From the Editor

Welcome to Dalcroze Connections, our newly envisioned DSA publication: a magazine “of, by, and for” members of the Dalcroze Society of America. In Dalcroze Connections you’ll find the many features you’ve come to know and love in the over forty-year publishing history of the American Dalcroze Journal (which is taking on a new life of its own – more about that coming up): articles by members related to the teaching and practice of Dalcroze, book reviews, news from local Chapters, lesson plans, songs, discussion forums for DSA policy and business. Over the coming year the editorial and design team (myself, Aaron Butler, and Emily Raively with plenty of assistance from indefatigable DSA President Bill Bauer) will be refining the look and feel of the magazine. To that end, we are pleased to welcome the newest member of the team, Weroniki Balewski, joining us as photo editor.

Enthusiasts of the American Dalcroze Journal (and I am definitely one) needn’t be distressed, however. The ADJ will continue as a strictly peer-reviewed journal designed to promote the practice of Dalcroze and related fields through scholarship and inquiry. We will maintain an open call for submissions from our membership, but expect to draw heavily from the work of scholars in related fields. [We hope many of these scholars will present at the academic symposia that will precede our biennial conferences, such as the upcoming pre-conference symposium on Flow in Performance to be held on June 20 and 21 at Rider University’s Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey (see the Call for Proposals on pages 8-9 of this issue). We are deferring publication of the American Dalcroze Journal’s next issue until January 2017, which is slated to be a special double-issue issue on the same topic.

We hope this recasting of our publications will allow us to serve our members’ interests with even greater depth and specificity—via Dalcroze Connections—while also reaching out to the many fields and disciplines that might fruitfully intersect with the practice of Dalcroze—via American Dalcroze Journal. While the latter will appear once a year, the publishing schedule for Dalcroze Connections will result in a fall and a spring edition. Please note that submission deadlines have been changed to allow sufficient time to prepare each issue: June 15 is the new deadline for the fall issue, and January 15 for the spring issue; we will consider submissions to American Dalcroze Journal on a rolling basis. This inaugural issue of Dalcroze Connections offers up a rich serving of material. Explore Jack Stephenson’s inimitable take on plastique animée, enjoy Institut Jaques- Dalcroze head Sylvia Del Blanco’s refreshingly open and forward outlook on the practice in her conversation with Bill Bauer, and learn what an ‘American in Geneva’ thought of the IJD’s 2015 International Congress in Mattie Kaiser’s offering. Finally, we have gathered reflections of the influential and unforgettable American master Dalcroze teacher Herbert Henke, who passed away this past August.

Over the coming months we’ll be looking for ways to increase DSA member participation in this publication, so it truly becomes your magazine. Got an idea for a regular feature? We are all ears. The more voices we hear from and include, the more ‘connections’ we’ll be able to make for those new to the work and those with many years of experience. Pitch your idea, no matter how modest or ambitious – or offer your comments, queries and suggestions – at editor@dalcrozeusa.org.