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NEWSLETTER:
The history of Gurdjieff Movements
by Wim van Dullemen ©2002
INTRODUCTION
Each person carries in him or herself-like a child that
has hidden some beautiful pebbles, a feather or some pieces of colored
glass in a secret drawer-some small number of primary experiences that
shaped his or her life. Experiencing Gurdjieff´s Movements is one
of those for me. Honoring the request to write about the Movements for
Stopinder, I open the drawer and take that particular peb-ble and hold
it now in my hand. Look how enigmatic it is, its dim reflection of light,
the curving veins that run through it. I turn it around and immediately
a whole new pattern unfolds in my hand. As impossible as it would be to
describe this pebble, is my task in writing about these Movements.
But if I am going to try now, it will not be by pretending to know; after
all, I am still in a learning process and want only to pass on what others
have taught me. What I learned from Kate and Tinky Brass, whose attitude
stands out as an example of what cooperation should be, patiently demon-strating
for me the treasured Movements from their line of Work-the original Ouspensky
line.
I wish also to describe what I understand of the historical picture, painted
so eloquently for me by Dushka Howarth. I want also to recall my experiences
with the many inde-pendent groups I met during my period of intensive
trav-els, that took me throughout Europe, from Scandinavia to Greece,
and also to parts of America. Each of the groups faced the present-day
reality of the Gurdjieff Work in their own way and I learned much from
them. The vitality of our own Movements groups, in Amsterdam and Berlin,
brought me new insights each time we came together, and I have tried to
incorporate some of these experiences as well in this article.
I am indebted most of all to Mme. Solange Claustres, herself a pupil of
Gurdjieff for seven years. During the long years I played the piano in
her classes she provided me with prolonged and intensive instruction on
Gurdjieffs Movements. This has been one of the great privileges of my
life.
REMEMBERING MME. SOLANGE CLAUSTRES' CLASSES
Somewhere in the mid-sixties a bunch of us hippies inter-ested
in the theories of Gurdjieff, entered a dance-studio in the then still
existing old Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam.
We were welcomed by a beautiful French lady, whose relaxed smile put us
directly at our ease. Without losing any time, she ranked us into lines,
as if we were an Army squadron, and demonstrated a vigorous movement of
arms, legs and head, that we had to perform simultaneous-ly. An elderly
woman sat at the piano and began pounding the keyboard, seemingly searching
desperately for the right keys, to a haunting and strange melody.
The combination of the movements of my body with the music had a sudden
impact on me. It was as if a strong light had penetrated everything in
that hall, as well as myself. I knew that I had hit upon something of
an enormous mag-nitude and power.
Later that same afternoon an incident occurred that made an even deeper
impression on me. We were told to sit and relax, while Mme. Claustres
checked the tension in our bodies by gently moving our shoulders. One
of us, a strong, tall man was obviously very tense, because after try-ing
to relax his shoulders, she lost her patience and said angrily, "This
man is stiffer than a piece of stone from the Alps; it is impossible for
anyone to work on the Movements in this condition." The man looked
so unhap-py and uncomfortable that it caused a brave young woman from
among us, to stand up for him. "But Madame," she exclaimed,
"you are talking to our Group Leader."
Without comment Mme. Claustres walked back to her place in front of the
class, then wheeled around and faced us all with a look of stern determination,
and said, as solemnly as a judge passing sentence, "He may talk about
ideas, yes; talk as long as he likes, but his body is not in the Work!"
"The body has to be in the work ... the body has to be in the work...."-While
biking home that evening, these words, like a Buddhist prayer drum, kept
resounding in my head. A door had been opened and I understood how one-sided
my intellectual pose had been. The body, that was now skillfully managing
the bike through chaotic traffic in the center of old Amsterdam-my own
body-was the body I had ignored, and that I had excluded from my thought.
My legs propelled the bike forward-what would I be without my legs? I
drank in this new truth, so simple that it had been long forgotten. Why
had I forgotten? The silent water of the canals mirrored a dark evening
sky. Hidden in the midst of their concentric circles was a deep enigma.
I had been asked to play the piano in Mme. Claustres' classes and for
the next thirteen years I played for all the classes in Holland. I had
to do both the Movements and the music, because a pianist who did not
have the Movements in his body was of no use to her. Sometimes I was so
exhausted from the required work, I would fall asleep between the classes
with my head on the piano. What I understand now of the Movements inner
content, took shape in me during these years, because of Mme. Claustre's
knowledge, example and inspiration.
I saw that in each moment one had to renew the atten-tion, to check again
and again the contact with the body and the feelings, and to feel remorse
for one's incompe-tence. To be honest and simple-this is what she demand-ed
of us. My own sense of independence is proof of the validity of her teaching.
What, after all, is the practical value of a teaching that only produces
an "eternal student," one who will never be able to stand on
his or her own feet?
A DEFINITION OF MOVEMENTS
George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff left a legacy of unique diversity
He wrote three books and, in collaboration with his pupil Thomas de Hartmann-a
Russian composer well established in the ranks of the avantgarde in the
beginning of the twentieth century-composed over 200 musical compositions.
Further he created an intriguing body of some 250 dances and physical
exercises called Movements, no doubt the spearhead of his teaching, for
he had wanted to be known simply as "a teacher of dancing."
For many, the first impression of the Movements will be a revelatory opening
to the never be foreseen, unlike any-thing they have been familiar with
in the world of dance.
Those who have practiced the Movements often refer to them as "sacred
dance," because of their extraordinary impact on their psychological
state and expanding aware-ness.
Mme. Claustres described them as "an objective form of art... a construction
of great beauty that we cannot fath-om, but which contains the law of
the evolution of human consciousness. They express how and in which direction
that progression has to go and as such they are a school in the real sense
of that word." (1)
Although the origins of these dances have been the sub-ject of considerable
speculation and mystification there remains little doubt that Gurdjieff
created the major part of them himself. As Mme. Solange Claustres stated,
"A num-ber of these dances stems from the Middle and Far East where
Gurdjieff studied them during his travels, visiting religious communities
or special ethnic groups, but the majority he created himself." (1)
Gurdjieff's Movements within the context of early 20th century
european dance and the avantgarde
A whole library can be filled with the published writings
of Gurdjieff s philosophical and psychological ideas, but a comparative
study regarding his Movements has never been made. Yet, if we ask ourselves
what is really new about them, we cannot avoid considering the works of
other prominent artists active at the same time. This will help us to
see the accomplishments of this revolutionary creator more clearly, in
profile against this background.
