
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze was a Swiss music pedagogue who advocated the use of musical activities to develop different human qualities such as consciousness, personality, temperament, the subconscious, the muscular and nervous system, imagination, thought, behaviour, action, confidence, concentration and freedom of spirit. Many of his statements and intuitions are fully recognised in certain contemporary music therapy approaches, theories and practices. The aims of this article are to: acknowledge the presence of health and wellbeing in Jaques-Dalcroze’s understanding of Eurhythmics; discuss the contributions the method has made and does make in therapeutic or wellbeing contexts; and to develop an understanding of current Eurhythmics practice from the perspectives of contemporary music therapy theory. The article begins with a discussion of the ‘health-musicking’ concept and goes on to use vignettes of the author’s practice as a Eurhythmics teacher and music therapist to illuminate the argument. A second section relates the theory of communicative musicality to improvisation practices through a health and wellbeing lens. Finally, the conclusion exposes diverse ideas on how to carry out a Eurhythmics practice through a health and wellbeing perspective.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 1 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
