Meet 2022 Keynote Speaker Mary Dobrea-Grindahl
The 2022 Conference is just around the corner and early registration is now open! If you know Mary and have seen her teach, you know how lucky we are to be welcoming her as our Keynote Speaker. Mary Dobrea-Grindahl, Diplôme Supérieur, enjoys a multi-faceted teaching and performing career at Baldwin Wallace University, where she teaches piano, Eurhythmics, and solfège.…
Read MoreUndoing Racism
This reflection was written on August 7, 2021 July 25 was our twelfth Zoom meeting, marking the one-year anniversary of our monthly sessions discussing “undoing racism in music education.” I hosted the meeting on Zoom from my AirBnB in Dallas, TX, where I was teaching and learning at the Dalcroze School of the Rockies Dalcroze…
Read MoreEiko Ishizuka in Conversation with Melissa Tucker
This interview was conducted May 11th, 2021 Melissa Tucker: In 2019 you earned the Diplôme Supérieur, the highest level of Dalcroze achievement, from L’Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva, Switzerland. Along with Eri Inoue, Sachiko Muranaka and Kayo Nakaaki you are one of only four Japanese women to attain this credential. Tell me about your first experience…
Read MoreUndoing Racism, May 2021
I am writing this the day after President Biden’s first address to Congress, where he stood, for the first time in US history, in front of two women leaders of the house: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. I am heartened that President Biden is diversifying leadership in the government, and that his…
Read MoreImprov Corner: Fourth Ree to One
This is a kind of two-for-one composition. In addition to the “disappearing division” rhythmic construction, there is an association at work here. Do you see it? Half notes are played as fourths, dotted quarters as thirds and quarters as seconds. The metric system may be interesting for the eurythmics classroom, but a little too restrictive…
Read MoreDalcroze Pedagogy: Motivating Repetition and Improving Movement
(adapted from Dittus’s Embodying Music) In each lesson, Dalcroze students will need to engage in a fair amount of repetition until they achieve mastery or automatization of the required skill. This takes time and energy for the student and requires the instructor’s watchful eye to ensure that the students are sufficiently challenged and engaged. Furthermore,…
Read MoreIrregular Measures and Unequal Beats in the Work of Dalcroze and Martin
I. Irregular Measures The rhythmic concept of irregular measures appears in Frank Martin’s 8 Préludes pour le piano. It is also a commonly used subject in Dalcroze education. The term “irregular measures” may be used interchangeably with the term “mixed meter,” and is defined here as metrical changes with a constant, unchanging beat. “Unequal beats”…
Read MoreBehind the Scenes of the Dalcroze Lab
Jeanette Wong in Conversation with Bill Bauer The first Dalcroze Lab was launched in January of 2021, led by Silvia Del Bianco, director of the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva. The idea behind the Dalcroze Lab is to revisit workshop sessions taped at past DSA National Conferences, such as the one held in Miami in January…
Read MoreGeneva Notebook
In the fall semesters of both 2018 and 2019, I lived in Geneva to work toward the diplôme supérieur, which I earned in June of 2020. In this article, I’ll share my experiences and reflect upon a memorable period of my life. The IJD Geneva holds mythic status in the minds of many in the…
Read MoreA Note from the Board Chair
What appeals to me most about the Dalcroze practice is our long history and the degree to which we’ve maintained our connection to the origins of the method for over a century. These traditions have survived world wars, economic catastrophes, the Industrial Revolution, and political upheaval. I can see how our current challenges are fueling…
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