According to one of his own explanations, the aim of his Movements was
to assist the "harmonious development of man" by a method combining
mind and feeling with the movements of the body, and manifesting all three
of them together. This is a development that can never happen mechanically,
by accident or by itself, but which stimulates the formation of what he
called "the whole man: mind, body and feeling." (2)
The division of man into body, emotions, and intellect was not uncommon
in the writings of the Russian Symbolists (34) and, even more interesting,
brings to mind the work of Francois Delsarte. Now regarded as one of the
founders of modern dance. Delsarte taught, in the mid-nineteenth century,
a system relating all human expres-sions to one basic law, his "Law
of Three." (5)
Painter and choreographer, Oskar Schlemmer was another pioneer fascinated
by the threefoldness of man, as shown by his "Triadic Ballet"
for which Paul Hindemith composed the music. By 1923, when he worked for
the Bauhaus in Weimar, he had already fully developed his geometrical
concepts of the human body, which were in dramatic contrast with the then
prevailing free flowing expressions of Isadora Duncan. Schlemmer, moreover,
was able to explain the deep significance of geometric body positions
with an astonishing and visionary precision. His figure drawings are certainly
evocative of the powerful abstract body positions employed by Gurdjieff
in his stage presentations the very same year. (6)
Another parallel with Gurdjieff s Movements is to be
found in Emile Jacques Dalcroze's approach, especially in his rhythmic
studies. And perhaps not only in these, because it is reported that at
the night of the first demon-stration of Gurdjieffs Movements in Paris
in 1923 Dalcroze's students protested in front of the theater, shout-ing,
Tricheur... Voleur. (11)
...BUT THE EXISTENCE OF THESE SIMILARITIES DEMONSTRATES
THAT GURDJIEFF WAS A CHILD OF HIS TIME AND SUBMITTED TO THE MYSTERIOUS
FORCE BY WHICH, IN ANY GIVEN CULTURAL PERIOD, THE SAME EXPERIMENTS ARE
PERFORMED SIMULTANEOUSLY BY INDEPENDENT AND GEOGRAPHICALLY SEPARATED PERSONS.
It is, however, highly unlikely that Gurdjieff would have
been in the least interested in any European who had devel-oped something
comparable to his own work, let alone copy it, but the existence of these
similarities demonstrates that Gurdjieff was a child of his time and sub-mitted
to the mysterious force by which, in any given cultural period, the same
experi-ments are performed simultaneously by independent and geographically
separated persons.
Gurdjieff was not only a "master of dance" but he wrote books
and composed music as well and used these different art forms to mutually
sustain and enhance one another. (12) This leads us looking for a common
denominator linking Gurdjieff to European art, to the origin of the Gesamtkunstwerk.
This concept, first used and propagated by Richard Wagner, deeply influenced
Russian Symbolism. Relating Gurdjieff to this late nineteenth century
cultural trend is treading on thin ice, but it is the purpose of his art
rather than its form that is reminiscent of Symbolism, where the merging
of different arts had to call forth a new vision and ultimately a new
form of being, as in a religious service.
Further it is noteworthy that both Scriabin and Kandinsky, who were to
develop the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk fur-ther into the area of synaesthesia,
were personal friends of De Hartmann.
This comparison shows us a noticeable difference as well, which is Gurdjieff
s economy of means. The reverber-ation of one tone in his music can be
as effective as a whole orchestra playing a minute long dramatic sequence.
If we, judging from hindsight, realize that exaggeration is the enemy
of artistic expression, we can confirm that in this respect Gurdjieff,
in his Movements and music, was truly modern.
A further difference is the fact that performances of the
works of Wagner, Scriabin, Mahler, and the like, will be subject to the
division of active performers and passive spectators. In contrast with
this typical European cultural phenomen, it is possible for anyone to
participate in Gurdjieff s Movements who can find a teacher in the tradition
of Gurdjieff s Work and with an organized class.
All ancient cultures relate dance to manifestations of God, Creation and
its Mysteries. In those cultures, dances invariably accompany and assist
men and women in their crucial steps towards physical and psychological
growth. Movements represent the result of an ultimate effort by Gurdjieff
to reinstall in the life of people-especially those living in Western
cultures-the importance of dances and physical exercises in the processes
of self-development. He introduced and implanted in our culture a new
litur-gy, a new ritual to stimulate and assist transformation of individual
people and of society as a whole.
The Movements can and should be a point of reference and study for all
serious people.
"OLD MOVEMENTS" AND "NEW EXERCISES"
Gurdjieff created Movements in two completely different
stages of his life, the first from 1918 until 1924, the year of his almost
fatal car accident, and the second from 1939 until his death in 1949.
The earlier Movements were performed on stage in 1923 in Paris, and in
1924 in America, and consisted of "obliga-tory exercises," work
dances, dervish dances, a group of women's dances, and several elaborate
prayer rituals and ceremonies.
In 1939, after a period of fifteen years, he again took up his activities
as a "master of dance." In what was probably the most structured
teaching practice during the last decade of his life, Gurdjieff organized
Movements classes for different groups almost every day and gave scores
of new Movements and exercises until his death in 1949. There cannot be
any doubt that his Movements in this period of his teaching were among
his most primary activ-ities and concerns. In this period he created what
became known as the "39 series." An important difference between
the old Movements and the new exercises is that for the accompaniment
of his early Movements Gurdjieff himself composed the music in cooperation
with Thomas de Hartmann, who wrote it originally for a 36 piece orchestra
and reworked it later for piano solo.
Only the old Movements have Gurdjieff s own musical accompaniment, whereas.
Thomas de Hartmann com-posed the music for the "39 series" after
Gurdjieff s death. This time he had to compose alone, without Gurdjieff
s guidance, but he used the same signature style as in his ear-lier musical
cooperation with Gurdjieff.
THE CREATION OF THE "39 SERIES"
This last decade of Gurdjieff s life, the second stage of
his Movements teaching, was one of extraordinary creativ-ity. "Our
group had a class once a week," remembered Mme. Solange Claustres,
"and he taught at least one new Movement in each one of them. This
continued for the seven years I was in his classes! He demonstrated the
new 6 Movements, but rarely explained much about them. His presence was
so strong-it literally filled the whole place- that you could absorb the
new exercise in a direct way. No further explanation was needed. We were
never allowed to make choreographies notes, because this activity would
reduce our first and complete impression to an analytical or rational
attitude. "
Gurdjieff´s stream of creativity was confirmed by anoth-er pupil,
Mrs. Jessmin Howarth, a choreographer at the Paris Opera before she joined
forces with Gurdjieff: "He used to come every evening with three
or four absolutely new attempts." (11)
Those who were in his classes at that time described Gurdjieff s creativity
to me as an empirical experiment of great intensity, lasting years. (12)
He made a supreme effort to develop exercises that would help people strengthen
their awareness, will and power of attention. Sometimes he was weak or
sick and had to support himself, leaning against the piano to keep stand-ing.
But he kept on working.
It was also explained to me that Gurdjieff studied the results of each
new Movement he gave by observing the state of the people in the class.
Many of his new exercises did not reach the goal he had in mind, only
some did. It is reported that he sometimes left during the classes, to
come back after a while to propose a small change in a Movement, for instance
a wrist that had been straight was now bent, an arm that was horizontally
forward was now diagonally forward. Occasionally even these new changes
did not fulfill his goal of the desired state in the dancers, and he then
would give a strict order, "No... stop ... for-get this one, don't
perform it again ever." That was the def-inite end of such a Movement.
However, if a Movement did create the desired state in the psyche and
bodily expres-sions of the performers, he would say, "That's it,
this one is set and ready now. What number are we?" This referred
to the numbers they gave to the new "set and ready" move-ments.
These numbers represented the slowly growing list of what became the "39
series," the group of Movements Gurdjieff advised his pupils to practice.
