TAKING HEART: FINDING OUR WAY TOGETHER

A Letter from Alexandra Spadea

Imagine creating a choreography together, to music that captures you from the fi rst moment you hear it, and to a story kindling your imagination and reflections, one that draws you in…

Add to that the possibility of traveling even further together, literally, to Switzerland, to participate in the International Student Conference ‘24, at the Goetheanum in Dornach, along with close to 800 peers from Waldorf schools across the globe. Being invited to perform at the ISC ’24 in this remarkable building, on the greatest stage ever built for eurythmy, was one of the driving forces for the work accomplished by 11 eurythmy students in the 2023-2024 school year.

What was yet unknown to the students was how deep the experience of doing eurythmy at this level would be, and what transformative potential therein lives.

In the eight months we had to prepare for this journey, the students learned through movement the music and text for a program of three pieces “Le Sapin” by Jan Sibelius, “Three drops of Blood” Parzival, Text by D. Newbatt and music by J.McDowell and Milonga Triste, S. Piana/J. McDowell.

Each piece offered different moods and forms that had to be worked out with one another and in space. This is something that can only really take place when the group has the chance to practice something together frequently and with joy.

Making music and speech visible through gestures, making visible the shapes that appear when we speak and sound them, and all those geometric beautiful shapes of nature — visible and not — is the study of eurythmy. And music with its beautiful harmonies and rhythms and melodies, the eurythmist strives to make visible. And when done in a group it is a most nourishing experience.

Along with the fun this practice brings and the social health it cultivates, it connects to something quite individual and cosmic. It is an invitation to experience the space around you and the in-between each other and the world. All of our students at Rudolf Steiner School are led to cultivate this practice, and in the last years of a student’s journey through the Grades, this movement art reaches its bloom. The effects of eurythmy and the entire Waldorf experience often bear fruit in the years ahead, when the students are in their young and ripening adult life. Waldorf education and all our curriculum hold, cultivate and educate towards the children and adolescents future: their adulthood. For many, eurythmy does not fi nd itself in their daily lives beyond their Steiner experience.

Therefore, it is even more important to make the fi nal experience of eurythmy one that celebrates this art in its many brilliant and health-giving, social ways.

In preparation for the performance on the Great Stage at the Goetheanum, a space about six times as big and high as our room, with 1000 seats, we needed to practice in a larger space. Having the support of one of the fi nest eurythmy training centers in the world, Eurythmy Spring Valley, we were able to visit their campus two times prior to our trip. Being in a space, that cultivates eurythmy in such a dedicated and pure way, in rooms that are tended with care for eurythmy, was already a transformation, visible in each student.

We returned there one last time after our return, to perform for the students and faculty of ESV. As an alumna from ESV, I am deeply grateful to the colleagueship and support I am receiving from everyone there.

So how was the journey to Dornach, Switzerland, and participation in the conference “Taking Heart, Finding Our Way Together” at the Goetheanum, for our eleven students?

All of them described the experience as life changing and transformative. Highlights about their performance

and meeting other Waldorf students were shared. The conference focused on opening the heart and fi nding courage to meet one another and to engage in meaningful conversations, activities, theatre, song, thought, dance and so much more.

The ISC ‘24 was a big embrace of cultural differences and resonances and the shared experience of being a generation about to step into adulthood, into the world. It was a celebration with deep and meaningful encounters beyond our imagination, and the connections everyone forged, and promised to carry far into the future.

These conferences take place every other year and I hope we may have begun a new era, in which we will always have representation of Rudolf Steiner School at this and other student conferences at the Goetheanum and around the world.

Lastly, I was fortunate to have three wonderful chaperones with me who at every step of our journey with the students, were present and clear, guiding with care and joy as we traveled, practiced, performed, explored and experienced together. Much gratitude to Leah Braithwaite, Raphael Peacock (parent ’24) and John McDowell, on piano.

In other good news, this year’s eurythmy elective will be traveling to participate in a Youth Conference centered around eurythmy, at the San Francisco Waldorf School.

Here in their own words, some excerpts from some of the students post-trip essays about the eurythmy trip and performance at the ISC ’24 at the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland:

ESONA BELLA PEACOCK ‘24
When we began doing eurythmy this year, we had a big goal in mind: Dornach.

We knew that if we were to accomplish it, we would need to work extremely hard. We had no idea how much work it would take.

