Dalcroze Connections, Vol. 7, No. 2 — Spring 2023

Connections DALCROZE Connections

DALCROZEUSA.ORG

DALCROZE EURHYTHMICS IN THE USA AND BEYOND

VOL. 7, NO. 2 — SPRING 2023

Plastique Animée The Dalcrozian Analytical Technique

Developing Aural Skills with Card Games 10 intriguing musical puzzles

In memoriam...

Remembering Lisa Parker

Anatomy of a Lesson Introducing students to the Mazurka

Association, Dissociation, Automatism, and Quick Reaction Essential strategies for every eurhythmics lesson

The

Dalcroze Lab

2022–2023 SEASON

Greg Ristow Stephen neely Adriana ausch-simmel Michael Joviala & Leslie Upchurch Nicole BrockmaNn Karen Bescan & Terry Boyarsky Eiko Ishizuka Mari Izumi

Join a virtual meeting to explore the process and pedagogy of Dalcroze education from anywhere.

Selected recordings of past presentations are available.

Visit dalcrozeusa.org/dalcrozelab

DALCROZE

Connections DALCROZE EURHYTHMICS IN THE USA AND BEYOND

Dalcroze Connections is the official magazine of the United States Dalcroze community and seeks to inform, inspire, and educate Dalcroze practitioners at all levels.

It is published twice yearly by the Dalcroze Society of America.

MANAGING EDITOR Katie Couch editor@dalcrozeusa.org DALCROZE SOCIETY OF AMERICA PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Aaron Butler Michael Joviala Michelle Li Alex Marthaler (ex officio) Elda Nelly Treviño Jeanette Wong ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS Submission deadlines for each volume year are August 1 and February 1.

Guidelines can be found at https:// dalcrozeusa.org/resources/publications/ guidelines/

Contents Vol. 7, No. 2 — Spring 2023 FEATURES

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Plastique animée is an artistic realization of a piece of music using the body. In this article, Stephen Neely considers the rationales, purposes, and strategies that help when exploring music via “moving plastic.”

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ADVERTISING admin@dalcrozeusa.org Contact us for pricing and placement availability.

MAGAZINE DESIGN Alex Marthaler The views expressed in Dalcroze Connections do not necessarily represent those of the Dalcroze Society of America. © 2023 Dalcroze Society of America All rights reserved.

ISSN 2769-8602 (Online) ISSN 2769-8564 (Print)

Plastique Animée: The Dalcrozian Analytical Technique

Association, Dissociation, Automatism, and Quick Reaction Mary Dobrea-Grindahl writes about these essential strategies of a eurhythmics lesson, which teach students key skills in listening, coordination, concentration, and memory.

35

Developing Aural Skills with Card Games This reprint of Herbert Henke’s article from the American Dalcroze Journal has ten improvisation games from the master of musical puzzles.

COLUMNS

3

Editor’s Letter

4

In memoriam...

Lisa Parker

45

Improv Exchange Aaron Morrison

46

Anatomy of a Lesson Elda Nelly Treviño Flores

49

Aural Reactions

12

Verbal Reactions

13

Board Chair’s Letter

DEPARTMENTS

Scholarship Reflection

2

About the DSA

12

Advertiser Index

39

Donor Appreciation

41

Katie Ostrosky

42

2023 Conference Photos

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

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ABOUT THE DSA

The Dalcroze Society of America (dsa) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting the artistic and pedagogical principles of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze through educational workshops, publications, financial and consultative assistance, and the encouragement of local chapters throughout the United States.

Become a member of the dsa by visiting dalcrozeusa.org/join

Vision Statement

Board of Trustees

Regional Chapters

The Dalcroze Society of America works to ensure that a strong and vibrant community of practitioners and participants flourishes in the United States and benefits from the unique music and movement opportunities that the Dalcroze experience has offered the world for over 100 years.

Board Chair Lori Forden boardchair@dalcrozeusa.org

New England Chapter President.................................. Adriana Ausch-Simmel Vice President.................................................Caroline Ly Secretary...................................................Anne Edgerton Treasurer .........................................................Phil Berman

Mission Statement The Dalcroze Society of America is dedicated to serving the following threefold purpose pertaining to the professional practice of Dalcroze education, the extended global community of practitioners and institutions dedicated to this practice, and the general public’s awareness and appreciation of it.

• Sustain and expand the professional practice of Dalcroze education in the USA and in the world • Strengthen our connections to the global community of practitioners and institutions dedicated to Dalcroze education • Raise the general public’s awareness and appreciation of Dalcroze education

Diversity Statement

Vice Chair Mary Dobrea-Grindahl vicechair@dalcrozeusa.org Secretary Lauren Hodgson secretary@dalcrozeusa.org Treasurer Kent Cleland treasurer@dalcrozeusa.org Trustee Ruth Alperson Trustee Patrick Cerria Trustee Katie Couch Trustee Mira Larson

The Dalcroze Society of America is committed to growing a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community of Dalcroze practitioners.

Trustee Cynthia Lilley

Staff

Trustee Melissa Tucker

Executive Director Alex Marthaler executivedirector@dalcrozeusa.org

Trustee Laura Wiebe Ex Officio Trustee, Professional Development Committee Chair Michael Joviala Ex Officio Trustee, Executive Director Alex Marthaler executivedirector@dalcrozeusa.org

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New York Chapter President..................................................Michael Joviala Vice President........................................Clelia Cavallaro Secretary..............................................................Lisa Dove Treasurer ....................................................Pauline Huang Northwest Chapter President....................................................Jared Ballance Vice President & Treasurer...............................Xing Jin Secretary................................................Molly Porterfield Ohio Chapter President................................................Lauren Hodgson Vice President..................................................... Sonia Hu Secretary....................................Mary Dobrea-Grindahl Treasurer .........................................................Greg Ristow Member at Large ....................................Terry Boyarsky Philadelphia Chapter President.....................................................Dawn Pratson Vice President........................................Barbara Golden Secretary..................................... Gema Valencia-Turco Treasurer .....................................................Leo Zumpetta Rocky Mountain Chapter President........................................................ Katie Couch Vice President........................................... Emma Shubin Treasurer .......................................................... Lori Forden Are you interested in starting a chapter in your region?

Email chapters@dalcrozeusa.org

Editor’s Letter Katie Couch Magazines have always been a staple in my reading. In my youth, I enjoyed publications from Highlights to Rolling Stone, and more currently the New Yorker and 5280. I never imagined that I would one day be producing a magazine myself, and I’m thrilled to serve as the newest general editor of Dalcroze Connections, the official magazine of the Dalcroze Society of America.

Dalcroze Connections aims to bring our readership useful content through lesson plan ideas, repertoire pieces, long-form historical or pedagogical articles by Dalcroze experts, and more! It connects us as a community when we are separated by distance and time zones.

The 2023 National Conference this past January demonstrated to me (and others, I’m sure) how important it is to physically be together. Sessions were presented by a wide variety of clinicians, from highly trained Dalcrozians to professional dancers, and all were informative and enlivening. Among the many sessions filled with valuable information and experiences, there was something for everyone. For more on the conference, be sure to check out Lori Forden’s synopsis on page 13.

That is the goal of Dalcroze Connections: to provide you, our readers and supporters, with materials you can learn from and use, and to connect us all. This issue continues the theme of expert-written articles on the Dalcroze Teaching Strategies, with more to come in following volumes (and blog posts). We are also trying out our new regular features, including Anatomy of a Lesson Plan (“skip” to page 46 for trochaic rhythms) and Aural Reactions (on page 49).

Have any comments or feedback for us? Send it in to editor@ dalcrozeusa.org and have a chance to be featured in next issue’s Verbal Reactions column (our inaugural offering is here on page 12).

Above all, we hope you enjoy this latest issue, as much as we had fun putting it together.

Katie Couch Editor Westminster, CO katie@dalcrozeusa.org

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In memoriam...

Lisa Parker

Lisa Parker has been an important American Dalcroze pioneer. She studied at the New York City Dalcroze School with Dr. Hilda Schuster, who studied with Dalcroze. Lisa frequently remarked that in America, we made the Dalcroze work our own while still adhering to the principles. Having also studied with Dr. Schuster, I observed that it was true.

As many of her students did, I came to study with Lisa Parker at the Longy School of Music where she started the Dalcroze program, still continuing to this day. For years, Lisa traveled, giving classes and workshops, introducing and developing the Dalcroze work. For decades, her students came to study with her and with Anne Farber, from all over the country and the world. They were so much more than just teachers, they were mentors. The program became an important destination and still is for those interested in the Dalcroze work.

Students developed skills, knowledge, and in many cases, a career.

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Lisa Parker was a consummate Dalcroze specialist and proponent, yet she developed her own teaching style and often encouraged her students to do the same.

She frequently seemed to be teaching as if by magic, having a natural flow, focus, originality and sensitivity to her students. Although there was no way to copy her style of teaching, though many people tried, she did introduce countless students to the Dalcroze work.

She would often encourage students and colleagues to find their own way to adhere to it and to also interpret it.

While working as one of her colleagues, it was a trait I admired.

It is with great pleasure that we honor our dearest colleague, Lisa Parker, who served on Le Collège de l’Institut Jaques-Dalcroze (Geneva) for many years. Lisa made a remarkable contribution to the development of Dalcroze eurhythmics in the world, she was an inspiration to the entire Dalcrozian community! She was an outstanding teacher who had a profound influence on many of us, students and colleagues.

Her lessons were so musical and inspiring, and her smile, beautiful and caring.

Her departure creates a great void, but her legacy remains and will continue to exist through the generations.

Lisa Parker will be greatly missed by so many. Her work will most certainly live on in a myriad of ways, through her students.

Her memory will forever be engraved in our hearts.

On behalf of Le Collège de l’Institut Jaques-Dalcroze,

Ginny Latts Louise Mathieu President

Dear Lisa, Your presence in me is so alive that I address my words to you today.

I must have been seventeen years old when we met at a Dalcroze Congress in Geneva.

I was deeply touched by the beauty of your teaching: your musical and pedagogical intelligence, your humanity, your sense of humor, the richness of your improvisation, your pragmatism and your culture brought me a new breath and a complement to what I had known until then.

We met through eurhythmics, but it is above all a bond of friendship that we have woven during the decades that followed.

You had an open heart and mind. Talking with you about important or trivial things, laughing or crying, everything was possible.

Your curiosity led you on various paths, including the one of self-knowledge. The one we practiced together with a shared interest and enthusiasm is Osteophonie,

because of its deep connection between humanity and music.

You have led your professional life in a remarkable way. What a lot of wonderful work you have achieved! Your students all over the world are living witnesses of this.

However, you would have liked to find a better balance in your emotional life. You had many friends and were very close to your family, but you also said that you missed having a man by your side.

movement. You showed courage and resilience, and were infinitely grateful to be so well cared for by your family.

While your words became fewer—but still relevant—your sparkling eyes never lost their sharpness and your face remained so expressive! I will never forget the tenderness and emotional depth of our exchanges during the week we had the pleasure of spending together last summer in Maine with my husband Michel and your family.

After leaving the position of director of the Dalcroze department that you had created in Longy, you continued to give private lessons and courses to seniors. You took a lot of pleasure from it. For my part, I benefited from your precious and generous support in my return to Dalcroze teaching and you actively participated in listening to all the recordings I made for my pedagogical project. What a gift.

