Frederick Amrine

Eurythmy and the New Dance: Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, and Ruth St. Denis - Anthroposophical Studies Frederick Amrine

Eurythmy is an important episode in the history of dance that has been unjustly neglected. Eurythmy is the continuation of an aesthetic revolution that began not in Europe, but in America; the original impulses leading to the "new dance" were deeply spiritual; and there are deep but largely unapprehended between the "new dance" and eurythmy. This counter-narrative about the pre-history of eurythmy within the history of dance should be of particular interest to English-speaking anthroposophists, because it identifies as the all-important context for the development of eurythmy the pioneering work of three American women: Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, and Ruth St. Denis. Drawing on extensive historical documentation, Amrine argues that it is eurythmy, rather than modern dance, that is the rightful heir of Fuller, Duncan, and St. Denis.