The "39 series" were thus the kernel of his new exercises, the
ones he had accepted as finished and relevant. All his other attempts,
many of which have been remembered and are since being performed by his
students, had not his full approval and remain in this respect, open to
question, however beau-tiful they may be. (13)
Work on the series went on until the end, coming to a finish only because
of Gurdjieff´s sickness and death. Even on his last trips to America
he added seven new Movements to the list. For that reason a list of 46
Movements is used in America versus 39 Movements in Europe. It is interesting
to note that not only were new items added by Gurdjieff in America, but
the internal order, the sequence of Movements, was changed considerably,
as well, most probably by Gurdjieff himself. (14)
It is possible that he was looking for an internal order for the new Movements
he had selected, a sequence that coupled one Movement to the next, like
chapters in a book.
THREE CATEGORIES
We find it useful to divide the Movements into three cate-gories,
a classification to be considered by every student of the Movements.
1. The older Movements, stemming from Gurdjieff s first stage of teaching.
These were practiced for five to six hours a day by the entire group of
Gurdjieff s pupils from 1918 until the demonstrations in 1923 and 1924
(15) and are the only Movements existing for which Gurdjieff himself wrote
the music.
Of those Movements, 27, are remem-bered and practiced to this day in authentic
transmis-sion lines stemming from Gurdjieff. The six Obligatories belong
to this group.
For several other Movements used in the early demonstrations, only the
music remains because the dances themselves have been forgotten or were
too difficult to reconstruct.
2. The "39series," being the set of 39 Movements selected by
Gurdjieff out of the multitude of his new exercises given from 1939 until
his death in 1949. He recommended these for further practice and he con-sidered
them "set and ready." In fact the prominence of these 39 Movements
among his other attempts was so obvious that when Gurdjieff asked Thomas
de Hartmann to compose music for "his newer exercis-es" everybody
understood he was talking about his "39." (16)
After Gurdjieff s death Thomas de Hartmann composed the music for this
series, i. e., for 37 of them, because for two of the Movements the pianist
is required to improvise.
3. The remainder of the new exercises-that have been remembered and are
still practiced-amount to between one and two hundred Movements, depend-ing
on the criteria applied for counting. These vary from the most complicated
exercises with separate roles for every dancer in the class, to short
fragments for the study of a certain rhythm, or of a certain bodily action.
Mme. Jeanne de Salzmann, a pupil through whose activities many of those
newer exercises have been preserved, explained once that it had only been
possible to remember a minority, some 25 percent, of all the exercises
Gurdjieff taught, (17) Thomas de Hartmann wrote music for fifteen Movements
in this group, eight of these can be heard on our previous 2 CD set "Gurdjieff´s
Music for the Movements"- Channel Classics Records, CCS 15298. Gradually
over the years, many of those from this last group acquired their own
musical accompaniment through the dedi-cated activity of other composers
associated with Movement classes, like Alain Kremski and Edward Michael,
as well as many amateur composers.
CHARACTERISTICS AND MEANING OF THE "39"
If we compare the "39" with Gurdjieff s earlier
Movements, we basically see the same components: strong dervish dances,
beautiful and quiet women's dances, powerful geo-metrical patterned Movements,
as well as sacred prayer rit-uals. However the ancient religious and ethnological
com-ponents are markedly reduced while abstract gestures and positions,
performed in mathematical displacements, now prevail. It is as if during
the fifteen year time span since his first efforts, Gurdjieff had digested
his earlier impressions and reflected upon them to reappear with an even
more personal style, in which mathematical and geometrical crystalizations
were now dominant.
The drama of the human condition, so poignantly cap-tured in a number
of the old Movements, seems to have given way to a more abstract construction,
but one that gives immediate and plentiful opportunity for work on oneself
and work for the class as a whole.
The later Movements were even more difficult to per
form than the earlier ones and demanded a huge effort from a class in
their demands on precision, quickness, dis-cipline and sustained attention
for their entire duration.
The "39" Movements have been called Gurdjieff s Magnum Opus
and many have felt that in this series he summarized his whole teaching
in his final and most pow-erful message to humankind.
THE MUSIC FOR ALL THE NEW EXERCISES WAS ORIGINALLY IMPROVISED
During the decade that Gurdjieff gave his new exercises
and gradually established the "39," not only was the mak-ing
of choreographic notes explicitly forbidden by him, but another of his
strict orders was that the music should be improvised by the pianist.
He would give a rhythm to the pianist and his instruc-tions were generally
limited to "now just do it." (18) In fact, it is reported that
the choice of a particular rhythm often provided Gurdjieff with the fundamentals
out of which he created the whole structure of the new Movement. (19)
Mme. Solange Claustres, as a talented pianist who had already won a "Premier
Prix" for her playing before she met Gurdjieff, was asked by him
to take over his classes when he travelled to America in 1949. "He
instructed me to improvise," she told me, "and of course I had
to, because no written music existed at that time that could be used.
Improvising was not easy for me, but it taught me a great deal about the
true function of music. It has absolutely nothing to do with "accompaniment"
but is a living part of the inner work that takes place in the classes."
(1)
A couple of decades earlier a specialist in composing music for gymnastics,
Rudolf Bode, had already stressed the importance of improvisation: "...
for the teaching of gymnastics as far as it is accompanied by music, the
ability to employ some improvisation, even though it be pro-duced by the
most simple means, is absolutely essential... ... every kind of merely
outer simulation must necessarily lead to monotony...." (21)
Obviously, Gurdjieff worked along the same lines and was on his guard
for any premature fixations. Movements and music had to be alive. The
truth of his work should present itself in an ongoing creative process,
an ever new and immaculate form in every moment.
For those who regard such processes as self-evident it will be useful
to add that a balance between music and dance is rare. Historically, one
of the two was dominant: either the music was written to sustain the ballet,
or the bal-let had to fit into the existing music. Many artists, like
those of the "Loheland" dance school in Germany in the beginning
of the last century, have directed their energy towards restoring this
balance. About this question Mme. Solange Claustres following words touch
the very heart of the mat-ter. "It is the sound produced by the pianist
that determines everything, it is this sound that has to complete the
inner process brought into action by the movements of the dancers. (22)
Indeed, in doing Movements one can experience sound in a totally new way,
as if it illuminates one's inner life. A unique balance comes about in
us; the music, the gestures and our inner aspirations become one and it
is as if we have entered a new place, one without walls and outside of
time. At such a moment we experience life in a way that will become difficult
to forget.
THE TRANSMISSION OF MOVEMENTS
In the following chapters I will discuss the transmission
of Movements. This confronts us again with the question, What are Movements?
Because the answer to this question alone tells us what exactly has to
be be transmitted. Each man's answer will be different, and this will
be something to remember as we venture into this complex realm. For those
living in a world of outer forms there will be no problem. Movements are
movements, a form of gymnas-tics, a bit mysterious because not many people
know them, but therefore all the more suited to offer as a product in
today's "Supermarket for Self-development." Those searching
for a meaning behind the ruthless wall of appear-ances understand the
difficulties in transmitting and receiving Movements.