Dear Lisa, your leaving is not a rupture, on the contrary. Writing to you, talking to you, thinking about you, means always to live a beautiful moment of friendship.

Life has put you through a difficult ordeal by gradually depriving you of speech and

Françoise Lombard

I have only gratitude and joy to have had the privilege to meet you, to know you, and to share so many colors of life with you.

Thanks to Life.

I first met Lisa at the [Longy] Summer Institute in 1996. I was captivated by her teaching, and her personality and, of course, by Dalcroze. I promised to return for more, but family responsibilities kept me away until 2019. In the meantime, we kept in touch, I studied conducting with her privately, and she visited me and my family in Maine. There was nothing I learned from Lisa which I did not use repeatedly in my teaching and music-making over the course of those years.

What a joy to finally return to Longy in July of 2019, and, at eighty-five (!), Lisa welcomed me back as if I had never left...then I got hit by a car while biking home on the third day of class. I suffered a severe head trauma, and other injuries, leaving me almost immobile. Lisa sprang into action. I could at least observe classes, and she would solicit donations from the faculty so that I could Lyft back and forth to school daily once I got out of the hospital. I am grateful for that to this day. What an incredible lady!

A superb musician, a great teacher, and a wonderful human being! I will never forget her!

Richard Pitre

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

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One of the first, and most enduring, memories of Lisa was her piano improvisation. The ways Lisa traversed landscapes from atonal to tonal, her touch on the instrument, her bass lines, sequences, and fluid modulations were all part of it, but the sum was greater.

These were all tools through which she evoked such beauty and nuance of movement, such space. I often just listened to Lisa’s playing, not for pedagogical reasons but simply because of how much I love her improvisations.

What consistently blew me away though is how simple so much of her playing was. I mean, on the one hand here was music that was so evocative, so moving in such emotionally contradictory ways, and on the other, it was so often so simple when you analyze it from her perspective! The more accurate term is elegant. As profound as her playing was, Lisa made sure to play in ways that

enabled her to pour her attention to the smallest details of her students. I guess that sort of elegance is part of the reason that anyone who has had the good fortune of taking one of Lisa’s classes will know what we mean when so many of her students say that nobody played like Lisa.

The other enduring quality that comes to mind right away was Lisa’s thirst for learning. The notion that someone as accomplished and experienced as Lisa remained fascinated, and curious, and investigative, even when illness was upon her, is good news for all of us.

Thank you.

Guy Mendilow

Lisa Parker was Dalcroze royalty. She was a queen of improvisation; of unfolding layers of a lesson like the plot in an absorbing novel. We willingly surrendered to her magic, her musical elegance, her deep insights, and her endlessly inventive exercises that, literally, kept us on our toes.

I believe what Lisa meant was to be ever alive and alert to the needs of your class.

Be in the moment. Teaching is a form of improvisation; a give and take between all members of the equation; a mutual learning. Together, the teacher and students form a continuous feedback loop.

One day, in the summer of 1985, I stepped up the winding, wooden staircase of Longy’s historic home for a solfège class and was ultimately led to a basement room under Pickman Hall for a Dalcroze experience with Lisa Parker that transformed my life.

I learned from Lisa to be truly present with my students. They show me what they need; what direction to take. This may, or may not, correspond exactly to the lesson plan. That’s okay. What matters is making a connection with the students, students connecting with themselves and each other, all while immersed in the musical subject at hand. Lisa said that if you know your pedagogical goals (musical and otherwise) and have facility in your teaching, endless pathways to your desired destination will be revealed.

Lisa invited me to discover that music was more than notes on a page in need of re-creation. She guided me to the realization that music is alive in each of us; that our own creative voice is waiting to emerge and be fully expressed through our body, singing voice, the vehicle of a drum, piano, flute, or any number of instruments.

Lisa Parker was my lifelong teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend.

“Teach the students, not the lesson plan,” Lisa said in a Dalcroze pedagogy class. Of course, she did not mean to imply a lesson plan is superfluous. On the contrary, a well-considered, artful plan is essential and “Is your improv ready?” she would ask in her mellifluous, expectant voice.

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Today, Lisa Parker’s graceful elegance, keen musical intelligence, and endless creativity sparkles in each of us who were touched by her extraordinary life and teaching artistry.

Lisa’s legacy is carried forward, throughout the world, by her former students. In this way, I believe her gifts continue to enrich us beyond measure.

Melissa Tucker

The first time I met Lisa was at a workshop of the Tristate Chapter. We passed a ball, imagining it being light or heavy or any weight in between. Lisa accompanied/guided us by playing the piano. Her improv was out of this world: rich, varied, beautiful, surprising, inspiring, expressive, a joy to listen to and very inviting to move. I was in love with her music, then and always afterward. Lisa’s teaching was equally great: she generously shared her knowledge and experience, was demanding and encouraging in a miraculous balance. Lisa spread a lot of joy.

I miss her but I treasure the many beautiful memories. I’m grateful to have met her.

Johanna Kopp

I had the privilege of meeting Lisa Parker during my first months of undergraduate study at the Longy School of Music. She, along with the other wonderful Dalcroze teachers at Longy, opened a doorway into music and changed the course my life has taken. Not only did her musicianship inspire her students to learn more about how music resides in the body, she also inspired us to trust and develop our musical intuition. She had a special ability to see her students’ strengths and help them hone these as tools in our performance, improvisation and pedagogy.

Time and again, she would take an idea I set forth in improvisation or pedagogy—which often felt limited in skill or musicality—and show it could be nurtured and transformed into a powerful musical force that could move a classroom. She always found a way to challenge her students to stretch to a new capacity, no matter what they brought to their work, helping us to uncover what was within. Her simplicity of improvisation always allowed the music to shine through.

I will always remember her response at a workshop when a student asked how she created such a magical experience in her classrooms. True to Lisa, she found a way to reflect this compliment while getting to the heart of the matter, saying that she in fact was not magical, rather that “the magic is in the music.”

Thank you, Lisa, for revealing to us a little bit of this magic in all you did.

Emma Shubin

I first encountered Lisa Parker at an Orff conference in Boston where she gave a pair of Dalcroze workshops. I hadn’t signed up for these classes; some guardian angel had placed me in them. Fifteen minutes into the first class, I knew my life had changed. Here was this beautiful woman leading us into a [Dmitry] Kabalevsky piano piece through movement, through listening, through embracing it with heart and mind. It was a simple piece for children, and the lesson was perfect for children as well, but both piece and lesson were gems. I realized that I didn’t need to “invent the wheel”—it already existed at the Longy School. I arranged to come to Cambridge the following summer, putting my young children in a local summer camp, getting my first deep dive into Dalcroze.

Of course, I got more than Lisa in the bargain; she had the perfect co-teacher in Anne Farber. The two of them created an environment where learning wasn’t just fun—it was a passionate endeavor. Fixed do solfège became an adventure; movement was the way into connecting to what music was all about. I had been an improviser before I knew how to talk; Lisa and Anne opened up a world of pianisitic possibilities.

Never had a challenge been so thoroughly gratifying.

During the next five summers I found myself (literally) in Cambridge being trained as a musician and as a Dalcroze teacher. I would go back to my job in Los Angeles and gradually apply what I had learned to my own students.

Lisa was a musician’s musician and a teacher’s teacher. She provided a model of how to teach with grace, delight, and intelligence. Her piano improvisations were gorgeous but never self-aggrandizing. Her directions were as charming as they were precise. Every lesson was an experience in closing in on a concept, a physical puzzle, and (almost always) a piece of classical music. I was frequently brought to tears by the sheer beauty of the journey led by Lisa.

I join the many who are forever grateful to have known and studied with Lisa; each of us, in our own ways, carry a torch passed to us. But there was only one Lisa, and I miss her so very much.

Cynthia Lilley

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The first dsa National Conference I attended was held at Carnegie Mellon University in July 1972. I will never forget Lisa Parker’s opening session, a beautifully delivered and constructed eurhythmics lesson, a work of art, really. Fifty years later, I remember Lisa’s entry into the room: she glided in, with a gracious, loving presence. Her voice was lilting, warm, and expressive.

With a focus on the subject of binary-ternary, Lisa used imagery, beginning with “walls.” Lying on the floor, class members curled into fetal positions, surrounded and held in by imaginary walls. With our bodies—hands, elbows, feet, heads—we pushed the walls away, making more and more space, until finally, we broke free, standing up, then skipping and galloping around the room, with Lisa’s improvised music. As the lesson progressed, we delved deeper into the subjects. Lisa improvised music in binary rhythms that described walls: dense and serious. Responding to this music, we stood three or four, or more, abreast, arms locked as we moved, striding forward as in a phalanx, unsmiling. When Lisa improvised in ternary, we broke away, free again, happily skipping around the room.

Lisa’s lesson progressed seamlessly; she played musical examples that illustrated the subjects of the lesson. These included

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the Dance (“Tanz”) from a section of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana,”Uf Dem Anger,” to which we improvised binary-ternary “minuets” with partners. The lesson concluded with Lisa reciting lines from the poem, “The Mending Wall” by Robert Frost: “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” (ternary), and “Good fences make good neighbors” (binary). The entire lesson was intensely musical; I was enchanted, excited, inspired—opened. Afterwards, my head spun, filled with new ideas. I wanted more.

“More” became a lifetime of studying and teaching Dalcroze eurhythmics.

At the heart of the Dalcroze lesson is music improvisation by the teacher for the students’ movements. In this photo (above left) of a workshop lesson by Lisa in winter 2014, members of the class are moving with partners and smiling. They are responding to the fantastic, upbeat, jazzy music Lisa improvises. We can see, in Lisa’s posture, that while Lisa watches her students, she watches over them; while they listen to her music, she is making pedagogical and musical decisions.

My experience as a musician and teacher has involved a decades-long immersion in Dalcroze eurhythmics. Lisa has played a major role in this scenario. After participating in the dsa workshop in 1972, I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for one year.

During this time, I observed Lisa’s eurhythmics classes for children and adults. Since that time, I have studied and worked with Lisa. I cannot imagine my personal or professional life without Lisa’s presence. Lisa has been a generous teacher, colleague and friend. She leaves a legacy of a multitude of students, across the U.S., and around the world; many are now certified Dalcroze teachers. After decades of leadership of the Dalcroze Institute at the Longy School of Music, Lisa confidently bestowed the role onto Eiko Ishizuka. The Institute continues with a talented new leadership and cohort of teachers, all beautifully trained by Lisa.

I was delighted to see Dalcrozians Mattie Kaiser and Aaron Butler in 2017 in Quebec at the Universite Laval, where the third International Conference of Dalcroze Studies (icds) was held. They participated in a special eurhythmics class taught by Silvia del Bianco and Sylvie Morgenegg, from the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze. Mattie moved the exercises away from the class, off to the side of the room, carefully, as she held their infant daughter, Sage. In this photo (above right) are three generations of Dalcrozians: Lisa, Mattie, and Sage.

Thank you, Lisa.

Ruth Alperson

My thoughts about Lisa are almost too profound to put into words. Lisa was poetry in motion, from her voice to her mind to her entire being. I will never forget her and I count myself as one of the blessed ones to have had her in my life.

