Welcome to this group, Gabrielle, and thank you for your question. I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name! Eurythmy is not a legally protected, patented or copyrighted word so you are perfectly free to become Ms. Eurythmy. If you look up the definition of eurythmy on the internet you will find that it has nothing to do with Rudolf Steiner in most dictionaries. I tried to make a correction on the new search engine WolframAlpha which merely repeats others' ignorance. No reply. 

This is the situation in the UK and USA as far as I am aware. In other countries it may be otherwise, such as Germany, where there is a legally constituted association. If someone offers a eurythmy performance who has no recognised training, they risk the disapproval of certificated eurythmists, mass picketing outside the venue, hate mail, etc. Would eurythmists take such action?... There is no legal recourse to such a situation that I am aware of. I know that eurythmy groups have included a talented but not trained person in performances and I know that this has prompted some folk to consider taking legal action, or trying to create a protection through the self-appointed authority of an association. No action has resulted. In Great Britain such a recourse was not accepted by the association council at its inception. 

When meeting a eurythmist, often the first question is, "where did you train?" There are, and have been, trainings not recognised by the Goetheanum, or not wishing to be recognised by the Goetheanum. 

What is the situation with practising eurythmy therapy? I do not know. Perhaps someone else who reads this group can inform us, or correct what I have written?

Thank you John, thank you Mark -

My question comes from the fact that in the wine world Biodynamy is the subject of a huge debate between its defenders and those that are opposed to it. In the States, the word 'Biodynamy' is owned by Demeter and no one can legally claim to farm biodynamically without their certification. Now, such a debate does not exist for the moment in the dance world regarding eurythmy, but I am sure it will arise in a few years, as eurythmy becomes better known. In the light of what biodynamy ( even though it is copyrighted, protected and patented) is going through, are we really ready as eurythmists ( without copyright ...etc) to face the reactions to our art  that will naturally arise ? Or are we open to the first dancer who combines eurythmy gestures with, say, hip-hop and can (legally) claim she is doing eurythmy ?

It is very easy to claim anything at all these days, verbally or in writing. Post-modernism allows anyone to proclaim their views and that is that.

Part of me would love to see a contentious debate on what is and is not eurythmy. A number of European groups have presented movements where a performance has been described as 'taking eurythmy forward' and 'nothing at all of eurythmy' by different spectators. Who shall authoritatively say that I am witnessing eurythmy or not? Do I know, myself, and does anyone agree with me?

What would be achieved by copyrighting the word eurythmy? Advantages? Disadvantages? 

What is the first movement of a plant ? To send down a root. To secure the future development of something still invisible.

Roots are the hidden, protected holding of a plant. That which allows the everchanging growing and transforming, bloosoming. Or, with eurythmy, Steiner's indications. Unroot a plant, sever it from its ground, and the whole living organism shrivels up and dies.

" Only law can give us freedom", Schiller.  So to come back to the original question : are we legally rooted ?

Gabrielle

Gabrielle, is there something in your last post that I am not connecting to? My apologies if that is so. You repeat your question in the face of the answer, which is that there is no legal foundation for any protection of eurythmy. I described my experience of reaching a decision here in Britain out of the realisation that there is no basis of authority that can be imposed on anyone who uses the name eurythmy in a a manner with which we disagree. We cannot sue the dictionary publishers for defining eurythmy with no reference to Rudolf Steiner.

Perhaps this is not the answer that you hoped for. Have you considered emailing the Eurythmy Association in North America (www.eana.org)?

Can we proceed here by engaging with the changing relationship of a question searching for its answer? Eurythmy gestures have been developed beyond the cluster that Steiner indicated.

With respect to your plant image, let us remember the 7 etheric life processes (See Steiner: Anthroposophy - a Fragment and Riddles of Humanity).
Before the plant grows roots it has transformed itself.
Before transforming itself it has taken in the water of life.
Before taking in water it has opened.
Before opening it was resting silently, as a barely breathing seed, in its unmanifest integrity.
This integrity - manifest and unmanifest - seems to me highly significant in relation to your question. I am wondering about the integrity of the being of Eurythmia. Without manifest integrity no legal rights will avail her.

 I like your Schiller quotation, Gabrielle, which is new to me. I remember the AHA! moment many years ago when realising that we are free to drive on the road because of the agreement, enshrined in law, that we will all drive on the same side of the road. The Philosophy of Freedom (PoF) begins by asking a question about natural law in relation to freedom. Which kind of law was Schiller referring to? Integrity has a lawfulness that underpins any statutory system.

 So this is why I meet your question about legally rooting eurythmy with a concern for integrity. I hope this is written clearly enough to be understandable.

Hello all. Interesting discussion. I spent 4 years at a Eurythmy School that is not affiliated with or recognized by the Goetheanum or EANA. I get the impression that most of these organizations act as though this particular school doesn't even exist. Nevertheless, I received an excellent training in Anthroposophy and Eurythmy there and am teaching in two Waldorf Schools. There has been some new impulses and gestures developed at that Eurythmy Training, and in my work with others I have come up with at least three new soul gestures. I taught for a short time in the Republic of Georgia and their language has sounds that are very unique. While there, we came up with some new sound gestures and approaches for the quality of that folk soul. I think Eurythmy is evolving and I believe with earnest hearts, open minds and hard work, we can help it evolve in a positive direction, no matter about the name and who might "own" it!

How strange you mention a Eurythmy school you attended for four years and complain that some groups act as if your school doesn't exist - but even bother to mention the name or location or instructors of your school! Sounds like a style of secrecy known in eastern Europe - persons familiar with central Europe know the mentality there is >IchWelt< is less important!)

Sorry - I did not intend to imply that you were unaware.  I felt it best to be sure. My cautionary remarks were intended for the folk from every-where and every-when. I did not imagine that you were likely to try it.  

I like to broaden topics when I can, as the internet can be a powerful means of communication, and the text remains in place for anyone to find. I sometimes leave questions open to encourage responses from other folk. Thank you for yours.

I agree that eurythmy has the capacity to be used for good and ill. However, it is ignorance and unawareness that concern me most. That is why I support this site. There is an oft repeated tale that anthroposophists deliberately conceal powerful secrets, and I am very keen to demonstrate otherwise.  For reasons that are probably obvious, few eurythmists want to spend their time typing at a computer.  There are really no hidden agendas as far I am concerned, except unhelpful personal issues that cloud the air. 

Looking at a broader context, it would be a pity to leave the impression that eurythmy is just some kind of dilletantist magical practice. Most work with elementals is regarded as magic. Science now understands things that once would have been considered magical. Therapeutic eurythmy urgently needs to attract interest and funding for more research studies so that it can stand on its own two feet of sound science and inspiring art. Getting the science right is a priority.  Talk of elementals here might add weight to the impression of eurythmy as a weird and unsound activity, but it would be false to deny that there is a connection. It is better to talk about it. I am sure that there is much more to learn. One day science will develop the interest and methods to study elementals. That day has not yet dawned.