Presenter: Bethan James (Bangor University and Royal Northern College of Music)
As a professional violinist in the 1990s, an encounter with the holistic, embodied music pedagogy that is Dalcroze Eurhythmics proved to be a life-changing epiphany. Twenty-five years on, as a renowned practitioner and teacher trainer of the approach, my autoethnographic doctoral research delves into the sense I make of my practice, and in particular the role played by the body. Dalcroze students are encouraged to adopt a playful attitude and a spirit of spontaneity and curiosity within the class, which opens up a world of possibilities and potential rather than goals. This presentation will focus on the role of play, as one key theme in my research. Concurrently, it will reveal how I have crafted a tailor-made methodology, involving bricolage, arts-based inquiry and a/r/tography, and drawn inspiration from the world of textiles. This speaks to the act of externalising and expressing the internal felt sense, intrinsic to Dalcroze pedagogy.