Lisa Parker’s teaching in the dsa Conference at Ithaca College in 1981 was my first experience of her beautiful work in music. From then on, I was drawn like a magnet to her lessons and workshops, both as participant and observer, at Longy and other places, including her unforgettable visits to Toronto.

Kathy Jones

Without a doubt, Lisa’s inspired teaching was always undergirded by her sense of presence...a profound sense of being. I sensed she first and foremost just wanted to “be” with each of us.

In conversations, she generously shared insights about her own teaching and the people from whom she learned, especially Hilda Schuster. Lisa as editor encouraged me to write my first Dalcroze history article, “Chicago, 1913: Eurhythmics Entering American Dance,” for the American Dalcroze Journal (Fall 1983). I am forever grateful that she introduced me to many of her colleagues and students, who in turn widened my understanding of the Dalcroze practice.

Twila Miller Selma Odom

Soaked in academic music theory, I walked into one of Lisa’s 3rd-year classes at Longy and walked out in a daze. I felt I had found what I had been missing all along—the wonderful holistic musical world that is Dalcroze—and there was no more magical guide than Lisa, of course.

I’m ever grateful for the Dalcroze experience and Lisa’s wisdom, patience, and inspiration. After years of improvising professionally and for fun, I realized that there was a focus and discipline to it—thrilling!

She was a wonderful pianist, and improviser, of course, and gave us the precious gift of expanding our minds, our listening, our perceptions of ourselves and what could be possible. I’ll miss our lunches, discussions, friendship, and I’m not alone in this.

Thank you, dear Lisa. You gave us joy, always.

Margaret Ulmer

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Video: Keynote Address from ICDS3 Sing and move with Lisa’s music in this recording from the 2017 3rd International Conference of Dalcroze Studies (ICDS3) in Quebec City, Canada titled “The Living Moment: Exploring Improvisational Practice.”

Watch it at linktr.ee/dalcrozeusa

In 1978, I came to the United States to study and mentor with Lisa Parker. I had met her at the Dalcroze Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in the summer of 1977 and she graciously invited me to join her at Longy School of Music for a year of study. I delightfully and immediately accepted her invitation that came to me just after I had completed my Master’s Degree in Eurhythmics at the Musikhochschule Detmold, Germany, and was ready to venture into the New World.

I so loved working with Lisa as a student, teaching assistant and then becoming her daughters Eden and Wendy’s German language teacher where we created and performed German plays and musicals on stage in Lisa’s backyard.

Most creative and enjoyable times.

Lisa had become a friend, confidant, and a guide, and was most influential in terms of my teaching preschool- to college-level groups at New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music. She supported me in finding my way into this new country that ultimately became my home.

I’m deeply grateful to you, Lisa, for your guidance and wisdom and (not to forget) your contagious humor and playful way of being. I feel most blessed having known you.

Elsbeth Meuth

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I have recognized and respected Lisa Parker as an exceptional Dalcroze teacher and mentor who had always taught and trained all her students in a kind and wholehearted spirit. Gratefully, I am truly proud to be one of her students at Longy School of Music during the period from 2003–2005.

She warmly welcomed me, as a foreign student from abroad, to the school by kindly allowing me to have an audition appointment, and later accepting my audition. Since then, I have learned a lot from her in all academic respects.

Most importantly, I have learned from her how to be a competent music teacher. She had helped me change the way I feel about learning and teaching music, thus leading me to the Dalcroze world. With her rich experiences, Lisa Parker had heedfully trained and tempered me to become a good music teacher of today. Her outstanding example has greatly inspired me to determinedly march forward along the path of Dalcroze music and to do my best in my teaching career in the interest of my students.

Toon Chamroon

Editor’s note: Unfortunately, space limitations prevented us from publishing all the reflections we received in Lisa’s honor. Please visit dalcrozeusa.org/blog for Part 2.

Lisa Parker Memorial Fund

Help us share the power and artistry of Dalcroze with teachers everywhere.

Donate at dalcrozeusa.org/memorialfund

Verbal Reactions Discover what other readers are saying about the most recent issue in these letters to the editor.

Dear Michael [Joviala],

Dear Michael [Joviala],

I enjoyed [“Spatial Awareness” from Vol. 7 No. 1 (Fall 2022)]. I found resonance with a number of ideas.

I want to say CONGRATULATIONS for the new look of Dalcroze Connections. It’s beautiful and I enjoy a lot going through [to] discover the different articles and sections.

In particular, your idea about using (or not using) “stretchy material.” For years I had incorporated elastics for a group understanding of dynamics. For one class I forgot the “stretchies” and had the group imagine using a stretchy material as I improvised. The result was so much more rewarding. They concentrated on how the group as a whole imagined and implemented the connection to sound rather than focusing on their personal efforts to pull or release the material.

Thanks and bravo to all the people that participate in that project and good luck!

Looking forward to see you at the next congress and study days.

Silvia Del Bianco

Stephen Moore

Congratulations on a beautiful issue of Dalcroze Connections. I proudly display my hard copy in my studio for parents to page through.

I particularly enjoy the richness of perspectives from practitioners all over the country, and the variety of articles ranging from informational to personal anecdotes. Some of it is immediately applicable to teaching classes (the article on incitation and inhibition) while other parts are thought-provoking (Michael Joviala’s musings about space), reaffirming (KuanTing Chang’s scholarship report), or inspirational (Louise Mathieu’s reflections on using recorded music in the classroom). All presented dynamically with beautiful photos and interesting graphics.

Thank you for a job well done!

Mira Larson

What do you think about this issue of Dalcroze Connections?

Email us at editor@dalcrozeusa.org

Advertiser Index Dalcroze Connections is made possible by the participation of the following training centers, organizations, and businesses whose advertisments appear in this issue. They make this high-quality publication possible and we are grateful of their support of our mission.

The publisher does not necessarily endorse any particular company, product, or service. The Dalcroze Society of America (dsa) is not responsible for the content of any advertisment and reserves the right to accept or refuse any advertisment submitted for publication.

Information for advertisers (rates, order form, ad specifications, etc.) can be found at dalcrozeusa.org/dalcroze-connections or by emailing admin@dalcrozeusa.org

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ifc The Dalcroze Lab 23

CMU Marta Sanchez Dalcoze Training Center

24

The Dalcroze School of the Rockies

34

Institute for Jaques-Dalcroze Education

38

Friends of Dalcroze

43

Lucy Moses School Dalcroze Summer Intensive

44

Longy Dalcroze Summer Institute

44

Virtual Dalcroze Masterclasses

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Winchester Community Music School

Board Chair’s Letter Lori Forden The power of togetherness and connection is strong when like-minded people gather in one place like many of us were able to do at the Dalcroze Society of America National Conference at Baldwin Wallace University. As Dalcrozians, we are linked by a common practice and an intention to explore movement in music, movement as music, and music through movement. The conference offered us a precious chance to celebrate and interact with our community in person.

The Dalcroze method of learning, teaching, and exploring music brings richness to my life. Many people, myself included, will tell you that practicing Dalcroze changed the way they make music; play their instrument; feel music; or simply understand music.

This is one of the reasons many of us work to maintain and nurture our community through the Dalcroze Society of America (dsa). We not only want the Dalcroze community to survive, but we also want to see it thrive.

Our Board of Trustees, committee leads, and committee members have enthusiasm and many ideas about how we can help to serve our community, to encourage information sharing, and to educate artists who don’t yet know they want Dalcroze in their life. This academic year, the Board of Trustees has been engaged in productive and meaningful conversations about what our

community does well, what it needs, and what opportunities exist. These conversations are leading us to our next strategic plan.

The strategic plan will lead us to develop and refine programs and committee goals. The plan will also help us to evaluate our budget and the funds needed to make these efforts come to life.

We want you to feel welcome in the dsa and there are several ways you can join in the fun. If you feel it is the right time in your life to volunteer on a dsa national committee or in a local chapter, please reach out and tell us some of your special interests or skills. Another option is to check out one of our Dalcroze Lab events for some inspiration or to learn more about a subject.

Connect with us through our blog, Facebook page, or Instagram and share the posts with your friends. Read and share this Dalcroze Connections magazine. Regardless of your time availability, we greatly appreciate your donations and continued membership in the dsa. Our organization continues because of your support.

Lori Forden Chair of the Board of Trustees Morrison, CO lori@dalcrozeusa.org

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PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE The Dalcrozian Analytical Technique Stephen Neely, Dalcroze License

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PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

“The acquisition of all the plastic, dynamic, and agogic qualities indispensable to rhythmist or dancer, actor, or mime, will make him only an adapter, a transposer, an automaton, unless these technical qualities are controlled by a wealth of fancy, a supple, elastic temperament, a generous spontaneity of feeling, and an artistic, responsive nature. All plastique education, therefore, should aim especially at the arousing of natural instincts, spontaneity, individual conceptions.

The final culmination of studies in moving plastic is certainly the direct expression of aesthetic feelings and emotions without the aid of music or even speech.” — Émile Jaques-Dalcroze

M

y introduction to the Dalcroze classroom was filled with many variations of follows, canons, replacements, quick reactions, improvisations, and entrainments shared with my professor and with my peers. I found the work challenging and exhilarating and was so thrilled by the interactions that I couldn’t wait to come back. One of the most memorable sets of classes in my early training included explorations into plastique animée (sometimes translated as “moving plastic,” “living sculptures,” or simply “music visualization”). Plastique animée lessons are notably different from our other routines in that instead of being led through the lesson, as is the case in most of the examples mentioned above, the building of a plastique animée asks the student to lead with an infinite set of options and often concludes with a public presentation of the creation. Plastique animée is a favorite activity for many students, but for others, it can be among the most challenging, so taking time to consider rationales, purposes, and strategies can be of great help when offering these explorations.

Plastique animée is a historic and critical part of the method dating back to the earliest writings of Jaques-Dalcroze, notably in La Rythmique et la plastique animée (1919). The Dalcroze Society of America Professional Certificate and License Teacher Training Program handbook offers the following definition: Plastique animée is an artistic realization based on analysis of a piece of music through the body as an outgrowth of eurhythmics or solfège. It is an artistic interface between music and movement which deepens the student’s understanding of both. This can take on many forms from informal classroom experiences to formal staged presentations. Generally, plastique animée requires the movers to: 1. Improvise 2. Analyze, interpret, and demonstrate specific formal and aesthetic elements in the musical score and its relationship to movement in an artistic way 3. Create, rehearse, and present

This description is by necessity general as the work can serve different purposes for different teacher-student interactions. Depending on the specific school, era, and goals of the coursework, plastique animée may be offered with a variety of outcomes. It can be presented solo or in ensemble with colleagues.

It is regularly presented with recorded music, but some schools prefer live music, and, in other cases, it might be presented in total silence. It is regularly mounted to pre-composed works but can also come together in the moment to newly improvised music. It is a desirable practice for children and adults and is appropriate for individuals with great physical technical abilities as well as for novice movers and individuals of varying physical ability. It can emphasize a tightly choreographed set of choices or be used as an opportunity for improvisational exploration. Each of the options afford different learnings and can be tremendously valuable as teaching tools if presented with proper pacing and attention.

