This one's a real challenge!

Jaques-Dalcroze's original method books include two volumes of "Rhythmique," then translated as "Rhythmic Movement." Among other skills and subjects explored, Jaques-Dalcroze's arm beat and stepping patterns are introduced, over eight chapters, as physical experiences in meters of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. The arm beats are standard fare in many Eurhythmics classes today, but the leg movements were new to me. So I decided to memorize them -- a task I found surprisingly difficult! For one thing, there's a lot of page-flipping involved, so here are the patterns in sequence for you to try on your own. In analyzing them afterward, we'll discover where the real difficulties lie.

In each meter, Jaques-Dalcroze presents the arm beats first, and then the corresponding leg movements are given under the heading "Analysis of Note Values." So I present them here in the same order, but combined. Take your time learning and practicing each from memory.
 

2: Arms

"On beat 1, step; on beat 2, bend the supporting leg. The free leg remains free and makes the next step."
 

The movements themselves don't consume equal amounts of space, they are physically awkward to execute, and they develop in an illogical structure. Those factors make me wonder how they were devised. For example, were the arms and legs created together, with the arms then isolated for initial study? Or were the arms devised first, with the legs added later? And, was the entire structure conceived of as a whole, or were movements for beats added as time went on, perhaps running out of ideas at the final leg movement (which is simply 'further back, more bent')? Or did Jaques-Dalcroze truly decide, for whatever reasons, that this was the structure that he found worked best musically and pedagogically?

If you don't know, it means one thing: Your guess is as good as mine!
 

Key: cr=cross; fr = front; dir=directly; bnt=standing leg bent; fwd=forward; bk=back; m=more.

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