A Eurythmy Teacher's Handbook
In widths of Worlds; in depths of Soul.
Mynda Mansfield
How to order the Book:
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For orders from Australia and New Zealand:
Please complete the Contact Form.
Your book will be shipped to you from New Zealand.
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For orders from all other countries:
Please click here to order your book from Lulu.com
and
please also complete the Contact Form as I would love to hear from you.
“There is nothing in this Handbook that has not been tried and tested. It is born out of Mynda’s hard-earned experience and practice, and I have seen its successful implementation.“
Joshua Rushton
“All Mynda’s lessons were mindfully planned, taking into account the unique configuration of each class and its relationship to its teachers, the context of Main Lessons and the children’s stage of development.”
Joshua Rushton
This book is born out of my love of teaching Eurythmy. I have often wished that every Eurythmy teacher in the world would scribe a record of their work as we can all learn so much from one another.
When the pandemic arrived on the world stage I was still travelling and teaching modules around Australia and New Zealand, having released my full-time teaching career some years back. This was cut short when we went into lockdown and has remained dormant since April 2020.
I decided this was an ideal time to put the energy and effort into bringing this work to fulfilment and into print. It has been a process that has taken me through all manner of challenging experiences and in retrospect, I am grateful for every bend in the road and every encounter with the people who encouraged me to continue.
This is not the definitive teacher’s handbook. This is simply a record of my own teaching, of what worked really well and had my students leaving the Eurythmy hall energised, upright and smiling. I have had opportunity to witness the depth and breadth and scope of the developmental effects of Eurythmy in Education and I simply want to share that.
About the Book
Each encounter with a child, with a young adult, with colleagues, with artistes has left an indelible, formative and precious mark on my teacher’s soul. I would need to begin another book to share the anecdotal learning that I have been privileged to experience as I met, being to being, with those I taught. They have all shaped me in ways unseen, but deeply felt. There is a great mystery that unfolds in the space between those who teach and those who learn, and this is so much more profound when it is Eurythmy that is being taught.
This Handbook contains information that is helpful and vital to setting up a robust and flourishing Eurythmy Programme in a Waldorf school. It contains information about the developing child. It contains practical, step by step guidance to pedagogical exercises. It contains music to accompany some of the exercises. and verses and poems to use for certain pieces. It contains suggestions for the Beginning Teacher (which is really all of us, all the time!) about how to prioritise the steps on this journey that has been embarked upon. It contains anecdotes and bits of advice gleaned from years of whole-heartedly engaging in this ‘calling’. For it is a calling indeed. And I remain as grateful for being called as I was when I first met the Art of Eurythmy.
Book review by Laura Moenkemeyer
Eurythmy Performer andTeacher
“A Eurythmy Teacher`s Handbook“ is what English-speaking eurythmy teachers have been waiting for! A book on Eurythmy pedagogy, especially designed to help beginner teachers, and which also assists experienced Eurythmy teachers in finding inspiration and gaining an overview of Eurythmy lesson content from class 1-12. The book not only focuses on the Eurythmy lesson, but draws a picture of what accompanies it, such as the Eurythmy room, the relationship with the pianist, addressing the topic of behaviour management and much more. The book contains numerous drawings to help understand the exercises, plus added sheet music that can be used for lessons. The author, Mynda Mansfield, brings over thirty years of knowledge and experience as a Eurythmy teacher into this manual, offering mentoring as well as additional sheet music via email!
The book can be purchased in New Zealand and Australia via her Website: myndamansfield.com
All other countries can order from Lulu.com
The book is also available at the Goetheanum bookshop.
Content:
Individual Mentoring
I am available to answer any questions about the content of the work in the Handbook and on teaching Eurythmy in general. It is extremely challenging to put movement into words, to explain exactly the dimensions of space, direction and time. So if clarification is needed with regards to any of the exercises, please email me. I find that teachers often just need a sympathetic ear with regard to some of the challenges they face in their teaching, and I am very open to these exchanges.
I offer mentoring either on a one-off or ongoing basis. I will gladly meet online, or via email with anyone who would like to utilise my services. I do this on a donation basis with neither minimum nor maximum amount set.
About the Author
Mynda Mansfield trained as a Eurythmist in Cape Town, South Africa and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance/Eurythmy.
She has worked in Cape Town, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and China, teaching Pedagogical Eurythmy in Waldorf schools and to students of Eurythmy at the Kairos Eurythmy Training in South Africa, amongst others.
Mynda’s deep and abiding love of Eurythmy has led her to form and join many performing groups in her travels around the world and to offer workshops in a variety of forums.
Mynda is currently serving as a Mentor to Eurythmy teachers, running workshops and teaching block lessons of Eurythmy.
She resides in New Zealand where she grows most of her own food and a jungle of flowers and trees.
email: mynda.mansfield@gmail.com