In all cases, plastique animée is an overt demonstration of a personal and specific embodied musical experience. The most common examples involve a chosen selection of repertoire, a score, and a recording. Simply stated, the student or students choose a piece of music, study the score, ask themselves, “In what ways does this music move?” and then search for congruent gestures to demonstrate the musical movement.

“The true perception of movement is not of a visual order, it is of a muscular order.” É M I L E JAQ U E S- DA LC ROZ E

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PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

Students workshop movement in a plastique animée class. Photo by Michelle Li.

Dance

as gesture alone

Plastique animée Dance

using music

Dance

mostly matching music

Not Dance

W

hen working with new students, it is often necessary to clarify the differences between plastique animée and dance. While both are full-bodied gestures regularly paired to music, there are significant differences between the two. It might be easiest to think of them on a spectrum with dance at one end and plastique animée at the other. The purest examples of dance value movement and gesture above all. Dance can be presented with or without music and is primarily concerned with the motion of the body and the visual presentation of this motion. In the same way that sculptors manipulate clay, choreographers of dance are sculpting the moving body to create visual compositions. This is gesture for gesture’s sake.

A second point on the spectrum would be dance with music. Here, it is still dance in that it is gesture for gesture’s sake, but we start to

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DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

see how music can influence the movement.

It is more likely that a choreographer will place significant movements like a grand leap at an accented point in the score rather than completely ignore the pushes and pulls within the music. The dancer might use the musical movement to amplify the gestures in the choreography. However, it is also common for choreographers to ignore specifics in the music and to allow the music to “play along” as the dancer dances in front of and not necessarily with the sound. So, while some leaps might appear on accented beats, there can be other examples in a presentation where movement choices are not paired to the music (e.g. a pirouette where there is nothing in the music that feels like spinning).

A third point on the spectrum attempts to balance the values between body movement and musical movement. In these situations, a

choreographer is listening closely to the score, studying the composition, and then matching the technical abilities of the dancers (or movers) to salient moments in the score. The choices are more specific and paired, but there can also be moments in the dance where the gesture separates from the musical score to make a gesture statement. This point on the spectrum is balanced between revealing the score and prioritizing the body in motion.

At the last point on the spectrum, it is the music that is the sole motivator of the choreography and gesture is merely a tool to reveal the music and musical interpretation. Plastique animée values the musical motion above all else. The choreographer must study the score/ performance before they can know what gestures will fit, then use gesture to demonstrate the musical motion. In plastique animée, all gestures are tightly paired to the musical score.

PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

“There is no singular way to create a plastique.

The only mandate is that all gesture must reveal specific motion in the score.”

S T E P H E N N E E LY

Introducing the Work

H

ow might we bring a new group of adult students to the work? What if they have never seen a plastique animée choreography and are new to Dalcrozian routines? As mentioned in my introduction, plastique animée can be the most exciting for some students and the most dreaded for others. What is freedom, self-expression, creativity, and collaboration for one student can be experienced as insecurity, judgment, and profound awkwardness for another. This is true for all our Dalcrozian routines, but I have found these emotions and experiences amplified in the plastique animée lessons. It is critical to be extra aware and thoughtful as we build to the grand finale!

As in all things Dalcroze, it is the preparation that makes all the difference. Long before I ever mutter the words plastique animée, I take my students through hours of big-body, expressive gesture exercises spread over multiple sessions. We start with simple, silly, and playful

experiences that challenge them to literally stretch their bodies into different levels in space (high, middle, low) and proximities (gestures that expand the body, compress the body, and bring one closer and farther away from others).

We explore the differences between directional movement versus random wiggles and motion without momentum or trajectory. In early classes, we mirror and echo the gestures of our neighbors; we explore our own personal expressive range by playing with gesture near the body and stretching as far from the body as possible. We also explore the gesture as phrase by noting arcs of intention in our improvised motions—such as beginnings-middles-cadences and the forward yearning motion necessary to achieve the sensation of phrase.

These building classes are presented in ten-, twenty-, and thirty-minute increments interspersed with other aspects of our musicianship study. My classroom makeup commonly

consists of music performance and composition majors from eighteen to twenty-three years old.

These undergraduates and graduates do not all self-identify as movers or dancers, so I work slowly to introduce the practices of big-body expressive gesture. I prioritize the simple, the playful, and the successful. I keep the pacing fast in these early experiences: thirty seconds to explore; fifteen seconds to show your neighbor your movement; immediately switch neighbors and watch someone else’s work; smile and wink and tell your next neighbor, “Hey, you are really good at this!” The exact pacing is, of course, dependent on the specific group of students. Some students are dancers at heart, even if they have none of the formal technique, and require very little onboarding. Others require much more. In either case, we engender trust in the students through exercises performed in a safe, supportive atmosphere geared toward the larger goal of deepening musicianship.

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PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

In Attention One, students study the score and improvise movement to it. Photo by Michelle Li.

Creating the Plastique

Attention One

Attention Two

here is no singular way to create a plastique.

The only mandate is that all gesture must reveal specific motion in the score. There should be no extraneous nor meaningless gesture. It is a literal moment-to-moment pairing. The movement should look like the music sounds.

The experience of moving the score should feel identical to the experience of listening to or performing the score.

When working with new movers, I always offer the following plan: • Pre-Plastique: Find the score, study it for objective, inarguable compositional choices.

• Attention One: Embrace the awkwardness.

This is improvisatory and exploratory.

• Attention Two: Discover what fits. This is subjective and personal. This is composition.

• Attention Three: Curate your choices. Vet, tweak, and adjust. This is interpretation.

After we have some initial ideas about the objective facts or data in the composition, we next turn to the subjective and interpretative opportunities in the score. This is where plastique animée really shines. The subjective decisions are the personal moments in the piece that proclaim, “It feels to me like this.” In Attention One, we ask, “How does this line move?” Any given line or passage in a selection of music must move, but it does not need to feel exactly the same to every participant. Plastique animée is an exercise that challenges participants to find the gestures that reveal the aesthetic of every musical moment in the score.

There are lots of ways to get into Attention One, but I always encourage my students to just “go for it.” With no time to discuss or prepare choreographic fireworks, I play the recording and tell the students to make up something and embrace the awkwardness. The excerpt plays; they wiggle, and lean, and giggle, and look around desperately for someone to offer something promising. The short excerpt finishes and we then take sixty seconds to play with some of the improvised choices that came up in the first awkward run. Attention One is the beginning of noticing what feels. It is not the simple naming of the objective facts in the score. It is the turning toward the subjective, personal experience and noting how it fits with the music we are moving to. Ninety seconds in, we are already entering Attention Two.

The actual making of the plastique is a backand-forth game of trying out ideas and seeing what fits. Some gestures work and others fall flat. When experimenting in an ensemble, we find that some arrangements of bodies beside bodies help make the score clearer, while other choices obscure the music. Some choices are tremendously clever and fun and fancy while others are more mundane, but the only choreographic choices that should find their way into a plastique animée are those that illuminate or demonstrate the musical motion of the score.

Attention Two is not simply finding things to do to fill up the time of the performance. It is to find gestures that reveal the music.

T

Pre-plastique Before any movements are made, we take a short period (a few minutes) to get familiar with the piece, study the score, and discuss cogent moments and significant happenings. The main question to answer here is, “What did the composer write into the score?” We note the form and the key and the objective facts in the score such as tempo, meter, dynamics, voicing, imitation, articulation, etc. Our plastique animée will need to acknowledge many of these obvious compositional choices.

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DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

I tell my students, “Plastique animée is not a dance. It is a realization of the experienced gestures in a selection of music.”

S T E P H E N N E E LY

PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

Example Introductory Pieces When introducing plastique animée, different pieces are more and less appropriate for different students. A good piece has a mix of technique, expressivity, density, and complexity that match the interpreter. Here are three pieces that university students have presented successfully in my classroom.

• Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, ii. Assez vif et bien rythmé A contemporary-sounding pizzicato piece with an urgent character that later becomes melodic with bowed playing.

The instruments of the string quartet either play together or take turns in the lead role, which can help guide students in their onstage groupings and texture.

• Maurice Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor, 2nd movement A beautiful yet frantic scherzo and trio with elements of canonic playing

Attention Three Attention Three is the real point of the exercise and is where we see the true value of the practice. Attention Three is woven in with Attention Two as we realize that not all gestures fit (objective analysis), and not all fitting gestures feel right (subjective interpretation).

Up to this point, students were led through a period of gestured improvisations and were challenged to make choreographic choices.

The Attention One work is not always fun or obviously enriching. Sometimes it can feel silly, and for some students, awkward. Attention Two is more rewarding in that we get to do some planned movement, but it is still less clear how the exercise is deepening one’s personal musicianship. A common attitude encountered from students in professional training is, “Why are we doing this?”

A careful teacher will be there to aid the student in recognizing the value of the exercise and can help them see the artistic process they are involved in. Every time the mover improvises an awkward motion for a given moment of music, they immediately make a value judgment. The motion either fits or it does not. For the choices that do not, we cringe and throw them away. For the gestures that work, we are likely to keep them, feel congruence with the music, and use these as the basis for our evolving choreography. It is in the Attention Three phase where we start to understand that we have had an instinct for musical feeling all

between the three instrumentalists. The along. This is a revelation for many students.

The fact that not all motions fit is proof that “music feels” and that “music feels personally to me.” The student likely will not have words to describe why one gesture choice feels better than another, but we can easily agree that not everything fits. We cannot just fill the space with anything because, at the root of it, feeling is motion. There is musical feeling which is manifested as motion in the experiencing body, and there is overt gestural motion, which also manifests as personal aesthetic or feeling in the experiencing body.

Plastique animée pushes us into the highest levels of artist interpretation. Once we toss the choreographic choices that do not fit, we are led to a range of choices that do fit. We come to realize there are multiple gestures that could fit any single phrase. It is then the job of the interpreter to weigh and balance and assess each of these choices against one another, honing the decisions to the best choreography of the day. While we might find five different options for a given phrase at today’s rehearsal, we also acknowledge that the options are not aesthetically equal. They all fit, but one is bolder, and another uses more space, and one is busy while another is subtle. One choice depends on greater connection with my colleagues and another shows unison motion but separate trajectories.

Thus the infinite realities of true interpretation come to light.

B section features a change in meter from 3 to 4, which can be a nice moment for students to choreograph.

• Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, “American” B.179: iii.

Molto Vivace A lovely American-sounding piece in ABABA form where the B section uses the theme of the A but in minor. Elements of a bird call can be heard in some of the melodic lines.

It is noteworthy that in each of these pieces, there are lots of notes! That is to say, one cannot (should not) attempt to find discrete movements for every note.

Instead, selections such as these require the interpreter to choose—what of the complexity is so salient that it must be brought to the front and demonstrated in gesture? Much of the point is that different interpreters will choose different lines, different emphases, different motions to reveal their own embodied music. Every new artist reveals something different and personal about the selection.

Listen to these pieces at linktr.ee/dalcrozeusa

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Photo byMichelle Li.

PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

A Tool for Analysis

W

hile there are many opinions in our community and in our histories for the importance of plastique animée in Dalcroze training, I am happy to champion the practice as a tool for analysis. Plastique grants strategies that not only encourage the interpretation of a score, but demand a comparison of interpretation against the live performance of the body in motion. In plastique, the interpreter is called to literally demonstrate their choices. These amount to value decisions. We are confronted with actual dilemmas in artful interpretation. The novice might look at the score and assume that every note is as important as the other. We hear this subconscious opinion in every child’s sonatina performance that seems to emphasize each eighth note as the next most important moment of the piece, resulting in playing note to note (a plastique animée of this interpretation would have hundreds of equal length gestures, each one revealing the next eighth-note motion). Master interpreters know there is a ranking of musical gestures. There are gestures at the level of the eighth note, but also of the quarter note, and the half bar, and whole bar, and two bars, and larger and larger (and smaller and smaller!).

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We can find awareness of gestures embedded inside greater gestures embedded inside meta gestures.

The notion of gestures embedded in or encapsulating others is well understood in general music education. However, it was not until I was exposed to plastique animée that I started to understand how we can also choose to value one level of these above others. Rather than always going with default or instinctual choices, plastique animée provides a working ground for various interpretations, offering clear options to value one line or motive or motion above another. One cannot value everything equally. When noting the various engagement options, the interpreter understands that we cannot acknowledge the four-bar and the embedded two-bar phrase equally at the same time. The act of interpretation is recognizing the multiple choices and then ranking one choice above the others. In this way, our choices reflect our values. Plastique animée is the overt demonstration of these values.

As we work through any given selection, we start with unrehearsed guesses—hunches as to what works. It is telling how often we change our minds when engaging in the process of attentions one, two, and three. Logical-

ly, a certain choice seems to make good sense, yet when tested somatically, many of these logics are discovered to not actually reflect our musical values, requiring more searching and more revision—all of which is revealed through the personal body in motion.

“Music is supposed to feel.” This is a statement we try to keep front and center in all my adult musicianship classes. Music feels, and feeling requires motion, and plastique animée is a way to try and vet various motions, phrase by phrase, gesture by gesture, until we have an interpretation that reflects our values. At the university, I have taken to describing plastique animée as the Dalcrozian Analytical Technique where the point of the exercise is to discover, vet, and prove “in what ways does this music move?” We begin with a claim that all music is either yearning toward or away from moments of crusis. The plastique animée requires the interpreter to support that claim and prove the choices are true through their eu-rhythmic “good-flow” demonstration.

Plastique animée is so rich an exercise that it would not be possible to include all its uses, versions, or outcomes in a single article. That said, I would like to offer a few more notes for clarification.

PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

Expressive Movement Vocabulary The mover(s) involved in creating a plastique animée are permitted any gesture they believe reflects the motion of the music. Some motions are very small and quick, pulling our attention to a micro level of the score, and other choices reflect grand and extended gestures, motions that span great distances—again, pulling our attention to macro layers of the mu-

Embodying the Score— Not Dancing to It

sical motion. As a teacher in the method, I encourage the broadest range

Dancer technique is not a require-

of expressive movement possible (gestures in all levels of space, gestures

ment. While we all aspire to greater

near and far from the body, gestures that lead with any part of the body,

technique in all our performance, it is

gestures of varying tempi and rhythms, and a rich attention to intentional,

very acceptable to mount a plastique

trajectory-filled motion versus directionless motion).

animée at any point in your Dalcroze journey. We conduct the exercise with young children, older bodies with limited mobility, and everyone in between. Greater technique simply affords greater expression.

While it certainly has several things in common with dance, realizing the goals of the plastique animée is not dependent on dancer training or on dancer attentions. I tell my students, “Plastique animée is not a dance. It is a realization of the experienced gestures in a selection of music.” It is more like the act of conducting an orchestra than dancing at the ballet.

The conductor simply attempts to embody the score for the performing ensemble.

Put the Body in Motion We always learn new information when placing the literal body in motion compared to merely thinking or abstractly feeling our way through a selection of music. At the root of all Dalcroze work is the soma—the feeling-experiencing body. The power of the work is in the attending to this first instrument, the experiencing body.

We are familiar with the more traditional approach to interpretation where one scans a score and makes choices about the performance through thinking and logic. These choices can be conceived and tested separate from a feeling body and, in that way, might fall short in the actual act of performance. Plastique animée separates authentic gestures from superficial, ill-conceived, and untested gestures. It is for this reason that many students continue using plastique animée as part of their music interpretation practice years after taking their last eurhythmics class.

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PLASTIQUE ANIMÉE

Finding Authentic Expression When critiquing a plastique animée for authenticity, one can start by simply asking, “What still feels awkward?” The exercise is effective in pointing out the passages where the mover has no meaningful interpretation compared to other passages where the artistic vision is strong. I tell my students, “If it feels off, it is.” At the end of a successful project, there should be no moment without thoughtful eurhythmic trajectory—in other words, there should be good flow.

There is something about the body in motion paired with sound that efficiently highlights a focused or unfocused artistic vision.

Solo Projects

Students use a ball as a focus aid for points in space during a plastique animée class. Photo by Michelle Li.

Solo projects are useful as they force the performer to choose the single most important thing to realize at any given moment. Yes, one might attempt to show one line with feet while also demonstrating another line with the torso, but the strongest choices rise quickly to the top.

In the plastique animée, our musical values are on clear display.

Ensemble Projects Ensemble projects are wonderful, of course, for the collaboration and sharing of ideas. They also allow the group to show multiple layers in the music at once.

Primary attentions versus secondary gestures, counterpoint, and emboldened unisons are all possible once there are multiple partners.

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When looking for models of musical excellence and interpretative prowess, we cite conductors as oft-applauded musical leaders.

The conductor of an orchestra or opera is called upon to lead the ensemble in a singular vision. Internationally, the primary tool of the conductor is gesture. For all the words and descriptions anyone might offer, conducting uses simple leans, swings, and heaviness and lightness of the gesturing body to relay the deepest messages. I have come to introduce plastique animée as a form of amplified conducting, where we are attempting the same rich sharing as the main stage conductor. However, in plastique animée, we are not bound to a podium with only two arms, a stick, some leaning, and raised eyebrows. The Dalcrozian can conduct their interpretation with their whole body and with their whole body in concert with multiple bodies, all attempting to share the unfolding movement in the music. When I frame this historic practice as a tool for analysis, and when I make clear the connections to becoming a master interpreter, the exercise not only hits a chord with my students, it truly becomes one of the most significant interactions we share in our lessons. ■

Stephen Neely, PhD, the Milton and Cynthia Friedman Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of the Carnegie Mellon Marta Sanchez Dalcroze Training Center, Carnegie Mellon University School of Music, lectures and presents workshops in the fields of design, music, architecture, and pedagogy. He is the co-founder of the Virtual Dalcroze Meet-Up and past president of the Dalcroze Society of America. He enjoys traveling to present hands-on workshops around the globe on the overlaps between music, design, the body, aesthetics, performance, and experience.

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ASSOCIATION DISSOCIATION AUTOMATISM & QUICK REACTION Mary Dobrea-Grindahl, Diplôme Supérieur

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T.

”

H “W

AY CHANGE, CHANGE NIS B

EB

EEN

YOUR

HANDS AND FEET

.”

It’s not often that we encounter a eurhythmics lesson without hearing one of these quintessential phrases. They are an integral part of a eurhythmics class and an indicator that students are experiencing one of several frequently used pedagogical strategies: association, dissociation, or quick reaction. Each is a powerful teaching tool for the Dalcroze educator.

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

25

ASSOCIATION, DISSOCIATION, AUTOMATISM, AND QUICK REACTION

ASSOCIATION

when an element (musical or otherwise—a beat, a rhythm, a touch, or a gesture) occurs exactly the same way in two or more voices simultaneously

A

teacher plays a pattern and the students clap it; student A draws a line through space and student B mirrors it; a class sings in unison while clapping the rhythm of the song they are singing. These are all examples of association experiences in a class.

Photos by Kathryn Nockles.

Associations provide foundational listening and movement experiences for students; they are building blocks. After teaching college students for over thirty years, I know that students love demanding physical and musical exercises, but I’ve also learned that simplicity matters; associations provide simplicity. I use associations in multiple ways in a class.

26 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

ASSOCIATION, DISSOCIATION, AUTOMATISM, AND QUICK REACTION

To introduce a new topic

To set the stage for a more difficult exercise

When teaching students who are experiencing eurhythmics for the first time, I use association between the piano and their stepping or clapping to introduce the beat in the simplest, most direct way, playing only what students will clap or step. This builds confidence and sets the stage for success while simultaneously teaching students that the piano provides structure and guidance in the class.

I often use the same technique when introducing a new topic; my goal is for students to experience a series of small successes as we gradually build to the big challenge over the course of a lesson.

Imagine your lesson plan or long-term goal includes using a follow in class. My motto is “every good follow begins with a follow.” In a typical follow, students step a rhythm or pattern, and the teacher improvises over it with increasing complexity, using syncopations, hemiola, character changes, and other musical elements. Students need to hang on to the rhythm, stepping accurately and musically throughout the exercise.

I prepare students for successfully executing a follow by playing exactly what the class steps, first in a simple, pure way, gradually adding different dynamics, characters, etc., but still playing only the rhythm. This helps hone their listening skills and adjust to changes in tempo and character without added rhythmic complexity.

Sometimes, students need ideas to spur their movement vocabulary, and I use an association exercise to lead them down a new path. Most often this is as simple as asking students to imitate a gesture I create. (Because the association is with gestures, I refer to this as a physical association rather than an association between a musical element.)

To expand a group’s movement vocabulary

Eventually, I say, “Ok, you’re on your own,” or “Pair with a friend; choose a leader and copy what you see.” I then go back to the piano to improvise as they continue exploring.

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

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ASSOCIATION, DISSOCIATION, AUTOMATISM, AND QUICK REACTION

DISSOCIATION

when two or more different elements occur simultaneously

T

he dissociation may occur between what I play and what students step (I play divisions, they step the beat, or I play triplets, they step divisions), between their hands and feet (they step the beat while clapping the multiple), or between a gesture they see and how they move (their partner’s arms may gesture overhead while theirs move out to the side).

A dissociation raises the level of difficulty of an exercise, requiring more concentration and

up for success or utterly overwhelm them. I work hard to ensure my students have enough experience with each element of the dissociation before I ask to combine them.

For example, we’ll clap and step the beat, then clap and step divisions; once this is comfortable (becoming an automatism), I may add a layer and ask students to clap the divisions while I play the beat, then switch between the two. Some classes need an additional step of

the more “solid” (most often slower) element in the feet and the quicker in the hands before asking the students to change.

Dissociation exercises turn from moments of challenge to moments of pure joy in a eurhythmics class, particularly when students are asked to perform complex dissociations. I remember well the first time I was asked to step amphibrach (a syncopated rhythm pattern) tempo primo in my feet and twice as fast in my hands.

coordination from participants.

Experiences in dissociation encourage physical and aural awareness and are essential to high-level music making. We live in a complex, polyphonic world, and musicians need to develop the ability to perform their part while actively listening to the music happening around them. Jaques-Dalcroze offers this perspective in Rhythm, Music and Education:

pairing students, with each partner performing one of the rhythms (giving the added benefit of social interaction). Once they master each step—which may take three minutes or thirty, depending on the group—they perform the dissociation independently. Typically, I start with

Despite careful preparation by my teacher, it seemed impossible! Eventually, as I mastered the skill, the sense of accomplishment and joy I experienced was palpable. I’ve watched the same transformation in my students over the years; I think it’s one of the secret rewards of our work.

