Eighth Grade Eurythmy Fall term In addition to their twice weekly combined Eurythmy lessons with the 7th grade, the 8th grade also has a Eurythmy lesson by themselves.
The main piece the class has been working on this fall is a copper rod exercise to " The Cakewalk" by Claude Debussy for which they are creating their own choreography.
We began the process by reviewing the basic rod exercises that the student's had learned in past years. The class listened to the " The Cakewalk" and began to create forms and exercises to accompany the piece. In the beginning, everyone was full of ideas and wanted to be heard, but there was not enough listening or valuing of ideas by others. After a few weeks, the students came upon a process to move this project forward in a more organized and disciplined fashion.
The class ultimately agreed on a plan in which students would rotate in the role of director. The director first makes sure that the group is correctly executing the existing choreography. After that, the director may add something new, make a change, or leave things as they are. The director then suggests choreography for the next part. Once we try out the director's ideas, s/he asks for feedback concerning new additions or modifications. The director calls on people one at a time; everyone tries to listen to each person's ideas with an open mind. It is challenging to have the discipline to follow through on a process like this. I have placed myself beside the students as one of the performers, and I can attest to the patience it requires to subdue one's own impulse to voice one's ideas vs. trying out someone else's!
I am truly enjoying working on this project with the class, and I believe they are enjoying it as well. They clearly feel good about what they are creating collaboratively.
I look forward to having the class present this piece at our Spring Eurythmy performance.
If you have any questions, please send them to me through the contact page. I wish all the children and families of the 8th grade a happy and healthy school year!