The ESV Ensemble was delighted to head off into the warmer climes of Northern California for two-and-a-half weeks in mid-February. The tour was mainly routed both north and south of the Bay Area as well as in San Francisco itself. The tour also included a flight out to Austin, Texas, for a special commemorative performance at the Austin Waldorf School.

EANA HIGH SCHOOL EURYTHMY FESTIVAL IN SAN FRANCISCO, CA

There are many highlights to mention and many people to thank, but a particularly special highlight at the outset was participating in the EANA High School Eurythmy Festival. The festival was held over four days, from February 15th to 19th, at the San Francisco Waldorf High School. It brought together nearly sixty Waldorf High School students from five different schools: San Diego Waldorf School, Waldorf School of the Peninsula, Portland Waldorf School, Rudolf Steiner School in New York, and of course the San Francisco Waldorf High School. Over the course of the conference, the students worked on a verse and two large-tone pieces with Astrid Thiersch and Alex Spadea, all of which were performed on the closing night, along with many pieces from each individual school. Recent ESV graduate Yohanna Finser, who taught blocks this year in the high school at San Francisco Waldorf School, shared two very beautiful pieces she had done with the students in the San Francisco High School Troupe.

The festival was spearheaded and organized by Monika Leitz and Carrie Mass of the EANA leadership team, to whom we are tremendously grateful. Due to Monika and Carrie’s initiative, the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble was not only able to experience this incredible and uplifting event but also to offer a performance on the opening night, give workshops, and accompany some of the student-led outings in San Francisco. On the final morning in San Francisco, the ensemble was able to enjoy a hike up the bluffs at Rodeo Beach just south of Sausalito and greatly enjoyed getting toes in the sand, the rhythm of the waves, and the light glinting off the water.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

In Austin, where temperatures were shockingly frigid, the ensemble had an intense but meaningful two and a half days performing for the public in the evening and two performances for students in K-12th grade the following day. Nearly two years ago, Steve and Beth Usher, residents of Austin and longtime supporters of Eurythmy Spring Valley (Beth Usher having been a founding member of the ensemble in the 1980s), planted the seed for the ensemble to return to Austin, as it had been over twenty years. Though it took some time to come to fruition, in spring of 2024, Jacob Harlow, a longtime eurythmy teacher at the Austin Waldorf School, happily stepped forward and steadfastly pulled everything together over the course of the next year.

The Austin Waldorf School is the alma mater of both Virginia Hermann and Cameron MacArthur, and it was the homebase for the amazing high school and youth eurythmy initiatives created by former Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble members Markus and Andrea Weder when they were teachers at the Austin Waldorf School from 1996 to 2006. One of those initiatives was High School Eurythmy Festival in 2004, one of the first, if not the only one, to happen in North America. And the EANA festival that had just taken place in San Francisco was the first such eurythmy festival to happen since the one in 2004! In addition to our gratitude toward the Ushers and to Jacob Harlow and his wife, Marie-Helene, and the faculty and staff at Austin Waldorf School, thanks also go to ESV alumna Liaat Zehavi, newly teaching eurythmy in the grades at AWS, who provided us with delicious meals throughout the long days, and both Cameron and Virginia’s families for all they did to host, house, feed, and support us.

NEVADA CITY, CA

Returning again to the welcome warmth and increasing sun of California, the second half of the tour got started on the drive from the San Francisco airport north out of town, past Sacramento and Grass Valley, where the ensemble performed in 2016, up to Nevada City, in a wonderful performing arts theater at Nevada Union High School. Our very capable hosting and organizing duo for this leg were friends and ESV alumni Arielle Engstrom and Isabela Guardia Ferragutti, who are doing great work as eurythmy teachers in the area as well as raising their beautiful children. We had the unique experience of giving a public children’s performance on the weekend, as well as a very well-received evening program. The full audience included many eurythmists, colleagues, and friends from the greater Sacramento area, and even some alumni from Barbara Schneider-Serio’s student days, many of whom came backstage afterward and created a very lively post-performance mood.

