EURHYTHMICS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 58, 5 February 1927, Page 10

EURHYTHMICS

The importance of a good system of physical exercises for young folk does not need stressing, but tho best method to use has long been a subject of controversy. This has. been largely solved in the Old Country by the adoption of what is known as tho Dalcroze system, a disciple of which, Miss Eileen Russell, L.R.A.M., who has completed a three-year course of training in the London School of Dalcroze Eurhythmies, intends opening a class in Palmerston North. The aim of eurhythmies is to create a new basis for music study, to make it easier for the student to understand music by experiencing it with his body, so that he will have felt, proved, and lived it for himself. The use of the body as an instrument obliges the cultivation of exercises to obtain more co-ordination between the mental and muscular processes, to develop self-control and concentration, to establish complete harmony between the brain and the body, and to think and act with the least possible effort and without loss of time. In outline, the following is the general plan of the lessons: —Pyre technique of walking and beating time, aural exercises for inhibition for concentration and quick physical response, realisation in movement of musical '•allies, spontaneous improvision by the pupil on a given rhythmic subject, and a game or plastic exercise combining an inhibition exercise or a rhythm or a musical interpretation. Put shortly the method‘is for the purpose of developing aural perception, rhythmical feeling, muscular control, musical feeling and expression, and improving the mental' powers.