Posts by Bill Bauer
Supporting Future Dalcroze Educators: The DSA Scholarships Task Force
Since the DSA was formed over forty years ago, the Memorial Scholarship program has enabled many who seek Dalcroze training to fulfill their dream. A key purpose of this program is to encourage more teachers to pursue training at accredited Dalcroze teacher training programs in the hope that many will attain certification and licensure. But…
Read MoreLesson Plan Editorial: Andante from Symphony No. 5
A few weeks ago, we released Joy Yelin’s lesson on subdivision, which uses the Andante from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. It is such a delight to use this familiar theme. With some tweaks here and there, I enjoy playing the marvelous melody, harmony and modulations of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Andante.” The students move with rapt…
Read MoreLesson Plan: Living Music: Eurhythmics and Jazz Improvisation
This lesson was first presented at a New England Dalcroze Chapter Workshop, January 27, 2019, and is designed for adults of all levels. In this lesson, students develop some of the basic skills that go into jazz improvisation, working in various musical styles. Through their improvised movements, students experience the relationship between beat and measure…
Read MoreRemembering Virginia Hoge Mead
“The study of Eurhythmics develops the inner ear which makes us musically imaginative, which guides the hand that plays the instrument, the voice that sings, the body that moves, and further develops the ears that hear.” Virginia Hoge Mead (1930-2020) Revered Dalcroze Educator Virginia Hoge Mead passed away on Saturday, February 22, 2020 in Sugar…
Read MoreJulia Schnebly-Black: Celebrating a Lifetime of Achievement in Dalcroze Education
When Dr. Julia Schnebly-Black (1925-2019) passed away in December 2019, she had just turned 94 years old. In addition to being a beloved Dalcroze teacher, Dr. Schnebly-Black was also a former President of the Dalcroze Society of America, as well as a former editor of American Dalcroze Journal. She led this organization through a formative time in its…
Read MoreKenneth K. Guilmartin: Making Music Together
In anticipation of the 2016 National Conference, I visited with DSA member and Dalcroze Certificate Kenneth K. Guilmartin (who is also a fellow Princeton area resident). Ken and I first met over thirty years ago in Manhattan, when he and I were both studying with Bob Abramson. He generously took time from his busy schedule…
Read MoreBuilding Global Connections: A Conversation with Silvia del Bianco
This conversation took place in November 2015. Director of L’Institut Jaques-Dalcroze since 2006, Silvia Del Bianco holds a singular position in the global community of Dalcroze practitioners. Yet many of us in the United States know precious little about her or the institution she heads. So I’m excited that we are featuring a conversation she…
Read MoreDalcroze in USA: E Pluribus Unum
Fiercely independent thinking. It may well be a key characteristic, if not a distinguishing feature, of our DSA membership. Or should I say, more precisely, of each of its participants. I’d go so far as to suggest there are ways we might even think of the DSA as the ultimate “anti-club”: we each pursue distinctive…
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