The Dalcroze Teacher
Once the student has experienced the full impact of the methodology, and has completed the cycle of moving from Body through the Mind and into the Spirit, one is now ready to take the next step, a step that carries the student into the next domain, and on to another level. It is a very new world and a very new role; it is the role of the “observer.” Once the student crosses into this next dimension, with full use of his given musical faculties, complete in his own body, secure in his will, and toujours prêt (always ready) to surrender to his spirit, he is ready emerge and become the Diplômée, the teacher and master of the Method Jaques-Dalcroze. See : The Five Guiding Principles
For this phenomenon to occur however, it takes quite a unique training in addition to the normal Jaques-Dalcroze Education process. The training takes time, which varies with each individual. Because the entire human being is involved, body, mind, and spirit in an evolutionary process, the training demands patience, compassion, and love for oneself.
For this reason, teachers train in three sequential levels: Level I, the Jaques-Dalcroze Certificate, Level II, the Jaques-Dalcroze Licence d’Enseignement, Level III, the final level, the Jaques-Dalcroze Diplôme Supérieur .
The training is ominous because the entire teaching process hinges on the art of piano improvisation and the powers of observation. The teacher must guide his students toward a specific skill or concept through his own music. The lessons are a series of “experiences” that give rise to inquiry. Therefore, the music must move the student’s body in such a way for the experience to awaken his consciousness and incite his spirit. In addition, the music and the movement must be relevant to the student’s needs, his mood, and his temperament at any given moment. The teacher must link viscerally to each student and create a musical conversation where the student is listening and reacting, but also where the teacher is observing and re-reacting. The interplay or the “dance” of these two personalities must continue almost seamlessly and on a subliminal level especially at first. The teacher must be subtle and yet, very aware and profoundly effective if the methodology is to be effective.
Level I, the Jaques-Dalcroze Certificate is granted to students who have degrees in Music or Music Education, have completed a minimal training in the Dalcroze methodology, can improvise simply but musically, and can provide authentic movement experience for their students through their own improvisation. These candidates are usually classroom music teachers or music education professors who want to provide movement-music experiences to their music classes. They are not teaching the “method” but rather using the principles of a Jaques-Dalcroze Education to guide their teaching. One Diplômée and at least two Licensed Jaques-Dalcroze teachers can grant this document.
The second level, the Jaques-Dalcroze Licence d’Enseignement, is a horse of a different color. This degree is a professional teaching license in the Method Jaques-Dalcroze. It requires at least four years of continuous study under the tutelage of three Diplômées. However, in the United States , the Licence may be granted to students holding a Master of Music Degree and two years of tutelage under 3 Diplômées of the method.
This training has a strong emphasis on improvisation for the eurhythmics class. This process encourages the student to “let go” and stop grasping for the theory of music making, trust his own training as a Dalcrozian, and create music from his body and from the bodies of his students. Here he is guided to complete the cycle of body, mind, and spirit and allow the new musician to emerge through a special student-teacher program where the master teacher is present and ever ready to slip in and out of the role of teacher. In the course of a eurhythmics lesson on any level, the student teacher must allow room for a graceful dance between himself and his master. He must be willing and ready to move gracefully from the role of teacher to the role of student teacher at any moment. This continuous ballet between master and teacher allows the student teacher to pause and observe the difference, watch the students with new eyes, observe and listen to what the master teacher has changed, and how he has changed it, reflect on why a change was needed, regain confidence, and then when asked return to the role of teacher.
As this choreography takes place over a given period, the master teacher finds himself sitting more and teaching less. Gradually, the student teacher gains skill, confidence and a willingness to let go, change course when necessary, and yet remain on track with the goals of the lesson. Eventually, he can chain together one continuous music experience for the students, teach a specific musical concept, and unfold a lesson that is a complete musical entity. Finally, the student has become both observer and doer and therefore, he has become teacher.
The third and final level, the Jaques-Dalcroze Diplôme Supérieur is yet a completely different level of awareness and experience. Here the Dalcrozian becomes the Master practitioner. He reaches new levels of musicianship, and obtains a deeper awareness of the self as musician and teacher. He is prepared to train teachers in all three branches of the methodology: eurhythmics, solfege, and improvisation. He learns to create the dance between master and student teacher. He is the observer and the doer, but in addition, he begins to observe the observer. Finally, he earns the status as a legal representative of the Method Jaques-Dalcroze and can confer degrees.
The third level is seldom granted since the training requires years of residency in Geneva , Switzerland , it is given only in the French Language, and it demands a very high level of competence in music composition, choreography, piano improvisation, and ear training. Only after the college deems one ready are there a battery of examinations over the course of two to three weeks. They include six public demonstrations of eurhythmics, solfege, and improvisation lessons, a live performance of one’s choreography and the composed music that accompanies it, a public piano recital, a public examination in ear training, which includes harmony, and a public examination in the art of piano improvisation plus a dissertation. There is one private examination, which is in harmony, which takes place over a two-hour period, alone, in a locked room without a piano.
The method produces the Master Dalcrozian . It allows him to reach deep into resources he had never known. It provides the tools necessary to function as a complete musician, self-actualized and competent to wear many artistic hats in two languages.