The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze

The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze, by

Emile Jaques-Dalcroze This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze
Author: Emile Jaques-Dalcroze
Contributor: M. E. Sadler
Release Date: June 1, 2007 [EBook #21653]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: Emile Jaques-Dalcroze.]
THE EURHYTHMICS OF JAQUES-DALCROZE
Introduction by Professor M. E. Sadler, LL.D. (Columbia) Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds
BOSTON SMALL MAYNARD AND COMPANY 1915
Printed in Great Britain

{Pas gar ho bios tou anthropou eurythmias te kai euarmostias deitai.}
"Rhythmische Gymnastik" is the name by which the Dalcroze method is known in Germany, but whether or not the German words are adequate, their literal translation into English certainly gives too narrow an idea of the scope of the system to any one unacquainted with it. Rhythmical "gymnastics," in the natural meaning of the word, is a part of the Dalcroze training, and a not unimportant part, but it is only one application of a much wider principle; and accordingly, where the term occurs in the following pages, it must be understood simply as denoting a particular mode of physical drill. But for the principle itself and the total method embodying it, another name is needed, and the term "Eurhythmics" has been here coined for the purpose. The originality of the Dalcroze method, the fact that it is a discovery, gives it a right to a name of its own: it is because it is in a sense also the rediscovery of an old secret that a name has been chosen of such plain reference and derivation. Plato, in the words quoted above, has said that the whole of a man's life stands in need of a right rhythm: and it is natural to see some kinship between this Platonic attitude and the claim of Dalcroze that his discovery is not a mere refinement of dancing, nor an improved method of music-teaching, but a principle that must have effect upon every part of life.
JOHN W. HARVEY.
CONTENTS
NOTE: John W. Harvey 5
THE EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HELLERAU: Prof. M. E. Sadler 11
RHYTHM AS A FACTOR IN EDUCATION:} Emile Jaques-Dalcroze 15 FROM LECTURES AND ADDRESSES: } Translated by P. & E. Ingham 26
THE METHOD: GROWTH AND PRACTICE: Percy B. Ingham 31
LESSONS AT HELLERAU: Ethel Ingham 48
LIFE AT HELLERAU: Ethel Ingham 55
THE VALUE OF EURHYTHMICS TO ART: M. T. H. Sadler. 60
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze Frontispiece
The College: from the East Facing page 15
The College: Front 26
The College: General View from the South-East 31
Beating 4/4 } Movements for the Semibreve} Between pages 36 and 37
Beating 5/4 in Canon without Expression} Beating 5/4 in Canon with Expression } " " 44 " 45
The Air Bath } The College: Entrance Hall} " " 48 " 49
The College: Classrooms} The College: Interiors } " " 52 " 53
The Hostel: Interiors Facing page 55
The Hostel: General View page 57
Dresden from Hellerau Facing page 59
A Plastic Exercise " " 60
A Plastic Exercise " " 64

THE EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HELLERAU
At Hellerau two things make an ineffaceable impression upon the mind--the exquisite beauty of movement, of gesture and of grouping seen in the exercises; and the nearness of a great force, fundamental to the arts and expressing itself in the rhythm to which they attain. Jaques-Dalcroze has re-opened a door which has long been closed. He has rediscovered one of the secrets of Greek education.
A hundred years ago Wilhelm von Humboldt endeavoured to make Greek ideals the paramount influence in the higher schools of Germany. He and a group of friends had long felt indignant at the utilitarianism and shallowness of the work of the schools. In Greek literature, Greek philosophy and Greek art would be found a means of kindling new life in education and of giving it the power of building up strong and independent personalities. When there came to Humboldt the unexpected opportunity of reforming the secondary schools of Prussia, he so remodelled the course of study as to secure for Greek thought and letters a place which, if not central and determinative, would at least bring the ��lite of the younger generation in some measure under their influence. But his administrative orders failed to impart to the schools the spirit of ancient Greece. To Humboldt and his friends Greek studies had been an inspiration because, apart from their intellectual significance and literary form, those studies had been the channel of an artistic impulse and had been entered into as art. But