Rationale

This article was originally published in the American Dalcroze Journal Vol. 5 No. 3 (Spring 1978).

The late 1970s have produced two new battle cries in education: “Back to Basics”, and “All the Arts for Every Child.” Although these slogans appear 10 be contradictory, in essence they are complementary. Unfortunately, many educators have used the “Back to Basics” cry as an excuse to divert money from arts programs into programs emphasizing basic skills. These basic skills are generally regarded as reading and writing and essential for communication of thought and experience.

Symbolic codification of thought and experience is prerequisite to communication. This symbolism can be in word form or in art form. Each is a valid and necessary means of communication and each represents thought processes. Our society has stressed communication in word symbols. However, if equal emphasis were placed on the use and interpretation of artistic communication, we might enhance creative and innovative thinking, devise new ways of problem solving, and broaden our knowledge and skills in all areas of human endeavor. “What makes art so important is that it embodies and unites affective and cog­nitive experiences and responses.”¹

Education aimed at integrating thought, feeling, and action should be fundamental. Eurhythmics is based on this concept. It begins with education in rhythm, the life force in nature, man, and art. Rhythm is movement. It can be heard, sensed (neuromuscularly), and seen. Realizing this, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, a Swiss musician and educator who lived from 1865 to 1950, developed an approach to music education that begins with education in rhythm. The aims of eurhythmics are to activate a feeling for music (music in the Greek sense, including music, dance, and drama) to create a sense of order and balance and to develop the imagination.

A eurhythmics approach to music learning combines cognitive, affective, and psychomotor behaviors. Because music is an aural art, listening skills are stressed. Listening is essential to cognitive devel­opment. However, perceiving and responding to the expressiveness of music goes beyond cognitive behavior into the realm of affect. Psychomotor skills are used to demonstrate rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic movement, as well as form and dynamics in music.

Child psychologists emphasize the value of movement experience for intellectual development.

A prerequisite of the ability to think is the construction of internal representations of external events. The processes involved in organizing and structuring perceptual informa­tion into sensimotor schemata are invaluable aids to higher mental processes.²

Eurhythmics is a threefold program consisting of rhythmic movement, ear training (the development of inner hearing), and improvisation. In addition to an increased understanding and appreciation of music, the listening, thinking, and motor skills that are developed are immediately transferable to other dis­ciplines. Another benefit is the self-control, self-motivation, and self-discipline experienced in a eurhythmics classroom. Educators bemoan the lack of these characteristics in students. They fail to recognize that these characteristics are present in people working in the arts. Training in eurhythmics heightens sensitivity to aural, visual, and motor cues, making it basic preparation for the study of all the arts.