If I were to be asked what the Movements mean to me, I would answer: "they
help me to come closer to God." The sound of the wind in a tree,
the amazement of a child that wakes up and finds the world covered with
snow, the beauty of a lonesome house in the fields with smoke coming out
of its chimney, the eyes of the beloved, the pale light of the new morning
vibrating with the eternal enigma of life.... Movements help me to come
closer to all that. They either awaken an energy that was dormant, or
they put me in touch with something from the outside. This new energy
that starts circulating in me is precious. It makes me calm, aware and
determined, and it will be this energy that I will need when I have to
face the utterly unknown.
Mme. Claustres once said to me, "All Gurdjieffs Movements are prayers."
And when she herself once went to Gurdjieff to tell him how deeply she
was always touched by his Movements, he only said quietly, "Yes .
. . they are medicine." (23)
The inner meaning we attach to the Movements causes the difficulties in
the often seemingly contradictory process of their transmission.
The Gurdjieff Work is a difficult area to investigate because of the prevailing
sense of secrecy, as well as the increasing isolation and lack of cooperation,
if not hostil-ity, between the lineages.
My role of "wandering minstrel," playing the Gurdjieff De Hartmann
music in all sorts of places and circum-stances, helped me to come into
contact with many Gurdjieff groups and organizations that I had never
met before. They all were kind to me and welcomed me warm-ly. I respected
them and I refused judgment, as I only want-ed to learn.
In that period it struck me how my work as a "wander-ing minstrel"
resembled the job I had, several years before, working for a large international
company. Of course I did not play piano for them, but I was selected to
function as a central person, in an experiment supervised by specialists
from Harvard University, to which all managers in Europe could talk completely
freely about their problems and how they proposed to solve them. Of course
I was under an obligation of strict confidentiality.
The coincidence and the resemblances of these two activities, as if this
stage of my life had a specific pattern, convinced me that all organizations,
whether their goals are spiritual or commercial, have to cope with the
same socio-logical problems. For this reason, most large commercial enterprises
have changed their hierarchical structure into a flat leveled organization,
consisting of many independent smaller units, who can better adjust themselves
to the com-plexities and demands of present day society.
When I try to convey my experiences during these years of comparative
research it is not my intention to criticize the very organizations that
have been beneficial to my own development, but to present those findings
in such a way that an analysis of the situation is possible and will lead
to a constructive way to work in the future.
I have to make clear the subjective nature of my find-ings, and add further
that I know the situation in Europe much better than I do the situation
in America.
Movements Traditions
WHERE ARE MOVEMENTS BEING TAUGHT, HOW, AND TO WHOM?
Movements can only be learned in an authentic transmis-sion
line.
Study of them will take years of determined effort and should encompass
not only Gurdjieff s Movements, but his teaching as a whole.
Any learning process has stages. It requires the acquisi-tion of new knowledge,
the absorption and digestion of this material, and finally the application
in practice of what has been learned in theory. In learning Movements
these stages add up to a minimum of ten years.
It only makes sense to study with a teacher who knows the Movements, is
willing to give the whole Movement and not just in fragments, and is able
to stimulate the class in its inner work.
A transmission line is authentic when founded by a per-sonal pupil of
Gurdjieff. These pupils often cooperated with one another, at least in
the years immediately after Gurdjieff s death, and amidst the labyrinth
formed by these lines the Institut Gurdjieff in Paris and the related
Foundations stand out because of their historical bonds, their competence
and the size of their organization, and because all were led by their
founder, Mme. Jeanne de Salzmann.
Several other lines, independent from the above men-tioned organization,
and smaller in size, can also be quali-fied as authentic because they
too were founded or guided by direct pupils of Gurdjieff who themselves
stood in his Movements classes.
From this last group the original Ouspensky and Bennett lines seem the
most important, in so far as com-parative study of Movements transmission
is concerned, but these are by no means the only ones.
All these organizations differ widely. To call the Bennett line an organization
is a misnomer in the first place, because it consists of a varying group
of pupils of John Bennett who have organized different sorts of activities,
open to everybody, according to specific needs or circumstances.
The Ouspensky line is a relatively small one, while the Foundation, by
which term I indicate the different interna-tional Foundations founded
or supported by the French Institut Gurdjieff and the Foundations, which
incorporate thousands of students. Despite their different sizes these
last two have in common that they could be qualified as hierarchic.
If we, just as an example, want to compare these three lineages we need
criteria for comparison. The following criteria seem relevant.
criteria for comparison -whether or not Movements are related
to the study of Gurdjieff s teaching as a whole
-the number and type of Movements that are being trans-mitted
-the relation between form and content of these Movements
-to whom they are taught
-whether or not whole Movements are given, or only fragments of Movements.
Application of these criteria will quickly bring the strengths and weaknesses
of the different lines of transmis-sion to the surface.
Both the Foundation and the Ouspensky line teach Movements only to members
of their organizations, as an integrated component of the whole teaching
they are sup-plying. The Bennett line experiments with short seminars,
open to everybody, where the Movements dominate all other activities.
The repertoire of the Ouspensky line consists only of the 27 older Movements
that have been preserved, but not only do they know them in full historical
detail, they also transmit them in their totality.
The Bennett line has a mix of some old Movements and several newer exercises.
They too teach the whole Movement, however not with the same painstaking
care for detail as demonstrated by the Ouspensky line.
The Foundations have a true wealth of newer exercises at their disposal,
unequaled by any other existing lineage. However, in Europe many of the
older Movements are hardly practiced, at all and are almost forgotten.
Equally unparalleled their repertoire of newer exercises is their knowledge
and experience in exploring the inner content of them. The other side
of this coin is that they show a shocking disrespect for the form of Movements
by their inclination to teach fragments only. Further, because of their
size, they are in danger of creating "specialists" for different
areas of Gurdjieff´s teaching, Movements being one of them. To become
a "specialist," in whatever part of the Gurdjieff Work, means
to suicide oneself for the whole of it.
It is remarkable, and touching as well, to realize that the three entities
we selected all reflect, to this day, the histori-cal stage of the Movements
at the time when they received them.
The intensive training programs in the Ouspensky line, where everybody
knows all the old Movements by heart, originated no doubt from the time
that Gurdjieff demand-ed his pupils to exercise them, five to six hours
a day, as preparation for the public demonstrations in Paris and in America.
The focus on the newer exercises in the Foundation, and the way to connect
them to inner work, stems from the last stage of Gurdjieff´s Movements
teach-ing and the enthusiasm of Mme. Jeanne de Salzmann, who preserved
many of these exercises. The readiness to exper-iment with new forms of
Movements education, character-istic of the Bennett line, mirrors the
open-mindedness of John Bennett himself.
The key supplied by this comparative effort, and the basic lesson to be
learned is that no line is perfect. When you want the best of these three
worlds you have to sacri-fice your isolation and start working together.
That means to cooperate without being incorporated. This is what we in
the Berlin and Amsterdam Movement groups have done.
Two years ago we organized in Amsterdam an exchange on the subject of
the "old" Movements between our group and a group of the original
"Ouspensky" line. To our sur-prise, Mrs. van Oyen, one of the
two living members of Ouspensky's London group, turned up to join us and
when asked why, given her extreme old age, she replied, "I saw many
years ago how the Work had split itself into small fractions. Now I heard
that an effort is being made to unite what I had seen drift apart, and
for this reason I insisted on being present. Only if we work together
will there be results!"
