Graduate students from the School of Music are working to catalogue the material, preserve documents in acid-free folders, and scan letters and photographs for a proposed Dalcroze Research Website. There are many reasons that Dalcroze material needs to be preserved and used for study. Historically, we are able to trace the development of Dalcroze Eurhythmics and carry on the documentation begun by Arthur Becknell. In the 28 years since the completion of his doctoral dissertation, A History of the Development of Dalcroze Eurhythmics in the United States and its Influence on The Public School Music Program, Dalcroze Eurhythmics has continued to grow in North America. Documenting this growth and tracing the lineage of instructors in one benefit of preserving and studying this material.
Every Dalcroze instructor brings a unique teaching style onto the teaching floor.
Eurhythmics and solf ge lesson plans, compositions, choreography, and improvisation all reflect the needs of the students as well as the talents of the instructor. Research in teaching pedagogy has a direct link to the original teaching strategies of Monsieur Jaques. John Colman, for example, left behind a wealth of compositions. This material will soon be available for study and perhaps used again in a learning environment. Benefits of Dalcroze Eurhythmics are well know to us, the instructors.