One can imagine counterpoints of all kinds. The interesting and useful thing is to experience—live—them organically.

Polyrhythm is facilitated by the cultivation of automatisms. An arm will execute a rhythm automatically while the mind executes the execution of a second rhythm by another limb.1 Just as with association, I use dissociation exercises to teach a specific skill (e.g., beat/division/multiple) and also as a starting point for more complex exercises, like a quick reaction, canon, or follow. When using this strategy in class, it’s paramount for teachers to recognize that they have the power to either set students

Dissociation Examples Example A: Teacher plays the subdivision, students step the beat Teacher plays: Students step:

œ œ œ™ 6 œ œ & 8 œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ œ œ nœ

{

nts step:

6 Ϫ 8

Ϫ

Ϫ

Ϫ

Ϫ

Ϫ

Ϫ

Ϫ

œ ˙

œ ˙

œ ˙

œ ˙™

Example B: Students clap the upper rhythm, step the lower rhythm Hands:

Feet:

b3 &b 4 ˙

{

? bb 3 œ ˙ 4

œ ˙ #œ ˙

œ ˙ nœ ˙

œ ˙ œ˙

œ˙

œ˙

œ˙

˙™

Photos byKathryn Nockles.

Dissociation exercises turn from moments of challenge to moments of pure joy

28 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

ASSOCIATION, DISSOCIATION, AUTOMATISM, AND QUICK REACTION

REASSOCIATION & AUTOMATISM

when a dissociation becomes easy—an exercise we can execute without effort or thought—it is a reassociation

A

reassociation creates freedom and enhances the spirit of play for students of any age and level. It becomes, in fact, an automatism, something we can execute completely without thinking, often while focusing on or simultaneously performing something else.

Simply put, automatisms are the Dalcrozian’s answer to multitasking. Automatisms allow us to shift our focus from one task to something new or more difficult and to trust our physical capabilities.

Do I use automatisms in class in the same way I use other strategies? No. Mostly, they are

something I observe, a sign I can challenge students with a more difficult exercise. But I can’t imagine executing many other exercises—a dissociation, ostinato, canon, polyrhythm— without the benefit of an automatisms.

Jaques-Dalcroze understood the vital role automatisms play in our daily lives. In Rhythm, Music and Education, he wrote, “The better our lives are regulated, the freer we become in every way. The more words are included in our vocabulary, the more our thought is enriched. The more automatism possessed by our body, the more our soul will rise above material things.”2

Automatisms are the Dalcrozian’s answer to multitasking

Eurhythmics students work to automatize the Dalcroze arm beats in 5. Photo by Kathryn Nockles.

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

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QUICK REACTION EXERCISES

when the teacher uses a signal to motivate a change in movement through one of four means: verbal, aural/musical, visual, or tactile

If there is a classic exercise in the eurhythmics experience, the quick reaction may be it.

I remember my first eurhythmics class when my teacher said, “And when I say ‘change,’ you’ll change between hands and feet.” My eyes got big and I thought, “You want me to do what?” I never thought this was a skill I could master, and certainly, in that moment, I never realized how much fun quick reaction exercises could be. Musicians need to be flexible, ready for change, and prepared for the unpredictability of performance. Quick reaction exercises serve to develop these skills while allowing teachers to reinforce new concepts and build the level of challenge in a class.

In a quick reaction exercise, the teacher uses a signal to motivate a change in movement through one of four means: verbal, aural/musical, visual, or tactile. Each challenges students differently and develops other skills, such as listening, coordination, and concentration, in various ways.

30 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

ASSOCIATION, DISSOCIATION, AUTOMATISM, AND QUICK REACTION

Here, the teacher (or a student) gives a verbal cue (“change,” “hip,” “hop,” etc.) to stimulate change. The frequency of the signal is one component that determines the level of difficulty of the exercise. When I’m introducing a topic, I may signal change at the end of a phrase; as students master the skill, I increase the frequency to add a layer of difficulty.

Verbal Quick Reaction

One of my favorite things to do in a class is to choose an interval (each measure, for example) to say “change,” to set up a habit, then change the interval at which I give the signal. Invariably, students have been lulled into believing the pattern will last forever and get surprised by the sudden lack of change! It’s always a great reminder for them of how musicians can’t stop listening, thinking, and reacting. Unpredictability is fun.

Verbal Reaction Exercise “hip” #4 œ œ œ nœ œ & 4 œ œ ™ œ œ œ #œ œ ™ œ œ œ œ ˙ (step beat)

&

# œœœœœœœœ œœœœ

“hop”

œ œ œ œ œ™ œœ œ œ œ ˙

(step divisions)

(step beat)

Laced into the teacher’s improvisation, an aural quick reaction uses music to signal a change. An easy example of an aural reaction is playing for a locomotor skill—a march—then changing to another—a skip—using only the music as a guide. No words!

Aural/Musical Quick Reaction

The possibilities are endless: Music in major may indicate stepping forward; in minor, backward. Three notes played in the bass might indicate tapping the floor; a trill in the soprano means turn around or change direction. Aural reactions are fun and help develop listening skills.

Aural Reaction Exercise

b 4 & b b 4 œ œ. œ. œ œ œ œ œŸ b . . œ œ &b b œ œ œ œ ˙ (change direction)

Ÿ˙

? œ œ. œ œ œ œ . œ -œ -œ œ- &

(change direction)

(tap floor)

?

œ œ -œ -œ œ- & œ œ ˙ (tap floor)

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

31

Photos byKathryn Nockles.

ASSOCIATION, DISSOCIATION, AUTOMATISM, AND QUICK REACTION

Here, students need to watch the teacher (or a partner) to execute a change.

The teacher might tap beats on their head, and students imitate. Then the teacher switches to shoulders, then knees, and students make each change with them.

Visual Quick Reaction

A more challenging visual reaction might use gestures to indicate specific rhythm patterns. For example, in compound meter, arms overhead indicate divisions; arms extended down, the beat; out to the side, a skip; and in toward the chest, short-long. The class claps or sings the rhythm as the teacher moves between patterns; a student could lead the exercise while the teacher plays, leading to interesting experiences with phrasing and cadences. To add another layer, split the class in half. One group watches the right arm; the other, the left, and magically, the quick reaction also becomes a dissociation exercise.

Visual reactions can be helpful to change the pace of a class, or to use when the teacher feels a need to be with the group physically rather than at the piano. They provide opportunities for students to lead an exercise. They also help students learn to “hear” music in their heads when it’s not being provided for them, enhancing their musical imagination and providing a pathway to improvisation.

Here, the signal for change is indicated by touch. This may be the least frequently used type of reaction, but, like an aural/musical cue, is an effective way for teachers and students to communicate without words.

Tactile Quick Reaction

Imagine students seated in a circle. One person walks around the outside of the circle. If they tap someone’s head, that person claps the beat; shoulders, divisions.

Another possibility: in pairs, one student taps beats (or a pattern) on the shoulder of their partner, who responds by clapping, articulating, or improvising a melody in rhythm.

A fun exercise is to place students in a line. The student in the back taps a rhythm on the person in front of them, who does the same to the person in front of them; when the teacher says “change,” everyone turns around and the rhythm “changes” direction. Warning: silliness can easily ensue!

32 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

Placing the signal to change is essential to successful execution of any quick reaction exercise.

Give the cue too soon and students may try to change before it makes musical sense; too late, and the teacher sets the class up for failure.

When I execute a quick reaction in class, I think anacrusically so that placement of my signal aligns rhythmically with the musical element.

Closing Thoughts Association/dissociation and quick reaction exercises are closely related: an association may quickly turn to a dissociation as the teacher starts to improvise over a rhythm and layers a new skill; that dissociation may then become the basis for a quick reaction exercise. These strategies teach listening, coordination, concentration, and memory and are a valuable asset in a eurhythmics teacher’s cache. ■

Endnotes 1 Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Rhythm, Music and Education, trans.

Harold Rubenstein (Ashford, Kent: The Dalcroze Society, 1967), 70.

2 Jaques-Dalcroze, 61.

Photo byKathryn Nockles.

Mary Dobrea-Grindahl, Diplôme Supérieur, is Professor Emerita at Baldwin Wallace University where she enjoyed a multi-faceted teaching and performing career for over 30 years. She is Vice Chair of the Dalcroze Society of America Board of Trustees, a member of the PDC (Professional Development Committee), and served as editor of the American Dalcroze Journal. Mary trained teachers as a faculty member of the Dalcroze School of the Rockies Summer Academy and the University of Maryland, College Park; she also worked at the Institute for Jaques-Dalcroze Education in Bethlehem, PA. As a clinician, her workshops focus on using eurhythmics to develop artistry. Mary is dedicated to using music to bring art to members of underserved communities; her current passion is developing ways to use eurhythmics to teach reading literacy to children.

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

33

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Developing Aural Skills with Card Games

By Herbert Henke • Introduction by Aaron Butler

Originally published in the American Dalcroze Journal, Vol. 22, No. 2

T Émile Jaques-Dalcroze’s vision of musical education was joyful and kind. He said, “It is the function of teachers, by care and perseverance, to create in students’ souls the ray of joy.”

(Rhythm, Music and Education, 1915) Herbert Henke connected this to the delight of puzzles. In a 1999 interview he said, “It’s vital to arouse curiosity when you teach music. You must offer a bit of surprise, like completing a puzzle” (For the Love of Teaching, 1999). Here, in Herb’s own words from vol. 22, no. 2 (Winter/Spring 1996) of the American Dalcroze Journal, is the joy—and intrigue—of musical puzzles.

Explore more of the archive at dalcrozeusa.org/adj

here is no doubt that Émile Jaques-Dalcroze was a clever, imaginative teacher. One only has to read eyewitness accounts of his eurhythmics classes or consider his solfège-rhythmique approach to the teaching of ear training and sight singing to verify this description of him.

Today we would probably call many of his teaching techniques “game strategies” because they contain the elements of fun and challenge.

Reading a simple scalar melody with insertions of different key signatures every few measures, for example, requires quick-reaction and alert awareness of whole- and half-step placements.

Meeting the challenge and hearing the abrupt key shifts can provide amusement and a sense of accomplishment that leads the reader to want to repeat the exercise with a new set of key signatures.

Jaques-Dalcroze emphasized that his teaching approach should be adapted to fit each teacher’s particular strengths, interests, and setting. Eurhythmics is not a step-by-step

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

35

DEVELOPING AURAL SKILLS WITH CARD GAMES method that never varies, even though there is a logical sequence for learning that underlies the teacher’s planning. This pedagogical freedom has been both a strength and a deterrent in the dissemination of Jaques-Dalcroze’s ideas.

The freedom has allowed eurhythmics to be adapted for use in many different environments—artistic, educational, and therapeutic.

However, the expectation that the teacher must take the initiative to develop a teaching plan rather than follow a preconceived set of instructions dissuades many persons from committing themselves to the use of eurhythmics in their work.

