Eurhythmics (also Rhythmic Gymnastics, Rhythmics) is an approach to the education of music that was devised by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. This method utilizes the expression of physical movement and musical rhythms to reinforce the concepts which affect the student’s performance and retention of musical basics.
It is the expression of physical and musical rhythms and the basic laws affecting their performance. Through participation in simple games, exercises and improvisations the students learn to combine music and movement in order to develop rhythmic unity between the eye, ear, mind and body.The definition of eurhythmics can get more complicated, “Of all music teaching methods, the Dalcroze approach is probably the most nebulous to define. That's because it lives in the teachers themselves, not in specific books, songs, or other materials. Specific branches, principles, and strategies form a common thread among Dalcrozians, while teachers may differ greatly in their interests, skills, and teaching styles (Dale, Monica).”
The system grew directly out of Jaques-Dalcroze's experiences as a music theory teacher at the Conservatory in Geneva. He found that his students could not appreciate rules for music without any understanding of the corresponding musical experience. His system encouraged students to feel changes in time, space, and energy that occur in music through discovery through learning.
When eurhythmics was used with solfege (most often used when sight-singing and ear-training) by Dalcroze he found that it sharpened his students’ perception to music and elements of performance (Mead, Virginia Hoge). Dalcroze was also a great improviser. So he often encouraged his students to feel the music he improvised with their whole bodies as well as in singing and playing. This came to be known as the Dalcroze method as known today.