Michael Joviala (USA) “Dalcroze Essentials: Finding Your Improvisational Voice”
A three-session short course
Upcoming VDM Events
[three 80-minute sessions]
Tuesdays, September 22 / September 29 / October 6
- 7:00am PDT
- 8:00am MDT / CDMX
- 9:00am CDT
- 10:00am EDT
- 3:00pm BST / London
- 10:00pm Western Australia / Singapore
- 11:00pm Tokyo
Wednesdays, September 23 / September 30 / October 7
- 12:00am(midnight) Sydney (1am on October 7)
Do you have an improvisational practice outside of the Dalcroze classroom? How connected do you feel to your own musical voice when you play for classes? Improvising for Dalcroze classes is challenging: we are simultaneously watching and responding to our students, making pedagogical decisions and creating the music that carries the lesson, all while drawing on a substantial technical vocabulary of patterns, chord progressions, keys and modes. But technical fluency is only part of the picture; to connect deeply with our students, we also need to be authentically connected to ourselves as musicians, developing our own voice through free improvisation and attentive listening to our musical impulses. In these three sessions, we will explore simple practices for developing that voice and strengthening the connection between our ears and hands, so that even within the specific demands of Dalcroze teaching, our improvisation remains authentically our own.
This short course will help you feel more personally connected to the music you play for Dalcroze classes. You'll leave with suggestions for building a regular practice of free improvisations, which will support your authentic improvisational voice both in and out of the classroom.
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New York City-based educator/improviser/composer Michael Joviala earned the Diplôme Supérieur from the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva in 2020. He is the director of studies for Dalcroze teacher-training programs at the Lucy Moses School in New York and the Colburn School in Los Angeles. He teaches Dalcroze Eurhythmics to students of all ages at the Lucy Moses School of Music, the Dalcroze School of Music and Movement and in workshops worldwide. He is the creator and music director of the improvising music and dance ensemble, Locomotors.
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