"Behind the visible movement there is another movement, one which cannot be seen, which is very strong, on which the outer movement depends. If this inner movement were not so strong, the outer one would not have any action."

-Jeanne De Salzmann-

Gurdjieff´s Sacred Dances emphasize the necessity of associating the body with an inner, spiritual aspiration. This need has been forgotten, the body lives on its own and we do not feel the limitation that this situation imposes on all the aspects of our life. We do not taste the latent possibilities in the body; we do not know how to listen to it or make contact with it.

It is in terms of opening up to that which is sacred that we can understand the work with Gurdjieff’s Dances. This opening can free us of our mechanical way of living, while it reveals to us the essential aspect of our own nature, the natural state of the being that has been forgotten.

In an interview, Mme. Solange Claustres, a personal student of Gurdjieff, describes the Movements and how they must be practiced as follows:

“These Movements contain the law of the evolution of human consciousness. They express how and in which direction this progression must proceed and, as such, they are a school in the real sense of the word. The body understands the Movements in its own way. We must develop a new attention in order not to become confused due to their complex asymmetric patterns. We must use thought consciously to visualize the chronology of the Dance. If we do so, we will be touched by a new vision. In this vision we will understand that we are part of a construction of great beauty, almost inconceivable. And in all this, music is not just an accompaniment but a living and integral part of the inner Work which happens during the Movement.”

After a performance of Sacred Dances that took place in America, somebody asked Gurdjieff what place art and creative work occupied in his teaching. He answered:

"You see our Movements and Dances, but all you see is the outer form; beauty, technique. I do not like the external side you see. For me, art is a means for the harmonious development of human beings. In everything we do, the underlying idea is to do what cannot be done automatically and without thought. Ordinary gymnastics and dances are mechanical. If our aim is this development, then for us, Dances are a means of combining mind and feeling with bodily movements and manifesting them together. In all things we have the aim of developing something which cannot be developed directly or mechanically, something which interprets all of man: mind, body and feeling. The second purpose of the Dances is study. Thus, movements have two aims: study and development."

In conclusion, it can be said that the ideas, the music and Gurdjieff’s Movements represent the intellect, the heart and the body of one and the same vision, and are a vital testimony of the work of a man who called himself a dance teacher.