Join us for an exciting two-part program in the 1956 Workshop exploring Wharton Esherick’s life and work through movement!
The Dancing with Esherick program is a chance to deepen your understanding of Esherick’s practice by exploring the movements and natural rhythms that resonated throughout his creative life. The program begins with an introductory eurythmy workshop led by Sea-Anna Vasilas, who joins us from the anthroposophical Threefold Community in Spring Valley, New York where she lives and works (learn more about Sea-Anna Vasilas below!) A break with light fare, refreshments, and a Studio open house follows. The program concludes with a talk in the 1956 Workshop by WEM Director of Interpretation & Associate Curator of Special Collections Holly Gore on the museum’s spring exhibition, Movement is Life. Holly Gore’s talk Wharton Esherick’s Rhythmic Art explores the influence of modern dance as a catalyst for creating rhythmic art that is expressed in some of his earliest wood carvings.
Movement and dance—specifically the art of eurythmy—was a notable part of the Esherick family’s life and influenced the artist’s work in two and three dimensions. Eurythmy was developed by Rudolf Steiner in the early twentieth-century and is a form of movement art that makes the invisible and inaudible experiences of speech and music tangible by using the body, soul, and spirit as an instrument. Esherick’s transition from painting to woodwork took place at a time when he was involved with communities of women who practiced a form of dance called rhythmics, that reconnected practitioners with the rhythms of nature and was closely related to Steiner’s dance practice. Learn more about the art of eurythmy here!
The Threefold Community where Sea-Anna Vasilas joins us from was founded in 1926 by a group of New York anthroposophists and has carried out Rudolf Steiner’s teachings in their life and work since its inception. People in Esherick’s circle were involved with Threefold for some time, and a carved oak table made by Esherick for the Ruth Doing Dance Camp served as a centerpiece of Threefold’s library. Today, the Threefold Educational Foundation and School is an incubator for programs, stewards the land they live on, and provides services and a physical home for kindred institutions.
Schedule:
1:00-2:00: Eurythmy Workshop
*We recommend that participants in the eurythmy workshop wear loose fitting, comfortable clothes and soft soled shoes or slippers to move in.
2:00-2:45: Fare and refreshments, plus a self-guided studio and exhibition walkthrough
3:00-3:45: Wharton Esherick’s Rhythmic Art Lecture
The eurythmy workshop is open to all people regardless of their experience with dance or physical abilities. We welcome participation of any depth, whether it is partaking in the physical movement of eurythmy, joining us as a spectator, or anywhere in between!
If you are unable to join us for the eurythmy workshop but are interested in attending the lecture, separate tickets can be purchased below! Eurythmy workshop tickets include entry for lecture.
Tickets for Workshop & Lecture:
$80 per person
$70 for WEM members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price!
Ticket for Lecture only:
$20 per person
$15 for WEM members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price!
About Sea-Anna Vasilas: Eurythmist
A graduate of the School of Eurythmy at Eurythmy Spring Valley, Sea-Anna has been a member of the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble since 2011 and a member of the School of Eurythmy faculty since 2012. She leads public eurythmy courses and workshops within the contexts of biodynamic agriculture, Biography and Social Art, the Christian Community Church, and the Anthroposophical Society in North America. Sea-Anna is inspired by artistic collaborations with musicians and actors, and is currently working on developing a eurythmy program based on the story of Bip, inspired by Marcel Marceau. She holds an MA in Performance Eurythmy from Alanus University (Germany).