The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze | Page 7

brain. To repeat, the causes of this lack of rhythm all lie in the important but insufficiently recognized psycho-physiological sphere of the co-ordination of brain, nerve-paths and muscles.
The objection is sometimes made that rhythmic gymnastics cause nerve-strain in children. This is not the case. Several brain specialists have told me that they have effected satisfactory cures with rhythmic gymnastic exercises.
Rhythm is infinite, therefore the possibilities for physical representations of rhythm are infinite.
* * * * *
(ADDRESS TO STUDENTS, der Rhythmus, Vol. I, p. 41, et seq.)
I consider it unpardonable that in teaching the piano the whole attention should be given to the imitative faculties, and that the pupil should have no opportunity whatever of expressing his own musical impressions with the technical means which are taught him.
Whether the teacher himself be a genius is of little importance, provided he is able to help others to develop their own talents.
One can create nothing of lasting value without self-knowledge. The only living art is that which grows out of one's own experiences. It is just the same with teaching; it is quite impossible to develop others until one has proved one's own powers in every direction, until one has learnt to conquer oneself, to make oneself better, to suppress bad tendencies, to strengthen good ones, and, in the place of the primitive being, to make one more complete who, having consciously formed himself, knows his powers. Only in proportion as one develops oneself is one able to help others to develop.
I consider that one does not require to be a genius in order to teach others, but that one certainly does require strong conviction, enthusiasm, persistence and joy in life. All these qualities are equally derived from the control and knowledge of self.
We must, from youth upwards, learn that we are masters of our fate, that heredity is powerless if we realize that we can conquer it, that our future depends upon the victory which we gain over ourselves. However weak the individual may be, his help is required to prepare a way for a better future. Life and growth are one and the same, and it is our duty by the example of our lives to develop those who come after us. Let us therefore assume the responsibility which Nature puts upon us, and consider it our duty to regenerate ourselves; thus shall we help the growth of a more beautiful humanity.
I like joy, for it is life. I preach joy, for it alone gives the power of creating useful and lasting work. Amusement, an excitement which stimulates the nerves instead of uplifting the spirit, is not necessary in the life of the artist. Of course one must often let oneself go, and I should be the last to defend a so-called moral discipline, or a pedantic rule of monastic severity. For a healthy, active person the joy of the daily struggle and of work performed with enthusiasm should be sufficient to beautify life, drive away fatigue and illuminate present and future. This condition of joy is brought about in us by the feeling of freedom and responsibility, by the clear perception of the creative power in us, by the balance of our natural powers, by the harmonious rhythm between intention and deed. It depends upon our creative faculties, both natural and acquired, and becomes greater as these grow. The power of understanding ourselves certainly gives us a sense of freedom, for it opens a rapid correspondence, not only between imagination and power of performance, between apperception and feelings, but also between the various kinds of feelings which dwell in us.
[Illustration: The College.]

THE JAQUES-DALCROZE METHOD
I. GROWTH[1]
[1] For much of the material of this chapter the writer is indebted to Herr Karl Storck, of Berlin, to whose book E. Jaques-Dalcroze, seine Stellung und Aufgabe in unserer Zeit, Stuttgart, 1912, Greiner & Pfeiffer, the reader is directed.
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze was born in Vienna on July 6, 1865, of mixed parentage, his father being a Swiss from St. Croix in the Jura (hence the artist name Dalcroze), his mother of German extraction. At the age of eight his parents brought him to Geneva, where in due course he became a student at the Conservatoire of Music. His musical education was continued in Paris under L��o Delibes and in Vienna under Bruckner and Fuchs. For a short period his studies were interrupted by an engagement as musical director of a small theatre in Algiers--an opportunity which he used for study of the peculiar rhythms of Arab popular music, which he found unusually interesting and stimulating.
Returning to Geneva, he earned, by a life of varied activities as teacher, writer and composer, a standing which in 1892 brought him the appointment of Professor of Harmony at the Geneva Conservatoire.
The wider experience which the new sphere of work brought