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Movement is life's signature, its own language. Every moment we breathe is filled with pulse...rhythm. It permeates the substance we are made of. Physical form is built out of movement come to rest. So too our feelings, thoughts and inspirations have gestures that are matched in the forms we find in the world. It is one of the great mysteries that inner experience and outer form come from the same source. 

Recognition of this connection sits just beyond our conscious awareness. Yet, we depend on it to make our way through life. We learn to read the world and other people through the language of movement... alongside the language of sound. Form - movement - language, all "sound" the essential nature of the world in different ways. Eurythmy is a movement art that brings all three together. It gives expression to the whole voice of the human being and the world language, through movement, color and form. When this integration takes place through eurythmy, the spiritual nature behind each living thing begins to have a clear voice - a visible reality. The living mysteries that form our body, our soul, the stars and the seas speak their names in the gestures of language and life. Eurythmy brings these gestures into a rich, expressive art form.

Human sound carries all of life within it. The earliest people understood this truth when they developed the first names of people, experiences and things. They knew then that a name was not just a separate description. It was a reenactment of the unique spiritual and physical qualities of the wave, the tree or the snake. The sounds chosen held the essential qualities of the thing itself.

Though we may not be as aware as our ancestors of this reality, it remains true that the human voice is one of the most remarkable of instruments. It has the capacity to transform our inner experiences into another medium, sound. When the sounds of language and song are intoned, they set into motion, unique, yet invisible gestures through the air. Artistically expressed they reveal the specific gestures belonging to each consonant or vowel, each musical tone or interval. These innate forms living in sound, within our souls and in the world become the basis for the art form of eurythmy.

Eurythmy, developed by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) at the beginning of this Century, has found an important place in many aspects of our modern world during its relatively short but fruitful 80 years. There are currently 3,000 eurythmists active in the world. They bring eurythmy to the stage as a performing art, apply it in pedagogical and therapeutic contexts, and bring it as a social art into the work environment.

The cultural Impulse of eurythmy is visible in many different areas:

• Within the realm of education, eurythmy enables the growing child to develop a healthy relationship between body and soul. 
• Within the therapeutic realm, eurythmy offers a vehicle through which the patient can counteract the disharmony of illness.
• In everyday life and in the workplace, eurythmy strengthens our life forces and brings about a balance in our soul life.
• As a stage art, eurythmy is able to reveal works of poetry and music in a living way to the viewer.

The goal of eurythmy is to reveal the human soul through movement. Therefore, this art form requires that eurythmists and students of eurythmy carry the question of the spiritual origin of the human being within themselves.

At the turn of the century a revolution was taking place in many of the arts. Young artists of that time were dissatisfied with the codified styles that seemed to leave no room for new forms and expressions. The inspirational core of many disciplines had become buried within the technique. In dance, painting, music, poetry and other mediums, artists began experimenting in areas of expression previously unseen. It was into this fertile climate that eurythmy was born. In 1912 Frau Smits, the mother a young girl who loved movement, asked Rudolf Steiner, the question, Was it possible to find new sources from which an art of movement could be developed?

In answer to this question posed by Frau Smits, Rudolf Steiner went into an entirely different direction than changes happening in the field of dance. He was looking for an art that would lift the veil between the spiritual and material dimensions of life; an art that would make the language of the spiritual world visible. His explorations brought him to the utterances of the human being; speaking and singing.

As described in "About Eurythmy", human sound is a bridge between the two dimensions of life, inner and outer, spiritual and material. Eurythmy reveals the deeper origins of life through the embodiment of the spiritual forces that live within human speaking and singing.

In 1912, Rudolf Steiner began to give private lessons on his discoveries to the young student, Lori Smits. Lori practiced these artistic elements for six months entirely on her own. The following year she began to teach others what she had learned. Rudolf Steiner gave a second course to a group of students, including Lori, in 1915. Also in that year, eurythmy had its beginnings as a stage art in Dornach, Switzerland. Two other professional applications of eurythmy developed shortly afterward.

Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian-born artist, philosopher and scientist. He devoted his life to developing a path of spiritual development called Anthroposophy.

Characteristic of his work was the marriage between the development of wisdom and action. He endeavored to imbue many practical disciplines with an understanding for the spiritual origins of the human being. As a result he developed completely new approaches in the areas of education (Waldorf Schools), farming (biodynamic method), medicine (naturally based medical and therapeutic practices), science (natural water purification method and many other discoveries) and the arts. He worked with artists of every discipline to bring about wholly new impulses in each art.

The first professional eurythmy training was begun in 1923 by Alice Fels in Stuttgart, Germany. Since that time many eurythmy trainings have grown up around the world. There are currently 23 trainings on 6 continents.

In 1980, the professional body which certifies eurythmy schools was formed. This organization called, the Conference of School Leaders, has as it's members the Artistic Directors of each recognized eurythmy school existing in the world.

In several international regions, including North America, there are eurythmy associations for professional eurythmists which provide newsletters about the on-going work in that region and offer professional conferences annually on some aspect of the art.