This is a direction I hope will continue.
MOVEMENTS AND SECRECY
The one single factor responsible for the inaccessibility
of the Movements is "secrecy."
Let us review two reasons for this inclination, because a side effect
of this is responsible for the the growing isola-tion of many Gurdjieff
communities.
For one to whom the Movements represents the most intimate and sacred
expression of the "Work," I am dis-mayed when I witness the
Movements being offered to people who think they are dealing with another
variety of aerobics.
There is the well known esoteric principle, "You can't give what
cannot be taken," or, "Do not cast pearls before swine."
But how to select those that can take them? Should inclusion be restricted
to members of an organization? When I play a Gurdjieff recital for a group
of people who have never even heard of Gurdjieff, the inner response,
as I can sense and feel it, is no less than that of members of Gurdjieff
organizations. On the contrary, it is sometimes even better, and the question
arises as to who can take what.
Of course it is necessary to protect the Movements against outside influences
and to keep them as pure as pos-sible. Unfortunately changes occur anyhow,
and this can never be stopped.
Curt Sachs, the great German researcher on music and dance, formulated
the principle that no single cultural phe-nomena exists that will not
be influenced by other cultural
phenomena and in its turn not influence other cultural phenomena. (24)
When Gurdjieff presented his Movements in France and in America, these
events were open to anyone interested and with a single exception, admission
was always free.
When he was asked, "Why do you open this to all these people?"
he answered angrily, "How can you judge?... We have to let everyone
hear. The results do not belong to us." (25) Clearly, he intended
his work to have a definite influ-ence; and indeed, would not anybody
who has to live in the reality of our society with its out of control
violent and destructive tendencies. Was the surrealist Andre Breton so
far from the truth when he stated that modern society is the extension
of Hell on earth. If we agree, are these definite influences not needed?
Prudence in dealing with Movements can change into arrogance, and here
I refer to the old Latin root of that word, which means "To keep
for oneself."
Esotericism is an historical fact and occurs in all religions. Secrecy
is a human vice.
How to draw the line between the two?
This question was formulated by A.L. Staveley as fol-lows, 'Which is worse?
That Movements fall into the hands of those who do not respect them, distort
and dilute them? Or that they are kept so wrapped up and "protected"
that those who could benefit by them and who must be those for whom Gurdjieff
intended them and gave them to us to pass on, never get the opportunity
to work on them?"
That was exactly the problem I faced when I felt the obligation to pass
on what was given to me! "What" to pass on and to "whom?"
The only way I felt that the Work could be be productive was to avoid
an hierarchical, or closed structure. As for-mulated above, the new sociological
situation of our time had done the same thing to large commercial institutions
as to the Work organizations, and therefore it required co-operation rather
than incorporation. It requires working on the same level, in smaller
subunits, rather than in a "topdown" structure.
We tried to find a middle way, we didn't want to throw the Work out onto
the street at the feet of every passer by, but rather, to open it to those
with a real interest.
That has worked marvelously well-almost by itself two Movements groups
were born, consisting of hard working and serious minded people, one in
Berlin and one in Amsterdam, and they have stabilized themselves rather
quickly. These groups have been in existence for over three years.
MME. CLAUSTRES' CLASSES REVISITED
How changes affect the practice of Movements, even in the
most protected and isolated situations, was brought home to me when I
participated in some recent classes.
To begin with there was none of the vitality of one of Mme. Claustres'
classes. A solemn teacher had prepared a little program of Movements sequences;
the pianist was sit-ting stiffly behind the piano waiting for the command
to start playing the sheet music in front of his nose, from which he dared
not deviate.
With Mme. Claustres there was always a living synergy between instructor
and musician. The teacher had to know how to play, if only a little, the
rhythms, the harmonies and the tone quality needed for the accompaniment
of any Movement she or he was teaching. Beware the pianist that in her
classes would continue to play the music straight through! One needed
to improvise, to finds one's own way, and together with the class. "Feel"
she would call out, "listen to the class, listen to your sound...
make variations... work." When I once com-mented, "But I am
playing for the Movements, not doing them." She would say, "If
not with the body, then your fin-gers must do the movement on the keyboard."
This advice, at first sight so strange, was a great help to me!
It is extremely important for anyone teaching classes to understand that
we never worked in a program form in Mme. Claustres' classes. A Movement
was selected by her because at that particular moment the class needed
some characteristic of it. In that way she masterfully sought the "intervals"
and guided us towards a new
octave of understanding, the pianist exploring the new area, sustaining
the search as best he could!
Each class was an active search for an octave! Although we never discussed
it, I have no doubt that this methodology was derived directly from Gurdjieff.
To be able to guide a class in such a way needs at least three qualities
that she was able to demonstrate without words. Perhaps even more than
these were shown, but only these three imprinted themselves deeply on
my memory.
These are: Never to react on a personal level, but always to observe the
whole class, as if from a distance. This is not be confused with any kind
of censorship; on the contrary, the second quality is to be able to accept
one's feelings, be open to them and to be aware of the peculiar moments
when the transition from one feeling to another takes place. The third
one, and the one most difficult to understand, is the ability to sense
the body all the time, in an ever ongoing and active effort to integrate
the specific radiation, life and being of the physical body in one's total
presence, and never, not for one moment, to allow this process to be disturbed
or destroyed by mental activities or emotional reactions.
the last word: "sensation"
Let us be honest about sensation. In the Fourth Way every-body uses the
term "sensation of the body." If one only could understand what
that means!
Always, always I have to renew the first step in the process of sensing
the body; by realizing that I do not know what it means.
It is but an illusion that I am able to establish contact with my body
at will, it requires a very long time and one of determined effort. With
this, the moment will come when the body finally responds. Only then,
when this new sensa-tion circulates through my entire body, from the top
of my head down to my toes, only then have I found the true meaning of
"sensation," which means I have found one of the components
of the elixir of life that man has been try-ing to prepare for himself
from the beginning of time.
NOTES
(1) Wim van Dullemen, Madame Claustres' Talks about Gurdjieffs Movements,
interview published in Bres, Amsterdam, October 1997. Article authorized
by Mme. Claustres. Quotation kindly permitted by Bres.
(2)VIEWS FROM THE REAL WORLD, EARLY TALKS OF GURDJIEFF, as recollected
by his pupils, 1973 Triangle Editions, Inc. Toronto, Vancouver, see page
183.
(3) James Webb (an historian specialist in Russian Esotericism) the harmonious
circle. Thames and Hudson, London ,1980. Page 535.
(4) Symbolism was a cultural trend which originated in the West European
industrialized countries in the last decade of the nineteenth century.
It could be characterized as a search for spiritual values against the
domination of science and industrialization. It was strongest in Catholic
and heavily industrialized countries, like Belgium. Russian Symbolism,
although it expressed itself some two decades later than in Western Europe,
permeated all of Russian cultural life in the beginning of the twentieth
century and had a deep influence on P.D.Ouspensky.