Before spring break, we began to work our hardest. With three pieces needing completion, we headed up to eurythmy Spring Valley twice to work. The first time, we had the privilege of working alongside the eurythmy students as well as a bigger space to work in. We had spent the entire year working in this room, (the Upper School assembly room) and it was astonishing to see how having more space to practice in changed our work drastically.

NOAH LANGLEY ’24
If I had one take away from the whole trip it would be meeting new faces. With over 750 kids there, the immersive cultural environment opened my mind in ways it had never experienced before. This was the fi rst time I could almost feel other cultures around me affect my life, decisions and open mind.

When our performance was over we celebrated and that feeling of pure joy and achievement is one I will never forget. I am now in a state were I feel more open and free. I don’t feel trapped or affected by the opinions of others, and am rather eager to open myself up to the world and take on whatever comes my way.

ANDRE PHILLIPS ’24
When I first set foot in Switzerland, I felt a mix of excitement and uncertainty. I was told beforehand that I’d be watched intensely, considering I was African-American, and there isn’t much diversity in a place like Switzerland. Everywhere I looked, there were new sights, sounds, and customs that I wasn’t familiar with.

At the conference, I found myself surrounded by people from all over the world. It was overwhelming at fi rst. I didn’t know how to interact with so many different cultures. Would they understand me? Would I understand them? These questions raced through my mind, making me hesitant to reach out and connect. As the days went by, something changed. I started to gain inner-confi dence. I realized that despite our differences, we were all there for the same reason, to learn and share ideas. Not only that, but we were also all different minority groups leaving our home, going to a new area to interact, so truthfully, I wasn’t the sole minority. From that moment on, I made it my mission to embrace the numerous cultures.

I tried Swiss chocolate, learned a few words in German, Japanese, and even Dutch, and each experience that I had really helped me gain more confi dence within myself. Along with each individual interaction, performing also allowed me to gain new insights. Pieces we’ve been practicing for months were fi nally performed and the standing ovations from the crowd made it all worthwhile.

I’m profoundly grateful for the Switzerland experience and I truly do hope that the students after me have a wonderful experience as well.

JAMES REED ‘24
The conference was an experience like no other, a rich melange of different cultures and nationalities hailing from all four corners of the world. It was an honor to view this rich tapestry of humanity. And honestly, I felt more human during that conference than any other point in my life. I have grown in self knowledge and insight into what it means to be human.

ANIS RADONČIĆ ’24
The whole trip but especially the performance taught us that when we work together and really focus we can make something beautiful and that it will pay off. And most importantly, we learned to appreciate one another and appreciate the moments of our performance.

SYDNEY RENELIQUE ’25
I was extremely excited to be exploring a new country and experiencing a different culture.

After we landed in Zurich, we got on the train; it was very clean and quiet, very efficient with time and it was just very different from trains in America. Then we took a streetcar up the hill and walked two minutes further up the hill to our “Haus Friedwart.” The house looked “cute” from the outside but once you got in it looked far beyond cute: it was very spacious and everything was neatly in place.

The conference started on Wednesday and that’s when all the teens worldwide began piling in, so on our way to breakfast, on Wednesday morning we ran into people from Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Germany, etc. I didn’t socialize much with the teens from different countries because I was a bit nervous.

Thursday came along, and that was the biggest day of our trip. Not only was it Andre’s birthday but it was also the day of our performance, the day we’ve all been waiting for. Before our performance, we practiced on the big Goetheanum stage for a bit and it was a complete shock the amount of space we had on that stage, compared to our eurythmy room back home.

JULIA STEINRUECK ’24
The architecture of the Goetheanum is very unique, made with large cold stone structures, but carved in warm, curved and artistic shapes. We were introduced to the main hall, which made an impression on everyone.

When we practiced our pieces on the big stage for the fi rst time, we felt set back and stressed out because it was much bigger than what we were used to, and probably also because it suddenly felt more real.

All the workshops were loosely based off of the conference theme “Taking Heart” in the way that workshop leaders helped us listen to and understand each other as a group through different group activities. I joined a workshop called “Finding courage through Acting.”

During this week, I recognized how benefi cial it can be to approach new things and instead of stepping away from them, trying to understand them. It is beautiful to be fully engaged in something with your heart and soul and not have a care for what other people think of it, and this became clear to me during our time in Switzerland. Through this, the conference theme “Taking Heart” took on an important meaning for me.