Movement in Eurhythmics, Then and Now

by Monica Dale

Does this picture epitomize today's Eurhythmics to you? Things have changed, and not just the clothing! Movement in our culture, and our use of it music education, have become transformed since Jaques-Dalcroze’s day.

We can boil movement down to two distinct forms: prescribed and improvised. Let’s take a look at them and examine their use in Eurhythmics, both yesterday and today.

Prescribed or choreographed movement is the most common form in both education and performance. We find this in dance technique classes, of course, but also in music classes where specific patterns of movement are taught to children in relation to a song, for example. If there’s basically one way to do it, it’s choreographed.

Exercises, too, are often prescribed: Pilates, somatic release techniques, yoga, ballet, etc. may provide unique experiences for different individuals, but the positions and exercises themselves are clearly defined.

In contrast, consider improvised movement. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything goes; most often, improvisation entails a few rules, guidelines, boundaries, or structural elements in space and/or time. “Find a way” are keywords to improvisation, as in “find a way to make that idea change levels” or “find a way to move this rhythmic pattern.” As with improvised music, improvised movement becomes composition (choreography) when it is “set” and repeatable, as in Dalcrozian plastique animée.

In Eurhythmics, we find a special combination of prescribed and improvised movement. Movement as a vehicle for learning in the contemporary Jaques-Dalcroze method involves active problem-solving, balancing set parameters with improvised responses. The exercises are designed to facilitate a process of discovery, leaving some elements static and others dynamic.

However, Jaques-Dalcroze’s own texts reveal how far the use of movement improvisation has developed. Although he includes exercises in musical improvisation that involve movement (conducting the class in an improvised phrase, for example), the movement patterns and exercises are usually quite strictly defined. In his own time and place, modern dance was in its infancy, women were still wearing corsets, and “find a way” was indeed his own challenge!

Jaques-Dalcroze sought a vocabulary of movement with set positions or “gestures," metric patterns of arms and legs, and specific ways of executing movements such as skipping, all carefully illustrated or photographed. He wrote elaborate diagrams of floor patterns for group choreographic designs to be used in classwork, and composed several volumes of children’s songs with specific choreography and diagrammed stage spacing. He also produced choreographed performances, sometimes on a grand scale, with careful attention to spatial design as well as musical meaning in movement. In this sense, Jaques-Dalcroze was very much a choreographer.

In the mid-20^th century, an approach to teaching “creative movement” developed. Although not designed to teach music, it involved musical elements and skills from teachers, and seems influenced by both Jaques-Dalcroze and Rudolph Laban, as well as modern dance. “Find a way” became key. Musical elements (tempo, rhythm, dynamic energy) were involved, while the definition and exploration of spatial and movement elements became developed, as well.

Such innovations in turn have helped Eurhythmics teachers find ways to employ improvisation in movement, as well as music, as a valuable component of our work. Today we can explore and “tune” the body’s range as an instrument without necessarily using Jaques-Dalcroze’s specific gestures or choreographies; and we can invite students to provide their own movement ideas based on their abilities to hear and respond to elements in music. When I say to my children’s classes, “Here’s a way,” it’s usually only moments until I hear their own exclamations of “I have another way!”

In teaching, learning, and just living, our ability to improvise within the framework of a set of given structures is a crucial skill. As we seek new ways to make movement an effective vehicle for music learning, what does it mean to follow Jaques-Dalcroze’s model? In my view, it is less about using his specific choreographies or prescribed movements, and more about following his example of finding a new way. That creativity is the key to a dynamic process in music and movement that meets the needs and realities of today’s students. In creative response to our students, we “find a way” to connect and balance prescribed and improvised movement for maximum educational impact.

Examples of Jaques-Dalcroze's floor patterns, from La Rythmique:

Copyright Monica Dale 2005