(5) Pia Witzmann describes Delsarte's system based upon his Law of Threefoldness
and Ninefoldness in: Der Einfluß des Okkulten auf den Tanz, 1995
"Okkultismus und Avantgarde" Edition Tertium, Frankfurt
(6) E. Roters "MALER AM BAUHAUS," Rembrandt Verlag, Berlin,
1965. Page 73. Oskar Schlemmer based his approach on an older essay from
Heinrich von Kleist ( 17771811) 'Über das Marionetten Theater'. His
theory, in a nutshell, is that mankind as a consequence of the Original
Sin is only capable of subjective gestures and body postures. Only through
strict adherence to pure geometric expressions can we approach the divine
and recreate the innocence we once lost.
(7) Dushka Howarth, quoting her mother, Jessmin Howarth, during a five
hour videotaped interview by Gert Jan Blom, New York, May 1622, 2000
(8) Of particular importance here is Gurdjieff´s statement that
"certain ideas can only be grasped when the emotions are tuned into
them by means of music." See: J.G.Bennett's making a new world, Harper
& Row, New York, 1973, page 167. This was said to clarify the role
of music played before readings from his books and therefore is a convincing
example of the enhancement of one art form through the other, which idea
was at the very base of the concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk.
(9) Transcribed from tape recordings of Mrs. Howarth's lectures
(10) Telephone Conversations with Dushka Howarth and the author, 14/7,18/7,04/8,
5/8,7/8 and 14/8 /1999. Nine additional telephone con-versations took
place from October, 1999December, 1999. These talks have greatly helped
me understand the historical picture, as well as the specific events and
the possible categorization of Gurdjieffs Movements. I am very grateful
to her, for her advice and assistance.
(11) Mme. De Salzmann stated this when receiving a group of Dutch students,
the author included, in Paris, February, 1970.
(12) Rudolf Bode, Musik und Bewegung, Kassel, 1930, Bärenreiter Verlag
(13) Thomas and Olga de Hartmann, OUR LIFE WITH MR. GURDJIEFF, Arkana,
1992, page 218
The 39 Series on CD
The 37 pieces for the 39 Series were composed by Thomas de Hartmann,
c. 1950.
Interpretations of all the pieces-as regards tempo, rhythm, characteristics
of melody and other musical dynamics-have been based on personal instructions
received over many years from direct pupils of G. I. Gurdjieff. Also,
we have studied and taken into account the earliest available recordings
of these compositions. Originally no titles, only N-numbers, were given.
These N-numbers as well as the indications of tempo stem from the first
private publication prepared by de Hartmann himself,
Musique pour les Mouvements de G. I. Gurdjieff, Editions Janus, Paris
1950.
In some of the Movements, the dancers have to speak certain words or phrases.
These might be in Russian, Greek, Latin, French, Tibetan as well as English.
When such words are mentioned in the notes, they are in English translation
only.
Detailed description of the 39 Series
CD1
1 N1, Allegro Risoluto
(Canon of Automatons, Counting Automaton, The Automaton)
The structure of this canon divides this piece in its 4, 5 and 6 measured
units. When the canon reaches a speci?c ?le, the ?le makes a quick quarter
turn, right or left, taking speci?c postures of arms and legs and then
stays as if frozen until their next turn. A mechanical law seems to govern
this class of "puppets," which brings to mind an interesting
anecdote. Once a journalist, looking at a Movements class, commented to
Gurdjieff: "These are not dancers at all Mr. Gurdjieff, they are
only marionettes!" Gurdjieff, as the story has it, answered: "You
are quite right, they are just marionettes. But… remember one thing,
they are marionette on the outside; inside they are free!" (22)
2 N2, Grave
(Prayer in Four Parts)
This is the only piece in the 39 Series composed of three relatively independent
musical sections, punctuated by a rhythmical cadence. On the oldest choreographic
notes of this Movement known to us (23), it is titled "The Great
Prayer" (not to be confused with the earlier "Great Prayer"
we recorded for our previous CD set) and, certainly, it is the most elaborate
ritual in the entire Series.
After an introduction composed of quiet prayer-like gestures, the ?rst
part has the dancers slowly circling around one another while turning
around their own axis. Mme. Solange Claustres once compared this section
to the slow revolving of planets in their orbit in an immeasurable sky.
After an intermediary rhythmic cadence, a fast gymnastic for the arms,
the second main section-often referred to as "the vibrations"-consists
of six sacred body positions, taken with hands lightly shaken. These hand-tremors,
frequent in Gurdjieff's Movements, may be a rudiment of the shaking of
the whole body in trance-dancing, one of the most basic forms of human
dance (24). During these six positions two resounding bass notes bring
the body into a slow swaying from side to side and, for that reason, this
section is also dubbed the "elephant step."
The third section has everybody turning around their axis in a fast tempo
with sharp, precise arm positions, until the whole Movement comes to its
silent and reXective end. The ?rst section has the words "Lord, help
me," the second has the words "Lord have Mercy."
3 N3, Con moto
(The Three Tableaux)
During the ?rst eight measures the class steps towards a new con?guration,
in which a priest in the middle lifts his arms upwards to the heavens,
as if at the height of a religious service. This lasts for the two forte
measures and then the triplets have the class whirling back to its original
con?guration. This is repeated twice in between the representation of
three such sacred tableaux.
4 N4, Andanto Molto
(Essentuki Prayer, Prayer for Instruction, Hymn of the Institute)
For this prayer-type Movement de Hartmann adapted Gurdjieff's oldest known
composition, adjusting it to a constant ostinato in the bass to give the
class rhythmical support. To understand the signi?cance of this Movement
the following impression (25) will be better than any description of just
the physical actions: "I felt that the whole of Creation was depicted
in this Movement in a continuous cosmic dance, seeking, at all levels,
union with its Creator. I saw both mineral and animal life reXected in
some of the postures and the diversity of the human spirit in others-our
pain and frustration as well as our striving for transformation. The central
?gure of the priest, towards whom all gestures are directed, stood as
the still axis around which this ever-Xowing dance revolved and the stately
and beautiful gestures of the entremets (26) seemed to indicate the direction
of our own individual journey towards the divine."
5 N5, Deciso
(Pointing Dervish)
Quick kneebends, quarter turns and asymmetric arm gestures have to be
executed in a swift, light and subtle way. Originally, Gurdjieff required
the dancers to sing one long sustained note during their performance.(10)
This is not taken into account by de Hartmann's inspired and exciting
dervish-rhythms.
6 N6, Allegro Molto
(Canon)
A fast canon like this one, which starts with quarter-turns and gradually
adds steps, bodybends and a complex turning con?guration, can only be
performed if one develops an attention that is able to follow the whole
continuous Xowing of the Movement through the entire class, as if from
a distance.
7 N7, Allegrettto
(Women's Dance)
Every position in the class has its own gestures. As soon as the music
starts the ?rst row divides itself in two and gradually, as a wall revealing
a secret passage, an opening is created. Three women, who were standing
in between the first and second row, now come forward; circling around
their axis to the front of the class, but immediately circle back again
while the first row closes its lines.
Something is shown and then disappears; as if in the moment we understand
something that might be gone the very next. The oldest choreographic notes
known to us has this Movement described as "esoteric." Others
of the 39 Series are described as "mesoteric" or "exoteric."
