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57-502: Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (6 July 1865 – 1 July 1950) was a Swiss composer, musician, and music educator who developed Dalcroze eurhythmics , an approach to learning and experiencing music through movement. Dalcroze eurhythmics influenced Carl Orff's pedagogy , used in music education throughout the United States. Dalcroze's method teaches musical concepts, often through movement. The variety of movement analogues used for musical concepts develop an integrated and natural musical expression in

114-548: A French pianist, Simon Barbiere, who was now his disciple and dance partner, and a Swiss sculptor, Alice Boner , who wanted to study Indian art history. He was welcomed by Rabindranath Tagore himself, who also persuaded him to open a performing arts school in India. On his return to Paris in 1931, he founded Europe's first Indian dance company, along with Alice Boner , who by now had become one of his disciples. Together with musicians Vishnu Dass Shirali and Timir Baran, he created

171-418: A child’s sense of rhythm. Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (born Uday Shankar Choudhary ; 8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance , imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, which he later popularised in India, Europe, and

228-472: A eurhythmics class, learn to correlate types of notes with familiar movement; for example the quarter note is represented as a "walking note." As they progress, their musical vocabulary is expanded and reinforced through movement. Performance-based applications While eurhythmics classes can be taught to general populations of students, they are also effective when geared toward music schools, either preparing students to begin instrumental studies or serving as

285-702: A few charity performances that his father had organized in London, and on one such occasion, noted Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova happened to be present. This was to have a lasting impact on his career. Uday Shankar did not have any formal training in any of the Indian classical dance forms. Nevertheless, his presentations were creative. From a young age, he had been exposed to both Indian classical dance and folk dance, as well as to ballet during his stay in Europe. He decided to bring elements of both styles together to create

342-803: A kinesthetic component. He believed that in order to enhance and maximize musical expression, students needed to be trained early on to listen and appreciate music using both their minds and bodies. This coordination of mind and physical instincts formed the basis of his method. Ready to develop and employ an improved, integrated style of music education at the Conservatoire, Dalcroze discovered some obstacles. He found that students with innate rhythmic abilities were rare, just as are those with absolute, or "perfect," pitch. In response to his observations, he asserted that in order to develop rhythmic ability in his students, he must first, and as early as possible in their development, train them in exercises that utilized

399-400: A more intense rhythmic experience, Dalcroze posed some questions. First, he questioned why music theory and notation were taught as abstractions, dissociated from sound, movements, and feelings that they represented. Moreover, by taking the pianist as an example, he asked how the finger technique taught by professors could be considered a complete musical education. Finally, he was intrigued that

456-726: A new dance, which he called Hi-dance. He went on to translate classical Indian dance forms and their iconography to dance movements, after studying the Rajput painting and Mughal painting styles at the British Museum. Further, during his stay in Britain, he came across several performing artists, subsequently when he left for Rome on the ' Prix de Rome ' scholarship of the French Government, for advanced studies in art. Soon his interaction with such artists grew and so did

513-628: A new template for music to accompany his newly devised movements. His first series of dance performances were held on 3 March 1931, at the Champs-Elysees Theatre in Paris, which was to become his base as he toured through Europe. Soon he embarked on a seven-year tour through Europe and America with his own troupe, which he called – 'Uday Shankar and his Hindu Ballet', under the aegis of impresario Sol Hurok and Celebrity Series of Boston of impresario, Aaron Richmond . He performed in

570-591: A noted classical singer, Zohra Sehgal , who performed on the stage, television, and the cinema both in India and in Britain. In December 1983, his younger brother, sitar player Ravi Shankar organised a four-day festival, Uday-Utsav Festival in New Delhi, marking the 60th anniversary of his professional debut in 1923, highlighted by performances by his disciples, films, an exhibition and orchestral music composed and orchestrated by Ravi Shankar himself. The centenary celebrations of his birth were formally launched at

627-630: A particular way of writing, as well as a unique performance style. Accordingly, he developed a new kind of music notation. In 1887, he went to the Conservatory of Vienna , where he studied with Anton Bruckner . Dalcroze was appointed Professor of Harmony at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève in 1892, at the age of 27, but in 1910, he left and established his own school in Hellerau , near Dresden . Many great exponents of modern dance in

