What is Dalcroze Eurhythmics?

Dalcroze Eurhythmics offers a creative approach to learning music through body movements. Children explore musical concepts such as beat, tempo, rhythm patterns, dynamics, ear-training, and musical form, all through movement. Listening and singing games using solfege syllables (doh, re, mi) are part of the older age group classes.

Dalcroze classes focus on learning the elements of music through active listening and response through natural movement. These classes serve as an introduction to music for young children before they take instrumental lessons. And many children keep attending classes while studying their instruments - that is where they experience the theory and ear-training components of their musical development. Limit of 8 children per class.

Who is teaching the classes?

Cheng-Feng Lin, B. Mus (piano performance, McGill, Montreal), M.Mus (Dalcroze Eurythmics, Boston), Dalcroze Teaching Certificate and Dalcroze License (Boston).

Cheng-Feng grew up in Vancouver and initially devoted himself to studying classical piano. When he discovered Dalcroze Eurythmics, his musical journey took a sharp turn. He became very interested in how music functions from the movement point of view. Prior moving to Toronto in July 2006, he spent several years in Boston music communities teaching Dalcroze Eurhythmics and piano lessons. He was formerly on the faculties of Powers Music School (Belmont, MA), Winchester Community Music School (Winchester, MA) and the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, MA) while maintaining a private piano studio. In his spare time, he enjoys duo improvisation with another musician or dancer, and he enjoys creating and performing movement pieces using live music. He appreciates how Dalcroze ideas bring vitality and a deeper understanding in his own music making. And for him, it is a meaningful and inspiring call to help other musicians - children and adults - discover that musical/kinesthetic connection.

When is it?

The CMC Children's Dalcroze Eurhythmics Classes are scheduled as follows:

For 3 to 4 year olds:
Thursdays 1:45-2:30pm OR 4:15-5:15pm

For 5 to 6 year olds (Dalcroze with Intro to Notation): (NEW!)
Mondays 4:00-4:45pm

How much does it cost?

Cost of Dalcroze Eurythmics Classes:
$180/ 12 wk fall or winter session of 45 minute weekly classes
$120/ 8 wk spring session of 45 minute weekly classes

DALCROZE EURHYTHMICS 2007-2008 SCHEDULE:

SPRING 2008 Session: April 14th/17th - June 2nd/5th, 2008

How do I join?

Call us at 416-537-5995 to register; registration forms are available to be printed off from our website as well.

More About Dalcroze

Who is Dalcroze?

Emile Jaques Dalcroze (1865-1950), was born in Vienna and raised in Switzerland. He was trained as an actor with the Comedie Francaise. He studied composition with Bruchner, Delibes and Faure; wrote string quartets, violin concerti, and operas; performed as a concert pianist throughout Europe and North Africa. He was appointed Professor of Harmony at Geneva Conservatoire at age 25, and collaborated with stage designer Adolphe Appias in ground-breaking theatrical productions at Hellerau in Germany. As a theoretician and pedagogue he is recognized as one of the architects of modern Music and Arts Education. He devised the world renowned approach to Music Education known as Dalcroze Eurythmics; wrote many books and articles on Eurythmics and the Arts; composed hundreds of musical exercises for piano and chorus. He left an indelible mark on all who studied at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze, Geneva. Emile Jaques-Dalcroze taught many influential figures, such as Ernst Bloch, the Swiss-born composer, and Marie Rambert. He was the co-choreographer of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, and he was also the Director of Ballet Rambert, London

This excerpt is taken from the Dalcroze Society of America:

The Dalcroze approach to Music Education teaches an understanding of music -- its fundamental concepts, its expressive meaning, and its deep connections to other arts and human activities -- through a path-breaking approach incorporating rhythmic movement, aural training, and physical, vocal, and instrumental improvisation.

A Dalcroze class divides into three components: Eurhythmics, for which Dalcroze is best known, which teaches concepts of rhythm, structure, and musical expression using movement; Solfège, a reinvention of traditional ear training and sight singing which develops an integrated and expressive understanding of pitch, scale, and tonality through activities emphasizing immediate aural comprehension and vocal improvisation; and Improvisation, expressing an understanding of musical concepts, form and meaning through spontaneous musical creation using movement, voice, and instruments.

The Dalcroze approach views the qualities of music as fundamental forces in human life, and emphasizes music's connection to other arts -- dance, drama, and poetry especially -- as well as fundamental human activities involving movement, language, and emotion. As more and more scientists are discovering, the Dalcroze method sees music as a fundamental language of the human brain and therefore deeply connected to who we are as human beings.

The Dalcroze approach is most commonly seen today in early childhood and elementary school music education; many innovations and techniques Dalcroze developed to apply his ideas on musical understanding to children have become standard practice and are used by a wide variety of methods and approaches to children's music. However, Dalcroze designed his approach for Conservatory-trained students and adults, and it continues to be used in that environment: Dalcroze classes are offered at many of our country's top universities and conservatories, while ongoing adult classes are on offer at various Dalcroze centers around the country. The universality of the Dalcroze ideas, the method's ability to teach musical truths from pre-kindergarten through graduate school, is a testament to the vitality and power of the Dalcroze approach to music.