Dalcroze Eurhythmics: Groove, Gesture, and Embodied Knowing

Course Description

Summary

Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) saw all music as a metaphor for the body experiencing itself. We don’t just hear music: we feel it, and the Swiss-born composer and teacher invented a whole coursework to musically explore our sixth sense, proprioception. In Eurhythmics, (greek for ‘good flow’) we'll play with embodiment as the origin of dynamic, felt experience, designing games of movement and music to challenge the depth, breadth, and quality of our awareness. Students' weekly homework--reading and labelling scores and leadsheets to understand the grammar of music: notes, rhythms, and harmonies--will help build fundamentals of musicianship, alongside exercises in rhythm, singing, and reading.