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684-487: A paucity of funds. As his students dispersed, he regrouped his energies and headed South, where he made his only film, Kalpana (Imagination) in 1948, based on his dance, in which both he and his wife Amala Shankar danced. The film was produced and shot at Gemini Studios , Madras . In 2008, the film was digitally restored by the Cineteca di Bologna , in association with The Film Foundation ’s World Cinema Project and

741-487: A pedagogue at the Geneva Conservatory in 1892, where he taught harmony and solfège . It was in his solfège courses that he began testing many of his influential and revolutionary pedagogical ideas. Between 1903 and 1910, Dalcroze had begun giving public presentations of his method. In 1910, with the help of German industrialist Wolf Dohrn, Dalcroze founded a school at Hellerau , outside Dresden , dedicated to

798-710: A post teaching theory, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze spent a year as a conductor in Algiers, where he was exposed to a rhythmic complexity that helped influence him to pay special attention to rhythmic aspects of music. Jaques-Dalcroze also had an important friendship with Édouard Claparède , the psychologist. In particular, their collaboration resulted in eurhythmics often employing games of change and quick reaction in order to focus attention and increase learning. General education Eurhythmics classes are often offered as an addition to general education programs, whether in preschools, grade schools, or secondary schools. In this setting,

855-404: A powerful musical force. Dalcroze needed a laboratory to test his theories. By working with students, he decided to hire his own workspace. He started to look for principles, teaching strategies, teaching styles, and methods that could convert music into a practical educational tool. The principles and methods which he developed were unique and new, so he gave them a special name: eurhythmics. In

912-399: A rhythmic curriculum is the exploration of meter and syncopation. In particular, the study of meter should incorporate an organization of pulses and subdivisions. This organization can be expressed in a "meter chart," which can include both equal-beat and unequal-beat meters. The study of syncopation, a broad term that can involve a variety of rhythms that fall unexpectedly or somehow displace

969-460: A six-month residency, with his troupe and lead dancer, Simkie. Also present there were Michel Chekhov, nephew of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, the German modern dancer-choreographer, Kurt Jooss and another German Rudolf Laban , who had invented a system of dance notation . This experience only added more exuberance to his expressionist dance . In 1938, he made India his base, and established

1026-444: A son, Ananda Shankar , born in 1942, and a daughter, Mamata Shankar , born in 1955. Ananda Shankar became a musician and composer who trained with Dr. Lalmani Misra rather than with his uncle, Ravi Shankar, and in time became known for his fusion music, encompassing both European and Indian music styles. Mamata Shankar, a dancer like her parents, became a noted actress, working in films by Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen . She also runs

1083-500: A supplement to students who have already begun musical performance. Vocabulary Eurhythmics classes for students in elementary school through college and beyond can benefit from a rhythmic curriculum that explores rhythmic vocabulary. This vocabulary can be introduced and utilized in a number of different ways, but the primary objective of this component is to familiarize students with rhythmic possibilities and expand their horizons. Activities such as rhythmic dictation, composition, and

1140-443: A variety of age groups. Eurhythmics classes for all ages share a common goal – to provide the music student with a solid rhythmic foundation through movement in order to enhance musical expression and understanding. Jaques-Dalcroze was appointed Professor of Harmony at the Conservatoire of Geneva in 1892, early in his career. As he taught his classes, he noticed that his students deeply needed an approach to learning music that included

1197-401: A week for a 10-week period while the other half had rhythmic movement classes for the same amount of time. The group that had classes (experimental group) did significantly better than the group that just had free-play (control group). The experiment group scored four or more points better in every area tested than the control group in the final test. This shows that eurhythmic classes can benefit

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1254-513: Is rightly credited for ushering in a new era for traditional Indian temple dances, which until then had been known for their strict interpretations, and which were also going through their own revival. Meanwhile, his brother Ravi Shankar was helping to popularise Indian classical music in the outside world. In 1936, he was invited by Leonard Knight Elmhirst , who had earlier assisted Rabindranath Tagore in building Sriniketan , close to Shanti Niketan , to visit Dartington Hall , Totnes, Devon for

1311-577: The J. J. School of Art and then to Gandharva Mahavidyalaya . By now, Shyam Shankar had resigned his post in Jhalawar and moved to London. Here he married an English woman and practised law, before becoming an amateur impresario , introducing Indian dance and music to Britain. Subsequently, Uday joined his father in London, and on 23 August 1920, joined the Royal College of Art , London to study painting under Sir William Rothenstein . He danced at