The playing card game strategies described in this article should be considered as possible teaching ideas that might fit under the umbrella term of eurhythmics. Would Jaques-Dalcroze have approved them? Who knows, but they do contain elements of fun, challenge, and easy manipulation of simple material that are the hallmarks of eurhythmics teaching. They also require the student to concentrate, to respond to aural stimuli, and/or to produce tonal patterns on command. The strategies reflect the author’s interest in puzzles and solitaire, both of which are wonderful devices to avoid dozing off while mindlessly watching television.

Everyone who reads this article is encouraged to try playing each game with a set of playing cards while sitting in a comfortable chair with a lap board or in front of a desk or table. Then shuffle the cards and play the game again. Your ability to sing scale degrees and intervals will be improved with practice.

Those who use the playing card game strategies must be careful to adapt the level of difficulty for their own teaching situations.

Success comes in the careful balancing of challenge and fun: too simple is boring and too hard is frustrating. Feel free to change content and to invent different strategies as “spin-offs” from what is presented here.

For the following strategies, each person should have one or more sets of playing cards, ace (1) through eight. For the teacher’s use, a set of giant-sized cards purchased in a novelty shop will be an advantage. Playing cards are an advantage because they can be read easily from more than one position. If playing cards are not available, it’s simple to make facsimiles on 3x5 file cards. It is helpful to have a mixture of black and red numerals on the cards. When the games require students to work together, they should sit on the floor or around desks/tables, pairs facing each other or in small circle groups. Often it is advisable to have two or three students sing while sharing the same cards in order to help one another be successful.

36 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

Games in which the cards represent scale degrees: Each card represents the number of a major scale degree. Use any keys that are comfortable to sing or play. Eventually, these games can be played in the minor mode or even in other modes if the instructor wishes.

6

The teacher ho lds up each ca rd in random orde r for the stud ents to sing. The stud ent may resp ond by singing syllabl e names or nu mbers, depending up on the teache r’s preference. The ca rds are shuffl ed and the game is re peated. The ob vious adaptation is to begin with only 1’s, 5’s, and 8’s, or only 1’s, 2’s, an d 3’s, or whatever lim ited number of pitches the teacher th inks is approp riate for the group.

Games in which the cards represent intervals: In these games, each card number represents an interval. Naturally, students tend to be confused by this change from the preceding games. One way to deal with the confusion is to use only black numbers for scale degrees and red numbers for intervals. Most of the games deal with the intervals that occur within the diatonic major (or minor) scale. For instance, in the major scale “1 – 3” is a major third, “4 – 2” is a minor third.

A

♥

GAME NO

GAME NO. 1

♠

GAME NO. 3

.2

The teacher pl ays a scale de gree and the studen t puts down th s rd ca n w e o r appropriate ca rn up thei rd from the on er Students tu th o es n A held. .

W ly he n all of the ca dividual rds are put do ts to sit in and work in en d w u n st th e e en th tire group of st is for h udents sings possibility up one. Eac g th in e pi rn tc tu he s in order from ch ed by a circle, ea left to right. ch indicat Again, the ga ngs the pit me can be as ly te ia ed student si m difficult or im p u as o gr si mple as the te d the acher determ the card an that pitch g ines. n gi Fo in r ex -s am o ple, it could be ech the played with follows by ect pitch if rr ju st co tw e o th di g ffe n rent pitches: or by singi “1” and “3.” red.

Everyone, of co student er urse, must ha individual ve the same numbe r of cards, such as four “1’s” and four “3’s.”

GA ME NO . 4 “2 – 5 – 4 – 8” in of cards. An example might be Put down a vertical double row student must sing “3 6 – 7” in the second row. The the row to the left and “3 – 1 – directed to sing each be If desired, the student can – 2,” “1 – 5,” “6 – 4,” and “7 – 8.” ect fifth,” etc. perf 5, “3 – 2, major second,” “1 – interval twice using the words

GAM E NO. 5 Each student has eight cards representing a major scale. The teacher plays four intervals such as “2 – 5, 8 – 7, 3 – 1, 4 – 6.”

The students place the correct cards down in front of them. Be sure to ask the class to sing what they have put down in front of them after the cards are in place.

DEVELOPING AURAL SKILLS WITH CARD GAMES

GAME NO. 6 The teacher holds up cards in random order after establishing the pitch on which each interval is to be created. If “1” is the first pitch and each interval is sung ascending, then the card numbers coincidentally represent both intervals and scale degrees. But if “8” is the first pitch and each interval is to be sung descending, the card numbers truly represent only the intervals to be sung. Other scale degrees should

also be used as the first pitch for each interval. The issue of ascending or descending intervals must be decided by the teacher. The direction to be sung can be announced each time. Another possibility is to use the playing card suits. For example, if red cards are being used, the hearts can represent ascending intervals and the diamonds can represent descending intervals. If both ascending and descending intervals are to be sung from a given pitch, remember to choose a key that is vocally comfortable.

G AM E NO . 7

GAME NO. 8

cher holding up played with the tea This game can be students placing re mo or or with two the number cards first pitch sung is in sequence. The cards on the table erval to be sung. n indicates the int “1.” The card show card is to be sung xt ne shown by the The next interval rson showing the , and so on. The pe from the last pitch “descending.” For ce “ascending” or card would announ r cards are “4-asfou t y is C and the firs example, if the ke and 3-ascending,” ing, 2-ascending, cending, 6-descend “C – F, F – A, A – B, be sung would be then the pitches to ches below “1.”) ing represents pit B – D.” (The underlin

Individuals can practice singing both scale degr by dividing card ees and interva s into two piles ls of black and red nu black card and mbers. Turn up sing that scale de a gree. Turn up a interval ascend red card and sin ing or descendin g th at g from the pitch degree. Turn up sung on the scale another black ca rd fo r a new scale de red card for a ne gree and anothe w interval to be r sung. Another m this game is to ore difficult versi turn up the red on of card first and th challenge is to m en the black ca ake the black ca rd. The rd scale degree the interval to be the second note sung. of

GA ME NO . 9 The cards can be used to go beyond diatonic interval sing ing. For example, use just two suits—hearts representing major and spa des representing minor. Decide on the first pitch from which each inte rval is to be built. Then sing ascending or descending major or minor intervals acc ording to the card shown. As in Game No. 8, it can be more difficult to use the agreed-upon scale degree as the sec ond note of the interval rath er than the first.

8 4♣ ♦

G A M E N O . 10

Students have bo th red and black cards representing as many intervals as the teacher wishes to use. In this ga me red signifies a m ajor interval and black signifies a mino r interval. A begin ning experience migh t be to use just the numbers “2, 3, an d 5.” The teache r then plays either melo dic or harmonic intervals of major an d minor second s, thirds, and fifths. The st udents place re d or black cards on th e table in the or der of the intervals played. When ch ecking accuracy after all of the intervals are played it is a go od idea for the te ac her to play each int erval and ask th e students to echo-si ng it.

Skill development requires practice.

However, repetition without thought or without change becomes very tiresome and unproductive. The advantage of using card games lies in their easy manipulation of basic musical material, the fun of using playing cards in an unorthodox way, and the need for students to react actively and quickly to aural and visual stimuli. The games will be enjoyed if the teacher carefully adapts them to match the students’ level of musical development so that a feeling of success rather than frustration is engendered. When all of these considerations are taken into account, the games can be a valid part of the eurhythmics experience. ■

Herbert Henke (1931–2015) was Emeritus Professor of Eurhythmics and Music Education at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Prior to his Oberlin appointment, he taught at the University of Maryland and in the Oberlin and Cleveland public schools.

Dr. Henke was active as a clinician in eurhythmics choral music and music education throughout the United States, Western Europe, Taiwan, and Japan. He had extended teaching residencies in Australia, Germany, and Sweden and served as choral director for the American School in London and as a music consultant in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Dr. Henke authored numerous articles on integrating eurhythmics into choral and instrumental training.

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

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Adapting at My Dalcroze Certificate Course

Katie Ostrosky, 2022 DSA Memorial Scholarship Recipient

W

ith generous help from the Dalcroze Society of America, I had the opportunity to continue my Dalcroze teacher training at the Dalcroze School of the Rockies Dalcroze Academy (dsrda) in Dallas, TX, from July 18-30, 2022. Under the direction of Dr. Jeremy Dittus, Diplôme Supérieur, the faculty at dsrda inspired and challenged me, encouraging me to stretch my skills to the best of my ability. The experience was transformational, and I left the academy brimming with ideas to use with my piano and music theory students.

During the two–week Professional Certificate course, each day was filled with new learning experiences, both in formal class settings and informal exchanges with my peers.

Our days included movement warm-ups led by Dawn Werme Pratson, where she would lead us through combinations from different somatic practices drawn from Bartenieff to tai chi. It was a wonderful way to begin the day.

Eurythmics classes occurred each day, coupled with pedagogy lessons. During pedagogy lessons, students created lessons according to Dalcroze principles and had the opportunity to demo-teach these lessons to our class. This was an invaluable experience for me. Not only did I get the opportunity to try out ideas in a safe environment, but I received feedback from my teacher and my peers. Workshopping ideas together helped shape the direction I wanted my lessons to take, and seeing my peers’ lessons helped me see the Dalcroze principles and strategies at work in a number of different lessons designed for a wide variety of ages and

contexts. In addition, my eurhythmics teacher Lauren Hogsdon’s knowledge and experience with Dalcroze pedagogy combined with best practices from the wider educational field helped place these philosophies and ideas directly into a practical application.

Solfège lessons have challenged me to reframe the way I conceive of music theory concepts I already know. As a graduate teaching assistant, I have taught aural skills to music majors at the university level, and this reframing of processes to learning aural music theory in a Dalcrozian way has been extremely beneficial for my students. Instead of lecture before skill acquisition (as many music theory textbooks advocate), changing to a theory follows practice model allows students to take ownership of their skills and transform music theory from something that only exists on the page to something deep in the body and inner consciousness.

In a strange twist of events, I sustained a fracture to one of my fingers during the third day of the workshop (yes, scarves were involved…). This had substantial implications for improvising at the piano, as well as many other areas needing to be assessed. The faculty at dsrda could not have been more supportive in both validating my concerns not only as a Dalcroze student, but as a pianist. For improvisation at the piano, with the help of Jeremy Dittus and Bill Bauer, I modified my movement improvisations to only use the left hand, and rewrote progressions so that I could play both chords and motifs with one hand. While a finger injury is never an ideal situation for a pianist,

what I gained from the experience was an important lesson for me as both a musician as well as a human being. The compassion and support from the faculty and students helped me grow in ways I had not expected, but am grateful for nonetheless.

I have deep gratitude to the dsa for its support of my continued Dalcroze training through the Dalcroze Society of America Memorial Scholarship. The funds have substantially lightened the financial burden of embarking on my Dalcroze journey.

More info at dalcrozeusa.org/scholarships Applications due March 1.

2023–24 Scholarship Recipients This year's Scholarships Task Force, chaired

by Mary Dobrea-Grindahl, evaluated fourteen applications.

On April 20, 2023, the Board of Trustees voted to approve this task force’s recommendation and release $3,000 from the dsa Memorial Scholarship Fund to cover the cost of the awards.

Through this program, we are able to assist serious students at a Dalcroze training center.

Please consider donating to support the next generation of Dalcroze educators.

