Does anyone have any detailed information on Georgei Ivanovitch Gurdjieff?<P>He's mentioned in Lincoln Kirstein's book, Mosaic, as the director of "The Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man," located in France. Lincoln Kirstein visited him in 1927 and apparently he taught dance in some form; his dance movement or exercises were a part of his regimen for "human development."<P>This guy sounds intriguing but I haven't been able to find any more information on him.

Azlan - here is what I found on Google:<P><A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22georgei+ivanovitch+gurdjieff%22&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&btnG=Google+Search" TARGET=_blank>Ivanovitch</A><P>

i would think there would be a lot of information available about Gurdjieff - mostly philosophical/spiritual. there is a connection with the Sufi movement, I believe, and his thoughts had counterculture appeal in recent decades. the Google site seem unavailable at present.

Oh, whoa, thanks folks! Look what I found from Basheva's link. The photo and the quote are from <A HREF="http://www.lifepositive.com" TARGET=_blank>www.lifepositive.com</A>:<P> <P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>AWAKE, ARISE<P>G.I. Gurdjieff tried to break free of the ordinary life that binds everybody to the mundane by deliberately adopting unconventional means and ways to lead his life<P>An enigmatic figure, Georgei Ivanovitch Gurdjieff was considered by some to be the greatest mystical teacher of all time, and by others to be a fraud. His philosophy, commonly called 'the Work', blazed a new trail for occultism in the early 20th century, and paved the way for now-conventional techniques of group and encounter therapy.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><B><A HREF="http://www.lifepositive.com/spirit/masters/gurdjieff/gurdjieff_article.html" TARGET=_blank>More</A></B>

Heh-heh, I read Gurdjieff in about 1978. While I found his works somewhat interesting, he was a bit too off the wall to give me any lasting impression. Perhaps Alice Bailey....

Oh, Maggie, you were one of those, eh?

Alice Bailey?

Azlan, not really, but I'm a curious person, and I used to buy a lot of books of all types when I could afford them. I prefer philosophy, straight up. Socrates to Sartre, etc.<P>Grace, Alice Bailey was deep into the spiritual.<P>It seems in the 70's that there were a lot more books relating to dance on the shelves of bookstores.<p>[This message has been edited by Maggie (edited November 29, 2000).]

I think you are right, Maggie - I remember the shelves being lined with books on dance in the book shops. But, I think that was the height of the ballet boom wasn't it?

Here's another one from <A HREF="http://www.themystica.com" TARGET=_blank>www.themystica.com</A>:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Georgei Ivanovitch Gurdjieff was beloved by many in his Russian homeland and around the world, while others considered him a fraud. Many thought him a great mystical teacher (see Mysticism). It was his liberation philosophy, commonly known "the Work" that turned occultism in a different in the 1920s and paved the way for modern techniques of group and encounter therapy.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><B><A HREF="http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/g/gurdjieff_g_i.html" TARGET=_blank>More</A></B>

This is a link to the Gurdjieff entry from The Skeptic's Dictionary, an invaluable site. As you'll see, the author of the entry is, well, skeptical, but if you are looking for other points of view, scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you'll see links to Gurdjieff info and a reader's comments forum.<BR> <A HREF="http://skepdic.com/gurdjief.html" TARGET=_blank>http://skepdic.com/gurdjief.html</A>

thanks dirac, i have bookmarked that site. <P>i notice they have a guide to becoming a critical thinker - maybe all us criticaldancers should read that one!: <BR> <A HREF="http://skepdic.com/ctinfo.html" TARGET=_blank>http://skepdic.com/ctinfo.html</A> <P>i also appreciate the slant of this note:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>You can order the book from Amazon.com, but even when they say it will ship in 2-3 days, it may take 4 weeks or longer if the book is temporarily out-of-print. The price should be about the same from either source. (For those who are interested in my well-being, I make more money if you buy from Amazon.)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>even sceptical about their own recommendations....excellent! and as it should be.... <P><p>[This message has been edited by grace (edited November 30, 2000).]