1368-597: The Maharajas , but he preferred to use the surname ' Chowdhury ' minus 'Har.' Uday's younger brothers were Rajendra Shankar, Debendra Shankar, Bhupendra Shankar and Ravi Shankar . Of his siblings, Bhupendra died young in 1926. Uday Shankar's father was a Sanskrit scholar, who graduated with honours from the University of Calcutta and later studied at Oxford University , where he became a Doctor of Philosophy. Because his father moved frequently on account of his work,

1425-740: The National Film Archive of India , among others. Uday Shankar settled in Ballygunge , Kolkata in 1960, where the "Uday Shankar Center for Dance" was opened in 1965. In 1962, he was awarded the highest award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi , the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for his lifetime contribution to Indian dance . Uday is the elder brother of Ravi Shankar . He married his dance partner, Amala Shankar , and together they had

1482-614: The music event in the art competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics . Dalcroze returned to Geneva in 1914 and opened the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze, which continues to provide professional training to the present day. The work established at Hellerau was moved to Helleray Laxenburg , near Vienna, in 1920. However, this school was closed with the rise of the Nazis . Dalcroze died in Geneva on 1 July 1950. In his search for

1539-751: The 'Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre', at Simtola, 3 km from Almora , in Uttarakhand Himalayas , and invited Sankaran Namboodri for Kathakali , Kandappa Pillai for Bharatanatyam , Ambi Singh for Manipuri and Ustad Allauddin Khan for music. Soon, he had a large assemblage of artists and dancers, including Guru Dutt , Shanti Bardhan, Simkie, Amala, Satyavati, Narendra Sharma, Ruma Guha Thakurta , Prabhat Ganguly, Zohra Sehgal , Uzra, Lakshmi Shankar , Shanta Gandhi ; his own brothers Rajendra, Debendra and Ravi also joined him as students. The centre, however, closed after four years in 1942, due to

1596-905: The 'Udayan Dance Company' in Kolkata, and travels extensively through the world. Uday (b. 1900, d. 1977) and Amala Shankar (b. 1919, d. 2020) decided to open Uday Shankar India Culture Centre (named after Uday Shankar's Almora centre for dance) in Kolkata in 1965, where Amala Shankar remained the Director-in-Charge, from the day of its inception. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1991. The school continued until 2015, remaining dedicated to carrying on with Shankar's ideas about processes of innovative and creative dance making. Shankar's followers and associates include Shanti Bardhan, creator of Ramayana ballets presentations, Guru Dutt , one of India's finest film directors, Lakshmi Shankar ,

1653-681: The United States for the first time in January 1933 in New York City, along with his dance partner Simkie, a French dancer. As part of the visit, a reception was held at the Grand Central Art Galleries . After, Shankar and his troupe set out on an 84-city tour throughout the country. His adaptation of European theatrical techniques to Indian dance made his art hugely popular both in India and abroad, and he

1710-536: The United States in the 1920s and 1930s. He was a pioneer of modern dance in India. In 1962, he was awarded by Sangeet Natak Akademi , India's The National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama , with its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement, and in 1971, the Govt. of India , awarded him its second highest civilian award the Padma Vibhushan . Uday Shankar Chowdhury

1767-480: The art of dancing.” Because of the nature of his goals in expanding music education, his ideas are readily applicable to young students. An objective of his was to "musicalize" young children in order to prepare them for musical expression in future instrumental studies. He believed exposure to music, an expanded understanding of how to listen, and the training of gross and fine motor skills would yield faster progress later on in students’ musical studies. Related to this

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1824-437: The beat using their feet or shake their heads and bodies in response to music. This physical response was natural and common to all ages and cultures. Moreover, he noticed that students would change their movements when following a crescendo, and would respond physically to the accents of the music. They also relaxed their muscles with the endings of phrases. As they seemed to hear the music, feeling its effects, he concluded that

1881-420: The beginning, Dalcroze thought that the solution to many problems would be teaching musicians to contract and relax in a specific time (the speed of sound or time), in a specific space (the duration of a sound), and with a particular force (energy dynamics of a sound). Thus, he worked on a new series of exercises designed to help students strengthen their perception by the metric and its instincts by many streams of