MARIN CIVIC CENTER – SAN RAFAEL, CA

The next stop was south of San Francisco, just over the bridge in Marin County. Magnificent views of a sailboat-dotted San Francisco Bay inspired us on our drive. This would be the first public theater performance of the tour, on the sprawling Marin Civic Center campus. Their smaller satellite theater was the perfect size to host back-to-back rounds of 300 students from three different Waldorf and Waldorf-inspired charter schools. ESV alum, colleague, and friend Karen Gallagher did a tremendous job hosting and feeding us, inviting and coordinating all six schools, many of which she had been a block teacher for. Sebastien and Lilith Dupuis, who helped coordinate and oversee many aspects of our North California part of the tour, were also instrumental in securing the theater and making all the necessary arrangements—even renting a baby grand piano!—for us to perform in a large theater with a proper stage. Post-performance, we were surprised to see four students from the San Francisco High School Troupe, a bouquet of flowers and hand-drawn cards in hand, who had driven to see us again after being so inspired by our performance at the eurythmy festival the week before. Their cards exquisitely expressed their love of eurythmy and how much seeing our ensemble inspired them to continue doing as much eurythmy as they can and to consider the training in their future!

SANTA ROSA, CA

Heading back north again and more westerly towards the coast, we landed next at the sprawling Summerfield Waldorf School, situated on a beautiful biodynamic farm in Santa Rosa. Having also been here on tour in 2016, we were happy to meet familiar faces. Maria Morales, our superb host, as well as Renate Lundberg, beloved longtime eurythmy teacher, and Ed Sustick, from the local anthroposophical branch, all welcomed us. The beautiful wood-paneled stage at the Summerfield school and the quiet, reverent mood of the students created a warm and inviting atmosphere during the performances. A lively workshop open to high school students, parents, and teachers was led by Sea-Anna in the afternoon. Many thanks to the local anthroposophical branch for sponsoring the evening program and gathering such an enthusiastic audience. In addition to Maria and the faculty and staff at Summerfield Waldorf School, a special thank you also goes to Vanessa Faryan, from the branch, who organized a gorgeous and festive farm-to-table welcome dinner prepared on-site for us under the trees and the stars. Vanessa has recently created Shyama Silk, in collaboration with designers in India, to produce plant-dyed silk eurythmy garments for both adults and children!

SANTA CRUZ, CA

The final leg of the tour brought us down along the stunning coastal vistas from the Bay Area to Santa Cruz. Lilith and Sebastien Dupuis welcomed us into their beautiful farmhouse home amidst the redwoods for dinner, joined by current part-time Frontier student Jeanne Finney. From there, we spent three wonderful days under their exceptional care and organization, and were very well fed by all of Lilith’s delicious food. We performed for both students and the public in the local Colligan Theater, which was very accommodating in making all the necessary adjustments to lighting and curtains to create a suitable eurythmy space. There was also time to tour the Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, enjoy a beachside picnic and game of Capture the Flag with Lilith and Sebastien’s students, and especially admire the incredible beauty and built-by-hand work that has gone into making their vibrant, alternative Waldorf education initiative over the past several years.

Our early evening tour of their property on the final day included meeting some exceptional sheep with highly developed personalities, watching Carley scamper up to the very top of a tall redwood, a mini-concert by Grigory on Lilith’s mother’s living room piano, and a fun night ride back to the home base in the back of Sebastien’s pickup truck!

The tour was originally planned to continue further south to Los Angeles, with recent graduate Avi Safir eager to host us at the Highland Hall Waldorf School. Unfortunately, the outbreak of fires just weeks before led to postponing the Los Angeles portion of the tour for a future date.

The ensemble happily welcomed back longtime member Cameron MacArthur, who had very sadly been out all of last fall due to an injury. Luckily, Cameron was also able to fill in for some of Barbara Schneider-Serio’s roles, as Barbara was unfortunately unable to tour due to family reasons.

Lastly, huge and heartfelt appreciation to our pianist, speaker, and lighter, Grigory, Carley, and Ethan, without whom we couldn’t do what we do. They bring such skill, artistry, and creative problem-solving to what they do, elevating our eurythmy through their music, speech, and color. Immense gratitude as well to our team at home: Marta Stemberger for organizing the tour, Beth Dunn-Fox for all her assistance in countless details, and Barbara Schneider-Serio for sending us off in good stead and providing continued support along the way.

Written by Virginia Hermann
Photography: Courtesy of Stage Group Members

Bring the ESV Ensemble to Your Community!

Our tour coordinator, Marta Stemberger, would love to hear from you. Please email esvtour@eurythmy.org.