(27)
8 N8, Allegro ma non troppo
(Walking Six Positions)
The walking is done lightly on the toes and without any unnecessary motion
in the body, reminiscent of the way women glide forward, as if without
moving, in Russian folk-dances. The melody notes give the rhythm of the
feet, in a pattern of three, while the head and arms have the pattern
of two of the left-hand chords. To be able to function in this Movement
requires a split attention, one for the complexity of ones own patterns,
the other to keep in line with the class.
9 N9, Allegro con brio
(Ol-Bog-Mek)
The arm gestures of this Movement, the same as in N1, are combined with
exhausting jumps right and left in one of the strongest rhythms of the
Series, to be performed only by men.
10 N10, Andantino
(Persian Dance)
A graceful women's dance. A slow, wide and solemn gesture of arm and vibrating
hand after a small displacement forwards and backwards characterises the
feeling of trust and sensitivity that this Movement creates in its participants.
Many years have passed, but I still can hear Mme Solange Claustres' instructions
to the women in the class: "Feel… be present in your own atmosphere…
trust yourself."
11 N11, Largo
(Lord Have Mercy)
The only piece other than N2 in the Series with more than one musical
section.
In the ?rst part, another interesting variety of the canon principle occurs,
not from ?le to ?le but, in the body of each dancer, from limb to limb;
right arm, right leg, left leg, left arm, in various formulas. In combination
with this canon of the limbs, the head has to add a completely independent
pattern. On the ?rst three counts of each measure the words "Lord
have Mercy" are spoken quietly. In the second part the ?les start
moving graciously and solemnly, while from behind the class a female dancer
in the role of a priestess comes tiptoeing forward, the only one for whom
the rhythm in triplets is written. One of her gestures illustrates the
unveiling of her face, which brings to mind an oracle, performed on rare
occasions by a priestess coming out of her tower. Some Movements have
inner exercises and in this case, during this section, the exercise demands
an eVort to visualise and feel one's place in the ?le and in the row.
12 N12, Lento
(Hallelujah)
This truly majestic ritual, also belonging to the "esoteric"
series, is performed in concentric circles, with an inner circle consisting
of three women. The class comes from a prostrate position up to a standing
prayer position and goes down again, mirroring the sequence of the ?rst
positions. The music follows this pattern closely with crescendos and
diminuendos. The melody, a scale in C-minor, is sung by resounding the
word "Hallelujah." De Hartmann sustains the scale melody with
a harmonisation of unusual depth and intensity. During the Movement an
inner exercise connects us to parents, brothers and sisters, as if these
are brought into the community of the class and now form part of its aspirations,
expressed in the rising and descending waves.
13 N13, Andantino
(Persian Waltz, Ancient Waltz)
This tender women's dance combines an elegant toe-heel foot pattern with
body bends right and left to be executed with an attitude of surrender;
but, at each split second in which the dancer ?nds herself in an erect
position, she has to renew her presence in her body. The arm gestures,
of a complex geometrical nature, are highly precise and clear and contrast
in a remarkable way with the devotional aspects expressed by torso and
feet. Arm gestures are, again, in the ever-challenging mirror-sequence.
No accompaniment is conceivable that would support this Movement better
than de Hartmann's music of crystalline beauty. De Hartmann has written
out a separate line for the melody to be sung by the class.
14 N14, Allegro ma non troppo
(Reading of a Sacred Book, Breast-Beating Dervish)
In this score the repeating melody-curves have a somewhat hypnotic effect,
not unlike the ney dervish Xutes over heavy pounding drums in Turkish
music.
Everybody in the class turns towards somebody holding a Sacred Book and
bends rhythmically while beating their chest with a ?st. De Hartmann's
music requires two pianists to perform this piece, one for the rhythm
and one for the melody, on the same piano. The rhythm part on this recording
is performed by Gert-Jan Blom.
15 N15, Moderato
(Monday, Tuesday…)
The 39 Series oVers a wide range of Movements, from highly complex con?gurations
to more simple ones. N15 belongs to this last category but it is by no
means easy to perform. The body is divided mathematically in quick and
exact arm and hand positions, ending with a lunge of the leg forward.
16 N16, Con bravura
(Dance, Running, Seagull)
The "Seagull" name refers to the fast wing-like hand movements.
The original sheet music is not clear about the repeating of the rhythm
in the left hand, but we have performed it in accordance with the earliest
recording known to us, dating from 1951.
17 N17, Allegro Moderato
(Multiplication)
This is the ?rst multiplication in the Series (28). It is a complex and
difficult Movement, which nevertheless has to be performed with lightness,
like all Gurdjieff's dynamic Movements. Many have reported that it was
Gurdjieff's favourite.
18 N18, Andante Tranquillo
(Body Circling)
The name of this Movement reflects the bending of the torso in a semi-circle
sideways and backwards, while the outstretched arms execute a mirror-like
exchange.
CD 2
1 N19, Allegro con brio
(Stop Exercise, The Wheel)><The frequently described "stop
exercise" is traditionally used in this canon type Movement in which
the hands describe a huge semi-circle from right to left. From time to
time, the instructor calls out "Stop!" and the dancers have
to freeze in their positions. With the command "Continue!" they
and the pianist resume the Movement where they left oV.
2 N20, Allegro ma non troppo
(Dervish Exercise, Dervish Tramping)
One of the dervish-steps employed here, amidst a variety of displacements
and circle-type gestures of feet and arms, is a step with strong heaving
upwards of the leg, which has given the Movement its name.
3 N21, Lento
(Prayer, Remorse)
A solemn and dramatic Movement with an inner exercise focussing on the
feeling of remorse for the way we have treated those dear to us. The Movement
demands a pattern of three, executed simultaneously with a pattern of
four; but, even if we cannot keep the physical exercise going, we must
continue the inner part of the feeling of remorse. This example shows
something of the variety of the inner work demanded by the diVerent Movements
in the Series.
4 N22, Allegro ma non troppo
(March 16-20)
This Movement was quali?ed as the ?rst of the "mesoteric" series.
Note how beautiful and subdued de Hartmann's music leads and stimulates
the dancers in their complicated step-pattern. The arm gestures are diVerent
for each row.
Note-No music was composed for Movement N23; the pianist
has to improvise diVerent rhythms as an accompaniment.
5 N24, Allegro feroce
(Sharse Varse)
The vigour of this dervish Movement has to be seen to be believed: the
feet take up the rhythm in three, while the arms perform a three versus
four rhythm. The front members of the middle two ?les hold one another
in a traditional dancing-posture and seem to represent a quiet eye amidst
the storm of energy generated by the class. The words "Sharse Varse"
are called loudly on each rhythmic pulse.
6 N25, Lento Pesante / N25bis, Vif
(White and Black Magic)
It is said that this Movement originated in Gurdjieff's ballet The Struggle
of the Magicians, from which it inherits its name. The white magician's
pupils perform a solemn, procession-type Movement to the music of N25
lento pesante, while the black magician's pupils, accompanied by the neurotic
sounds of N25 bis, let themselves go in ugly grimaces of the face and
claw-like gestures of the hands, as if they want to scratch somebody's
face open with their nails. The two pieces follow each other without a
break. Programmatic body-expressions like these are very rare in Gurdjieff's
Movements and indicate their older origin.
