Skills and experiences for 1st-2nd Grade Dalcroze: Movement (Part 1 of 4)

The focus for this list is movement. In each Dalcroze class, I give a short warm-up at the beginning. The focus is usually on some kind of movement technique, and I often use the warm-up to provide an introduction to the musical subject of the day (for example beat and division, syncopation, simple triple meter, etc.). Of course, movement happens throughout a eurhythmics class, and some of the items are core movement objectives that we aim to visit and refine throughout the year.

Skills and experiences associated movement:

• Execute any kind of locomotor movement with grace and ease
• move isolated parts of the body with ease
• change between
  • isolated parts of the body to whole body movement
  • top half and bottom half of body
  • symmetrical and asymmetrical positions
• move
  • with spatial awareness
    • hi/low/front/back
      • using oppositions
    • of pathway
      • curvy
      • straight with quick turns
  • with different lengths of stride
  • with awareness of the room and the group
  • with spirals
  • with awareness of how joints articulate in the body
  • with expansion and contraction
• vertical vs horizontal space
• Releasing isolated parts of the body vs. activating parts
• Figure 8 in different planes (horizontal, vertical, sagittal)
• using body weight to push, roll, turn and tumble across the floor.
• using gravity to create momentum (e.g. with swinging arms)
• use hands and feet separately and simultaneously in simple ways
• use gesture to express a wide variety of tempos and dynamics, in place
• move effectively
  • independently
  • with a partner
  • in small groups
  • with the whole group
• Create and remember sequences of movement (up to 5)