in this earthly reality and experience it through my body.
I am conscious that this is just a first step in a wide world and the kind of research which could go on all my life long.
I wish myself and all eurythmists and all human beings to recognize the miracle of being in this physical body and on this paradise which is the planet Earth. I wish that our father cosmos and our mother earth can make love again and dance of joy through us.
“To each spiritual function responds a function of the body; to each grand function of the body corresponds a spiritual act.” [Francois Delsarte-“Every little movement” by Ted Shawn]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ted Shawn Every little movement
Rudolf Steiner La concezione goethiana del mondo
Rudolf Steiner Metamorphoses of the soul, paths of experience
Rudolf Steiner Eurhythmy as visible speech
Rudolf Steiner Kunst und kunst erkenntnis
Rudolf Steiner Teosofia
Jaques Dropsy Vivre dans son propre corps
Linda Hartley Wisdom of the body moving
Guus van der Bie Anatomy, human morphology from a
phenomenological pointof view
B.Calais Germain Anatomia del movimento
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