dalcroze himself!<P>good source of info about resources - Musikinesis:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.musikinesis.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.musikinesis.com/</A> <BR> <A HREF="http://www.musikinesis.com/Resources.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.musikinesis.com/Resources.htm</A> <P>and an individual, very interesting perspective in this article here:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.musicstaff.com/lounge/article15.asp" TARGET=_blank>http://www.musicstaff.com/lounge/article15.asp</A> <P>-good links at the bottom of that page also.<P>btw, the royal ballet junior school have always included dalcroze eurythmics training for their young students. it's something i wish i had personally had the benefit of, when i was a young dance student.

Pardon me, Grace, but this all sounds greek to me. Can you or someone help summarize for someone like me? What in the heck is Dalcroze Eurythmics?

Emile Jaques-Dalcoze (1865-1950) was a Swiss music teacher and theoretician who established the Institute for Applied Rhythm at Hellerau near Dresden in 1911. There he continued the development of the system that he had begun as a professor in Geneva. Amongst his pupils at the institute were Mary Wigman and Marie Rambert. He returned to Switzerland during World War I and later Austria, before eventually settling back in Geneva where he continued his work.<P>His system is principally based on the relationship between musical rhythm and bodily movement that is known as gymnastique rhytmique or eurhythmics. The following information on the present form of this method of training is taken from the site of the Dalcroze Society UK<P>"Dalcroze Eurhythmics offers a unique approach to improving musical performance. It is an effective and established creative approach to musical training. It develops awareness and skill in co-ordination, musicianship, solo and ensemble performance for musicians, dancers and others. The method consists of three principal disciplines: Rhythmics, Improvisation and Solfa, with related subjects. Rhythmics develops an understanding of musical elements such as pulse, tempo, rhythm, phrasing, duration and structure through movement. It explores all aspects of the relationship between music and movement, as well as that between creativity and technique. Improvisation develops mastery of a variety of musical styles and the ability to improvise for movement, using voice, percussion and other instruments. Solfa is pitch training in relative Solfa based on the Kodaly method. Classes include the study of harmony, part-singing and conducting."<BR>(www.dalcroze.org.uk)<P>In a lecture he gave in 1925 Dalcroze defined how he saw the concept of rhythmical feeling as follows:<P>"Rhythmical feeling depends on psychophysical balance, not on counting…all who are badly organised rhythmically are awkward and clumsy in bodily gesture and in movement, even if there ear is musical…Those with easy, natural gait, whose tempo is readily modifiable, possess in essence the suppleness of rhythm. Those who are stiff and unnatural may have a mental idea of metre, but their rhythmical accentuation will be sharp and inflexible, while those of irregular gait and gesture will manifest an uneasy, restless rhythm."<BR>(Quoted in Greenhead, Karin [June 2000] book review of The Piano and Musicianship, The Summer Bulletin of the Dalcroze Society UK)<P>His systems primary aim is developing this natural innate sense of rhythmic response.<P>Other links<BR>Institute Jacques-Dalcroze Genéve <A HREF="http://www.dalcroze.ch/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.dalcroze.ch/</A> <BR>Dalcroze Council of Australia <A HREF="http://www.dalcroze.org.au/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.dalcroze.org.au/</A> <BR>Dalcroze Training Center at Carnegie Mellon University <A HREF="http://www.cmu.edu/cfa/dalcroze/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.cmu.edu/cfa/dalcroze/</A> <BR>

Very well put, Tuk. I think it's fascinating, and well worth studying. It's too bad it seems to have become somewhat lost to the present teaching repertoire. Does anyone know if this is being taught elsewhere?<P>On a lighter note, I thought Eurythmic was born in England in the early 1900's, and had a twin sister, Euphonia. Their nanny at an early age saw their talent and urged their parents to develop it and set them upon a stage. They debuted at the Albert Hall, I believe to rave reviews and went on to develop their career in vaudeville. They died in obscurity and poverty due to gambling debts, and lack of interest from their public....

thanks Tuk, i'm so glad YOU dealt with that! i was going to tell azlan to go visit those sites and <B>READ!</B>

Thanks, TUK. That's exactly what I needed; a summary of what it's all about.<P>And no thanks to you, Grace.