7 N26, Moderato
(Multiplication, March)
Another multiplication (28) characterised by a diVicult twist of the torso
versus the legs.
8 N27, Andante con moto
(Canon of Twelve)
The oldest choreographic notes label this Movement as number one of the
"esoteric" series and mentions 29 September 1948 as the date
Gurdjieff taught it. It is an incredibly beautiful, highly complex Movement
in which the whole class participates in constantly changing con?gurations.
Music and dance are like the ever-changing patterns and dynamics of cosmic
life. Sub-groups in the class perform many diVerent roles, but the canon-sometimes
invisible, sometimes visible-has to go on all the time.
9 N28, Moderato
(Machine Group)
Gurdjieff gave this Movement on 12 October 1948.
Despite the fact that almost all dancers have individual roles to perform,
the whole class must control the diVicult mirror-type sequences of this
Movement to such an extent that the impression of one great and complex
machine is created. (29)
10 N29, Pesante
The rhythmical sequence emphasises the Movement's basic pattern, consisting
of deep kneebends, stretching to normal standing position, followed by
standing on tiptoes, while arm and head-movements continue independently.
De Hartmann's end chords are unusual in their complexity but somehow add
to the strength of this remarkable composition.
11 N30, Rigoroso, con moto
(Canon of Six Measures)
A high-spirited and happy canon made of simple gymnastic exercises alternated
with some strange Egyptian-like positions.
Note-No music was composed for Movement N31; the pianist
has to improvise diVerent rhythms as an accompaniment.
12 N32, Allegro con spirito
(Exercise of Automatons, Automaton Note Values)
N32 is a virtuoso Movement where the dancer as an "automaton"
has to perform an up-tempo mathematical step-pattern, simultaneous with
torso-circling and unusual arm gestures. Despite its geometrical eccentricity
the Movement gives a peaceful and balanced impression.
13 N33, Tempo di Marcia
(Cosmic Rhythm, Group with Stop)
Much more complex than its music would suggest, this Movement creates
an intensive spectacle, full of displacements and turns, with a priestess
in the middle of the group. The Movement comes to a total and unexpected
stop twice, while several dancers continue during the sudden silence of
the class. Quite unusual for a stop-exercise. The choreographic notes
of this Movement are marked "premier exercise après retour
d'Amerique" which would date it around early March of 1949.
14 N34, Allegretto
(Multiplication)
De Hartmann's music for this multiplication (28) is the only piece in
the 39 Series written in a major key (30) .
15 N35, Allegro rigoroso
(March)
Another Movement of the automaton type, N35 oVers an ingenuous step-pattern,
highly complex displacements and unusual, mathematical, entremets. (26)
16 N36, Con moto, Rigoroso
(Dervish Exercise)
The feet follow the rhythm, the body bends with abandonment to the right
and left, and the arm divides with precision its radius in six segments.
All of this has to be executed precisely in the breathtaking tempo of
the music.
17 N37, Allegro ma non troppo
(Dance)
A women's dance, silent and beautiful. The complexity is in the many feet
and leg positions which are not congruent with the weight of the body
and, in addition, very quick turns are necessary. 12 July 1949 was the
date on which Gurdjieff ?rst gave this Movement.
18 N38, Allegretto
(Twice Six)
The last dervish Movement of the Series oVers an example of quiet control
and precision of its mirror-sequenced arm gestures combined with the strong
rhythmic feet-patterns.
19 N39, Lento
(Prayer, Meditation)
This was the last Movement taught by Gurdjieff on 11 October 1949.
Slow sacred gestures mark the inner exercise in which one connects with
one's physical, emotional and mental centres in sequence, and then adds
all three together to experience the "whole man."
The '39 Series'
The last decade of Gurdjieff's life, the second stage of
his Movements teaching, was one of extraordinary creativity. "Our
group had a class once a week," remembered Mme. Solange Claustres,
"and he taught at least one new Movement in each one of them. This
continued for the seven years I was in his classes! He demonstrated the
new Movements, but rarely explained much about them. His presence was
so strong -it literally filled the whole place-that you could absorb the
new exercise in a direct way. No further explanation was needed. It was
never allowed to make choreographic notes, because this activity would
reduce our first and complete impression to an analytical or rational
attitude."
Gurdjieff's stream of creativity was confirmed by another pupil, Mrs.
Jessmin Howarth, a choreographer at the Paris Opera and a pupil of Dalcroze
before she joined forces with Gurdjieff: "He used to come every evening
with three or four absolutely new attempts." Those who were in his
classes at that time described Gurdjieff's creativity to me as an empirical
experiment of great intensity, lasting years. He made a supreme effort
to develop exercises that would help people to strengthen their awareness,
will and power of attention. Sometimes he was weak or sick and had to
support himself, leaning against the piano to keep standing, but kept
on working.
It was also explained to me that Gurdjieff studied the results of each
new Movement he gave by observing the state of the people in the class.
Many of his new exercises did not reach the goal he had in mind. It is
reported that sometimes he went away during the classes, to come back
after a while to propose a small change in a Movement: for instance, a
wrist that had been straight was now bent, an arm that was horizontal
forward was now diagonally forward. Occasionally even these new changes
did not bring about the desired state in the dancers, and he then gave
a strict order: "No… stop and forget this one, don't perform
it again ever." However, if a Movement did create the desired state
in the psyche and bodily expressions of the performers he'd say, "That's
it, this one is set and ready now. What number are we?" referring
to the numbers they gave to the new set of "successful" Movements,
representing the slowly growing list of what became the "39 Series."
The 39 Series were thus the kernel of his new exercises, the ones he had
accepted as finished and relevant. All his other attempts, many of which
have been remembered and have been performed since by his students, did
not have his full approval. However beautiful they are, their relevance
remains open to discussion.
Work on the Series went on until the last moment, to come to a stop only
because of Gurdjieff's sickness and, ultimately, his death. Even on his
last trips to America he added seven new Movements to the list.
If we compare the 39 with Gurdjieff's earlier Movements we find the same
components: strong dervish dances, beautiful and quiet women's dances,
powerful geometrical patterned Movements, as well as sacred prayer-rituals.
However, the ancient religious and ethnological components are markedly
reduced while abstract gestures and positions, performed in mathematical
displacements, now prevail. It is as if, during the fifteen-year interval
since his first efforts, Gurdjieff had digested his earlier impressions
and rejected upon them. When he continued his work on the Movements, they
re-appeared with an even more personal style, in which mathematical and
geometrical crystallizations are now dominant.
The drama of the human condition, so poignantly captured in a number of
the old Movements, seems to have given way to a more abstract construction,
but one that gives immediate and plentiful opportunity for work on oneself
and work for the class as a whole. The later Movements were even more
difficult to perform than the earlier ones and demanded a huge effort
from a class in terms of precision, quickness, discipline and sustaining
attention.
The 39 Movements have been called Gurdjieff's magnum opus; many have felt
that they summarized his whole teaching to mankind.
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