2023–24 Scholarship Recipients • • • • • •

KuanTing Chang Qin Ling Danica Schofer Cuishan (Tracey) Shi Joy Son Yin Zhu

22 Memorial Scholarships 23 Fundraising Campaign Dalcroze USA • April 15 – May 15

dalcrozeusa.org/2023giving

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

41

gether!

Tod

2 23

January 13–15, 2023 • Baldwin Wallace University • Berea, OH

1. The Dalcroze people are my people.

2. Eurhythmics truly is the greatest way to teach.

3. Thank heavens I’m a Dalcroze teacher!

CONFERENCE ATTENDEE

42 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

Photos by Mark Horning.

After every DSA Conference, I leave saying three things to myself:

The Dalcroze School at Kaufman Music Center’s Lucy Moses School

Immerse yourself in Dalcroze education, studying rhythm, pitch and harmony through creative movement and physical, vocal and instrumental improvisation. Our classes can lead towards a Dalcroze certification at the Certificate and License levels.

August 7–18

Register Today KaufmanMusicCenter.org/LMS 212 501 3360

SCAN ME

CONNECTIONS 2023 43 Accredited byDALCROZE the Dalcroze Society• SPRING of America

Dalcroze Continuing Education at Winchester Community Music School

2023 LONGY DALCROZE SUMMER INTENSIVE ON CAMPUS AT LONGY SCHOOL OF MUSIC

*Workshops, private, & semi-private instruction

JUNE 26 — JULY 14

EXAMINATIONS ON JULY 15

*Rolling registration throughout the academic year

Experience the joy and artistry of Dalcroze Education at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, with director Eiko Ishizuka, Diplôme Supérieur, and other internationally renowned faculty.

Graduate credits available.

*Accredited by the DSA *World-class, highly accredited faculty

LONGY.EDU/DALCROZE

WCMS Dalcroze Teaching Artists: Adriana Ausch-Simmel, Eiko Ishizuka,

winchestermusic.org 781.721.2950 www.winchestermusic.org

VIRTUAL DALCROZE MEET-UP PRESENTS:

VDM Masterclass Series The Virtual Dalcroze Meet-up Masterclass Series allows students from all over the world to meet and work with outstanding Dalcroze teachers from the international community without incurring the cost of travel and residency.

The series provides opportunities for continued professional development regardless of geographical convenience to Dalcroze training centers as well as unprecedented access to some of the most exciting Dalcroze teachers in the world.

CYNTHIA LILLEY (USA)

April

SATURDAY 22 SUNDAY 23

$30 - All classes will meet for 75 minutes followed by 15 min of discussion.

ELDA NELLY TREVIÑO

KAI LIU

(MEXICO)

(CHINA)

May

June

6-WEEK SHORT COURSE STARTING MAY 22

$180 - Latinamerican Music: A Rich Source for Dalcroze Eurhythmics and Music Classrooms

SATURDAY 17 SUNDAY 18

$30 - All classes will meet for 75 minutes followed by 15 min of discussion.

VIRTUALDALCROZE.ORG 44 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

2023 VDM MEET-UP #57 Mon. April 17

2 pm EDT

#58 Tue. June 13

9 pm EDT

#59 Tue. September 5

9 pm EDT

#60 Mon. September 18

2 pm EDT

All Meet-Ups are FREE to attend See website for more time zones

Improv Exchange Each issue, we highlight a reader’s brief composition that might be used in the classroom. Use this as inspiration for your own improvisations and share the results!

Welcome to the Improv Exchange, a new regular feature in Dalcroze Connections.

In it, you'll find inspiration to help kickstart your own improvisations at home or in class.

Like the play of light on an early spring morning, “Spring Rain” has a bright but wistful feeling. The harmonic backdrop moves between perfect fourths and major thirds, diatonic harmony in G , and relationships of thirds as the sunlight breaks through in the lovely B major at the end.

b

This issue’s column features the work of Aaron Morrison, a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and passionate music enthusiast. He is currently an undergraduate student studying composition with Nancy Galbraith at Carnegie Mellon University (where Dalcroze eurhythmics is part of the curriculum), graduating this May. His music is influenced by jazz pianists, minimalist composers, and video game soundtracks, among countless other sources of inspiration.

b

You might start by using chord tones to create a melody (taking the lead of the actual melody), especially as the harmony planes up and down. Enjoy the release into the G major tonality at bar 13 when it finally lands on the ii7-V7 (A m7 to D 7), and indulge yourself in the lovely major third of the final chord before the clouds dim again.

b

b

If you feel up to it, share your results with Dalcroze Connections, whether it’s a realized composition, an audio file of your playing, or an anecdote of how your students responded.

To get you started, we shared some of our own variations on this piece at dalcrozeusa.org/blog, You’ll also find Aaron’s own chord voicings and our interview with the composer.

b

Aaron Morrison

Winter's Rain Blue Spring Aaron AaronMorrison Morrison Ab/ Bb

b 3 & b bbb 4

9

œ œ

œ

Gm

bb & b b b Œ nœ nœ

16

œ™ œ œ œ ˙ J

Gb/ Ab

Ab/ Bb

bb œ &b b b œ œ

Ab/ Bb

œ

Ab

Gm

œ nœ ˙

Œ

Ϫ

Gb/ Ab

Ab/ Bb

˙™

nœ nœ

Ab/ Bb

œ œ œ ˙ J

Bb Gb/ Ab œ œ Gb/ ™ Abœ œ Ab/ œ ™ ˙ Œ ‰ J œ J œ ∑

Gb/ Ab

œ

Ab

Abm7

Db7

˙™

bœ œ œ

œ œ œ

Gbmaj7

Cbmaj7

Gb/ Ab

˙

œ

œ œ œ

Gb

˙™

˙™

Bb

n˙ ™

Share an improvisation this piece inspired or submit a new composition for next issue!

Send an audio recording or written music to editor@dalcrozeusa.org

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

45

Anatomy of a Lesson We’ve republished a lesson plan created and used by an experienced Dalcroze teacher, making some annotations along the way to help deconstruct the activities and the ideas behind them. Annotations by Katie Couch.

Elda Nelly Treviño Flores (Dalcroze License, PhD) is a professor at the Facultad de Música of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (uanl), professor and coordinator of Programas Dalcroze at Universidad Panamericana, and director of the independent studio Música Viva in México. She offers workshops and lectures throughout México and abroad. She has been piano soloist of the symphony orchestras of the uanl, and those of Matanzas and Santiago in Cuba in addition to being active as a collaborative pianist. From 2012–2016, Elda Nelly coordinated the Mexican Dalcroze Certification Program at the Conservtorio de las Rosas.

She holds a PhD in psychology from the uanl (summa cum laude), a bachelor and master of music in piano literature and pedagogy from the University of Texas at Austin, and the Dalcroze certificate and license from Carnegie Mellon University. She is the representative of the International Federation of Rhythmics Teachers in México and is a member of the publications committee of the Dalcroze Society of America.

Here we have an aural reaction in which students react after the musical signal (because they don’t know when it’s coming). The signal should be randomized to keep the student’s attention sharp.

In this aural reaction, the signal is not changed as frequently or as randomly, giving the students a chance to truly associate with the trochée (as opposed to signaling it after they hear it).

Typically, a trochaic beat is moved as a skip, although how the students step is up to the teacher and their goals.

This type of pattern is known as a systemization, in which the trochaic rhythm is moved systematically through all of its possible placements in the measure. Then we have a dissociation, where the students step the heard rhythm patterns as their arms continue conducting the beats. These types of dissociations are difficult, since they require coordination and focus to perform with accuracy.

A folk dance is a fun way to end a lesson, as it involves the whole group working together in a light-hearted way.

46 DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

This is an example of both improvisation, in that the students get to choose how they move, as well as association, as the students are matching their stretches to the music.

DALCROZE LESSON PLAN

Elda Nelly Treviño Flores, Dalcroze License, PhD Binary Trochaic Rhythm 1. Warm up a.

Stretching exercises moving to the measure unit (

d) in # music improvised by the teacher

2. Identifying the binary trochaic rhythm ( o a.k.a. trochée) a.

$

With the music, step the beat in . The music will mostly consist of quarter notes, half

Changing the game to a partner activity will also change the

gesture on the beat immediately after (while still walking)

amount of space used by the students: you might notice them clumping closer together in order to react on time.

notes, and whole notes. However, when the students hear a trochée ( o ), they make a

b.

Do the same as before, but now clap on the beat after

c.

Repeat the game, but now the meter changes to

d.

Find a partner on the beat after hearing the trochée and clap hands with each other

#

once. Keep eye contact

3. Stepping the trochée a.

on the beat after b.

#

Step and conduct the beats in . When the students hear the trochée, they step it once

#

The teacher improvises music in , changing the placement of the trochée to any of the beats (1, 2, or 3), playing only quarter notes on the rest of the measure • Students walk and conduct: they identify where the trochée is, and step accordingly in association • Once the students understand the previous exercise, create a pattern of four measures: in measures one to three, move the trochée on each beat; measure four has only quarter notes. Step and conduct the pattern several times

4. Moving the pattern around the circle a.

Students sit in circles of five, each holding a drum

b.

Keep the same pattern as the previous exercise: each student plays one measure on the drum

c.

Change directions with “HOP”

5. Listen to Mazurka Op. 68, No. 3 in F major by F. Chopin a.

Teacher gives brief historical context of the mazurka

b.

Step the pattern found in the piece while conducting

6. Dance to the mazurka a.

The teacher demonstrates the dance steps of the mazurka

b.

Make two circles (in-out) facing each other

c.

Dance the mazurka as a circle dance

This is a fun group activity that involves inhibition/incitation: each student is incited to only play one measure at a time, while keeping the whole systemization in their heads. This is a good tool for assessment on the teacher’s part.

Additionally, the verbal cue of “hop” adds an element of fun and surprise.

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

47

Aural Reactions Each issue, listen to a piece of music and guess what Dalcroze lesson it might be used for.

Submit your ideas to editor@dalcrozeusa.org

T

he twenty-first century Dalcroze teacher often uses current technology in the classroom to connect with students—including recorded music.

We’d like to introduce you to recordings that have been successfully used in a Dalcroze lesson to explore or discover a specific musical goal.

The catch: while we will provide you with the piece (in the form of a link to listen to the track online), you—the reader—will have to guess the musical subject.

Was the piece used in a class on meter?

Phrase? Rhythm? Melody? Harmony?

The possibilities are endless, but there will be one correct, and hopefully obvious, answer.

If you’d like to play, take a listen to this track, perhaps move to the music in your space, and email us with your guesses as to the musical goal.

Concerto Grosso in B minor Op. 6, No. 12 I. Largo George Frideric Handel Listen at linktr.ee/dalcrozeusa

Those who write in with the correct answer will get their names published in the next issue of Dalcroze Connections.

If you are a Dalcroze teacher and have a great recording you’d like to share with the community, let us know!

From last issue...

P R O M P T : I Love You Truly, by Al Bowlly A N S W E R : Rhythm patterns

Thank you to Edwin Chen, Laura Montanari, and Alex Marthaler who wrote in—Alex got it right!

Think you know what this piece demonstrates?

Email editor@dalcrozeusa.org and you might be featured in the next issue.

DALCROZE CONNECTIONS • SPRING 2023

49