Fourth Grade Fall term It is a pleasure, once again, to teach Eurythmy to the students of the fourth grade. They have matured and are skilled in learning and executing all of the choreography and exercises we are working on in our classes.
This term we are working on many rhythmical coordination exercises. One favorite is performed to a piece of music called "Clowns" by Dmitri Kabalevsky. In addition, the class is continuing to work on moving the rhythmic element within a piece of music with greater precision and attention to detail; they are practicing this skill to a "Rondo" by L.V. Beethoven on a circle form for two groups.
During the season of Michaelmas, the class worked on moving a form with speech Eurythmy gestures to the verse, "Sword of Michael, Brightly gleaming, Down to earth your light is streaming, May we see your shining rays, In the winter's darkest days." This was followed by performing the tone Eurythmy gestures to a melody for this verse. For the first time, the students of fourth grade performed the choreography for this with a frontal orientation (facing the audience) instead of looking toward the center of the circle. This is a new challenge which requires a different and greater sense of spatial orientation and one for which the students of fourth grade are now ready to take on.
For the remainder of the fall term, we will work on two main pieces. The first is a dance with a weaving form which will be performed to "Hungarian dance" by L.V. Beethoven.
The second Tone Eurythmy piece is "Gavotte" by Edvard Grieg. The students will first learn to move the precise rhythm and perform the Tone Eurythmy gestures for the melody. This work will then be applied to performing choreography along a square which includes moving a pedagogical form created by Rudolf Steiner. Steiner created this form for students to help them develop the ability to orient themselves quickly in any circumstance.
The students will soon be engaged in practicing a fun clapping exercise, which helps to develop their ability to freely and easily cross the vertical mid-line of their bodies. We will work on this for many weeks so that it can be performed with ever greater speed and precision. This is an important development in both third and fourth grade because it is connected to the development of the skills in reading, writing and mathematics.
If you have any questions please send them to me through the contact page. I wish all the children and families of the fourth grade a happy school year.