The Implementation of the Dalcroze Philosophy in Today’s Music Classroom

The implementation of the Dalcroze philosophy begins with a culture of movement created for the students by the teacher. Students within a general music classroom, choral or instrumental rehearsal setting, or private music studio need to comprehend and value the guiding principles of what meaningful movement experiences involve in terms of behaviors and attitudes. It is also important for students to be given permission to be creative and relaxed in a supportive atmosphere. The preparation of a Dalcroze experience requires clarity in instruction, consistency in expectations, and joyful enthusiasm by the teacher. The teacher and students are intertwined in informing each other of how the movement experience will be shaped. The end goal is the strengthening the students’ musicality through physical awareness and kinesthetic understanding. Once students begin to use the body to create musical meaning, they can begin to create music.

Physical Exploration. Students need to develop a movement vocabulary as part of the process in creating musical understanding and expression through physical means. Physical exploration includes how the body moves, how the body reacts to music, and what physical choices the body can make to be creative and expressive. Physical exploration can further be embodied through the countless kinesthetic possibilities involving locomotor and nonlocomotor movements; various body part usage; varying amounts of energy expended in movements; speed, shape, and direction of movement; spatial levels in movement; and individual, pairs, small groups, and/or large groups of synchronous or non-synchronous movements.

Students require frequent, varied, and sequential opportunities to explore all the countless ways a body can move. For example, a teacher can provide the open-ended instruction that students simply walk through space. If there are 20 students in a classroom, there will be twenty different examples of walking. Students should be made aware of the differences in how other students move so dividing the class will allow the students to observe the many variations of how people move through space. Tempo, posture, energy, flow, and arm position are just a few of the nuances for the students to observe. The teacher would next set up a framework whereby students hear music through piano improvisation or a recording. The music will dictate tempo, energy, and flow but the students have the freedom to move various parts of their body as well as choose what shape, direction, and level to use when they are walking through space.

A teacher can create an activity called a quick reaction exercise to give students the opportunity to react to music. It is defined as a movement change in response to a musical or verbal cue (Butke & Frego, 2016). An example of a quick reaction would be “Walking the Bass/ Clapping the Treble.” The students walk the rhythm of what they hear in the bass and clap the rhythm of what they hear in the treble as the teacher improvises on the piano/keyboard. The teacher changes the rhythmic durations after several measures, so students react to the changes that occur. The exploratory aspect of this activity is in the way that the students are moving in terms of direction, energy, and shape. The amount of focus and discernment on the student’s part creates a structure for developing aural skills as well as allows creativity in movement choices. By using piano improvisation, the teacher can ascertain how quickly the students are hearing the changes in the movement and adjust to their level of competency.

Plastique animee provides an opportunity for students to experience a quick reaction activity and develop that first step into a physical representation of the music. When students have assembled a large movement vocabulary, they can then begin the process of bringing the music to life through a somatic depiction of the music. The aural and physical understanding of musical concepts is realized through an expressive and accurate demonstration of the music through movement.

Purposeful Movement. Students engaged in movement activities begin on a continuum of exploration and end with the comprehensive plastique animee experience. In the middle of the continuum lies the opportunities to hear, understand, and physicalize various musical concepts. The students will create a physical and visual soundscape rooted in musical meaning because their bodies have experienced it. Once the continuum has been completed and students demonstrate aural, cognitive, and physical understandings, they can begin to create new music. If the students are entrenched in the Dalcroze philosophy, their perception of expressivity and nuance can further inform their ability to create music in a more meaningful way.