Dalcroze Eurhythmics: what does a conductor do?

Course Description

Summary

Dalcroze Eurhythmics: what does a conductor do?

What can embodiment, proprioception, and attention to nuance teach us about how we express ourselves and interpret the expression of others? How do conductors lead groups of musicians without making a sound?

The musician Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) invented Eurhythmics to explore these questions. Self-awareness, self-expression, and musical knowing are all seated in the body, the fundamental constant of all experience. Through music and movement, we’ll consider the philosophy and enduring influence of Francois Delsarte. Playfully noticing the aesthetics of experience, we’ll investigate how we shape our world to be inclusive, interactive, and compassionate. As Stephen Neely, a modern Dalcroze pedagogue, writes, “The human experience is analog. It is the actual, visceral, flesh and bone, breathing, beating body that is the only translator of experience we possess.”