1938-462: The brain, which understands and analyzes, and the muscles that perform. Dalcroze Eurhythmics practices 3 concepts: In 1905, Dalcroze organized thousands of games and exercises by connecting beautiful music, intense listening, and consciously improvised movement. According to him, the professor must be able to improvise the songs for the activities in the music class. The motions approached by Dalcroze were: movements, postures, and gestures to express

1995-419: The entire body. Only when the student's muscles and motor skills were developed could they be properly equipped to interpret and understand musical ideas. As he mentioned in the foreword of his "Rhythm, Music, and Education," he sought the "connection between instincts for pitch and movement ... time and energy, dynamics, and space, music and character, music and temperament, [and] finally the art of music and

2052-510: The family spent much time in Uday's maternal uncle's house in Nasratpur with his mother and brothers. Uday's studies also took place at various locations including Nasratpur, Gazipur , Varanasi , and Jhalawar. At his Gazipur school, he learnt music and photography from Ambika Charan Mukhopaddhay, his Drawing and Crafts teacher. In 1918, at the age of eighteen, he was sent to Mumbai to train at

2109-409: The idea to transform Indian dance into a contemporary form. The turning point came with his first meetings with legendary Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. She was looking for artists to collaborate on India-based themes. This led to the creation of ballets based on Hindu themes, ' Radha - Krishna ', a duet with Anna, and 'Hindu Wedding', for inclusion in her production, 'Oriental Impressions'. The ballet

2166-420: The last two were entirely dependent on movement. He also found their best models in the muscular system. For him, all degrees of time (tempi) can be experienced, understood, and expressed through the body. He felt that the enthusiasm of musical feelings depended on the sharpness of physical sensations. He was convinced that the combination of intense listening and the responses of the body would generate and release

2223-443: The movement, called rhythm. Then, he began to propose exercises by playing music and suggesting that students walk as they would feel the pulse. Surprisingly, students acted differently and had difficulties in different tempos. Therefore, he deduced that people still had trouble reaching the goal of speed, accuracy, and performance by being rhythmically expressive. He realized that there could be some system of quick communication between

2280-489: The objectives of eurhythmics classes are to introduce students with a variety of musical backgrounds to musical concepts through movement without a specific performance-related goal. For younger students, eurhythmics activities often imitate play. Games include musical storytelling, which associates different types of music with corresponding movements of the characters in a story. The youngest of students, who are typically experiencing their first exposure to musical knowledge in

2337-399: The performance of rhythmic canons and polyrhythms can accommodate a wide range of meters and vocabulary. In particular, vocabulary can be organized according to number of subdivisions of the pulse. Movement A key component of a rhythmic education, movement provides another way of reinforcing rhythmic concepts - kinesthetic learning serves as a supplement to visual and aural learning. While

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2394-443: The pulse, is also essential in a rhythmic education. Eurhythmics classes can incorporate various activities to explore syncopation, including complex rhythmic dictations, the performance of syncopated rhythms, the exploration of syncopated rhythms in canon, and a general discussion of syncopated vocabulary. A group of 72 pre-school children were tested on their rhythmic ability; half of the children had free-play (35–40 min.) twice

2451-427: The qualities that characterize a real musician were rarely experienced in a music class. Dalcroze believed the first instrument that must be trained in music is the body. He developed techniques that combined hearing with a physical response, transferring to a physical response in singing and reading music. He did many experiments with his students, used to help in the process of learning and feeling music. His main goal

2508-554: The same year, he studied acting with leading players of the Comédie-Française . Further on, he studied composition with Mathis Lussy, which influenced him in the process of rhythmic development. By the year 1886, he was the assistant conductor in Argelia, where he discovered Arab folk music. In contact with this kind of music, Dalcroze noticed that there were different worlds of rhythmic expression, each of which would require

2565-641: The school was abandoned. After the Second World War, his ideas were taken up as "music and movement" in British schools. Émile Henri Jaques was born in Vienna in 1865. He later adopted the name Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. His mother, Julie Jaques, was a music teacher, so he was in contact with music since his childhood; while his father was a salesman of Swiss clocks. Influenced by his mother, Dalcroze formally began his musical studies in his early years. When he

2622-519: The student. Turning the body into a well-tuned musical instrument—Dalcroze felt—was the best path for generating a solid, vibrant musical foundation. The Dalcroze method consists of three equally important elements: eurhythmics , solfège , and improvisation . Together, according to Dalcroze, they comprise the essential training of a complete musician. In an ideal approach, elements from each subject coalesce, resulting in an approach to teaching rooted in creativity and movement. Dalcroze began his career as