Too funny, Maggie!<P>I think eurythmics helped build audiences for modern dance. Ritzy women were taking the classes for exercise too, and were then supportive of Isadora Duncan's career.<P>From <A HREF="http://www.isadoraduncan.org:" TARGET=_blank>http://www.isadoraduncan.org:</A> "It was not until she reached London, however, that Isadora began to find acceptance for her dancing. She performed in private "salons" for ladies of social standing and their guests in London and Paris. Gradually her popularity grew, and she began performing on great stages throughout Europe."<BR> <BR>I think these salons were filled with eurythmics-ers.

Hi! Great to see dancers discussing Dalcroze Eurhythmics! Yes, it had a tremendous influence on the development of modern dance, both in Europe (Mary Wigman and Marie Rambert, as you mentioned, for example) and in America (Hanya Holm studied Eurhythmics, as did Doris Humphrey even before she joined Denishawn; it was even part of the Denishawn curriculum when they had franchised schools).<P>As you mention, the influence has been lost as subsequent generations absorbed its benefits, but weren't trained to teach it to their students. You can certainly see the musicianship in the work of early modern dancers -- both their strong choices of music, and their musically-sensitive choreography. I believe Doris Humphrey's "Music Visualizations," for example, were strongly influenced by her experience with Eurhythmics.<P>I sought out the Dalcroze training because, as both a dancer and musician, I was interested in delving deep into the music/dance connection -- and because some of the things I saw in the dance world regarding music made my hair stand on end, and I wanted a way to communicate musical ideas to dancers through their own performance medium. What I hadn't expected was the whole new perspective it gave me on every aspect of music itself.<P>I think Eurhythmics is the ideal approach to "Music for Dancers," particularly when taught with an understanding of the special, specific needs of dancers for working with music in teaching, choreography, and performance.<BR><P>------------------<BR> <A HREF="http://www.musikinesis.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.musikinesis.com/</A>

Hm. Maybe I meant Doris Humphrey, not Isadora Duncan. I should have checked my notes!<P>

Welcome, MonicaD, and thanks for your comments.

Azlan, thanks for the welcome! Criticaldance.com is a great forum!<P>Priscilla, I'm not aware of Dalcrozian salon performances, but you're right that there's definitely some overlap with Isadora -- Dalcroze mentions her in some of his writings, and I believe Gordon Craig went to Dalcroze's Hellerau (Germany)institute (lots of theatre types were interested in Eurhythmics, too, and the work that Adolph Appia was doing there). There seems to be no definite evidence that Duncan and Dalcroze ever had personal contact, although Irma Duncan wrote that he visited the Duncan school and observed a class. Apparently Jaques-Dalcroze wanted to have Isadora get involved with one of his projects, but nothing ever came of it.<P>Funny that you said it's "Greek" to you, Azlan, because that's an area of overlap between Duncan and Dalcroze, too. Jaques-Dalcroze was very much influenced by the the ancient Greeks, from philosophy ("Music and Movement are One") to theory (use of the Greek rhythmic modes) to the Greek-type togas that both Dalcroze and Duncan students wore. (And did those and the bare feet ever shock the administrators of the Geneva Conservatory back then!) <P>A great source for Jaques-Dalcroze history is Irwin Spector's book, "Rhythm and Life: The Work of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze" (Pendragon Press). There are also some articles on the history with wonderful photographs of the Hellerau institute and Adolph Appia's spacial/lighting designs at <A HREF="http://www.bethms.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.bethms.com</A> .<P> <P>

<P>i recommend this page at the site monica has linked us to - this page is history - and specifically about dance (and that section written by monica).<BR> <A HREF="http://www.bethms.com/j-d_history.htm#Dancers" TARGET=_blank>http://www.bethms.com/j-d_history.htm#Dancers</A> <P>thanks, monica - looka fascinating. glad you found us - hope you stay!