EURHYTHMICS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 129, 29 February 1928, Page 5

EURHYTHMICS

PROGRESS IN SCHOOLS The teaching of eurhythmies in New Zealand is to be further advanced following arrival from London of Miss Winifred Houghton, a certificated Dalcroze teacher, who is on a visit to the Dominion, and who has been engaged by the Bducatiou Department to give a course of lectures on the subject at Dunedin, Christchurch, and Auckland Training Colleges. The first course will be given at Dunedin, for which city Miss Houghton will leave to-morrow, Christchurch and Auckland following iu rotation. The Wellington Training, College, Kelbttrn, has not been included, as Miss Eileen Russell has been teaching eurhythmies there for the past year with considerable success. She has been, and is, teaching in various other parts of the Wellington education district also. Miss A. L. Hurst, an English teacher who last year was iu Dunedin under the exchange system, but returned towards the end of the year, and gave an address to the Teachers’ Institute on the Daleroze method of teaching eurhythmies, was a pupil of Miss Houghton. The Dalcroze system, however, was not particularly adaptable to young children, and Miss Houghton applied herself to a study of it from this aspect, and has expanded it in this special direction to a degree which is stated to have been a marked success. Certificated Dalcroze teachers are still few iu number, and in view of the progress which has been made the Department availed itself of the opportunity of getting Miss Houghton to give a course of lectures while in New Zealand. Mr. E. D. Tayler, supervisor of school music in the’ Education Department, stated yesterday that eurhythmies was a subject which was coming increasingly into education, and they were glad of any opportunity of spreading it. Its value was far more than being merely musical, as it developed concentration, mental and physical poise, helped to remove self-consciousness, developed the social sense and inculcated grace of movement. The work had been found of the utmost value with backward, shy, and mentally defective children. One great thing in which eurhythmies differed from all forms of display dancing was that it was solely’ for the development of the performer, although it was pleasing and artistic at the same time, and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. Miss Houghton is an enthusiast on the subject, and her experiments with mentally defective children have produced excellent results, as boys and girls who have never been known to give more than a few minutes’ attention to one subject would concentrate for half an hour when music was the matter in hand. The method is one of teaching children actually’ to feel music by using their limbs itt beating or dancing time to music, improvised or otherwise. Those teachers who were able, to improvise had a valuable gift, as it is absolutelv necessary that the teacher should be able to play from memory in oraer to be able to watch and guide the children, and they must avoid the tendency’ to connect one time with a particular exercise. With young children it is a game bringing in rhythmic point, thus helping to develop the musical facul* ties, and a sense of joy pervades the work throughout.