2679-401: The students themselves were the instruments, not the piano. Dalcroze noticed that students had a mechanical understanding instead of a musical comprehension. They were not able to hear harmonies that they wrote in the music theory classes, and they could not create simple melodies and chord sequences. This resulted in a lack of musical sensitivity that caused problems in the performance. His aim

2736-478: The study of traditional classroom music theory reinforces concepts visually and encourages students to develop aural skills, the study of eurhythmics solidifies these concepts through movement. In younger students, the movement aspect of a rhythmic curriculum also develops musculature and gross motor skills. Ideally, most activities that are explored in eurhythmics classes should include some sort of kinesthetic reinforcement. Meter and Syncopation Another element of

2793-410: The teaching of his method. Many musicians flocked to Hellerau, among them Prince Serge Wolkonsky , Vera Alvang (Griner) , Valeria Cratina, Jelle Troelstra (son of Pieter Jelles Troelstra ), Inga and Ragna Jacobi, Albert Jeanneret ( Le Corbusier 's brother), Jeanne de Salzmann , Mariam Ramberg, Anita Berber , Gertrude Price Wollner , and Placido de Montelio. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914,

2850-487: The tempo, duration, dynamics, accents, and other elements that produce rhythmic material. Dalcroze eurhythmics Eurhythmics often introduces a musical concept through movement before the students learn about its visual representation. This sequence translates to heightened body awareness and an association of rhythm with a physical experience for the student, reinforcing concepts kinesthetically. Eurhythmics has wide-ranging applications and benefits and can be taught to

2907-520: The twentieth century spent time at the school, including Kurt Jooss and Hanya Holm , Rudolf Laban , Maria Rambert , Uday Shankar , and Mary Wigman . In 1911, Dalcroze and his students were invited by Prince Sergei Volkonsky to show their work in St. Petersburg and Moscow, establishing eurhythmics at the Moscow Art Theatre and inspiring Stanislavski 's "tempo-rhythm". His work was part of

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2964-757: Was 10 years old, his family moved to Geneva, Switzerland, and in 1877, Dalcroze joined the Conservatoire de Musique. He also studied at the College of Geneva, which he did not appreciate. Dalcroze considered the college as a "prison" where education was basically rules, which were not concerned about the students' interests. In 1881, he was part of the Belles-Lettres Literary Society, a student group dedicated to acting, writing, and performing music, theatre, and opera. At that time, Dalcroze felt more interested in composing. In 1884, he studied composition with Léo Delibes and Gabriel Fauré . Around

3021-619: Was born in Udaipur, Rajasthan, the eldest son of an Brahmin family with origins in Narail (present-day Bangladesh ). His father Shyam Shankar Chowdhury , a noted barrister, was employed with the Maharaja of Jhalawar in Rajasthan at the time of his eldest son's birth, and his mother Hemangini Devi was descended from a zamindari family. His father was granted the title, 'Harchowdhury' by

3078-470: Was his goal to sow the seeds of musical appreciation for future generations. As stated concisely by Claire-Lise Dutoit in her "Music Movement Therapy," successful eurhythmics lessons have the following three attributes in common: “The vital enjoyment of rhythmic movement and the confidence that it gives; the ability to hear, understand and express music in movement; [and] the call made on the pupil to improvise and develop freely his own ideas.” Before taking

3135-594: Was presented at the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden , in London. Later he continued to conceive and choreograph ballets, including one based on the Ajanta Caves frescoes , which was performed across the United States. In time his style of dance came to be known as 'Hi-dance', though later he called it 'Creative dance'. He worked with Anna for one and a half years, before starting out on his own in Paris. Shankar returned to India in 1927, along with

3192-406: Was to develop the inner ear to facilitate musical thinking, reading, and writing music without the help of an instrument. While continuing to build his methodology, he observed his students and noticed that those who could not play in time in the music world were able to walk in time in the real world. The walking was completely spontaneous and easy. He observed that some of his best students could tap

3249-460: Was to find ways to help students to develop skills to feel, hear, create, imagine, connect, memorize, read, and write, as well as perform and interpret music. He worked in order to free his students from the conflicts between mind and body, feeling and expression. Dalcroze realized that the aspects of music that are more connected to the senses are rhythm and movement. Regarding the three elements of music, pitch, rhythm, and dynamic, he recognized that

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