What Can Music Education and Actor Training Learn From Each Other?

Andrew Davidson connects the pedagogical work of music educator Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski. The article shows the correlation between the psychophysical practices of Plastique Animée in Dalcroze’s Eurythmics and Active Analysis in Stanislavski’s Method acting technique. Other related aspects of both systems include focus on intention and emotion and collaboration through ensemble building.

The author outlines three major connections between these practices in actor and musician training. The physical body is the starting point of awareness, so training focuses on the psychomotor (body-brain) domain. Practical experimentation facilitates artistic and emotional experiences shifting from moment to moment, rather than holding onto previously held thoughts and feelings. The artist must always remain in community and collaboration with others.

The themes in this paper are transferable to artists and educators engaged in deepening their own practices and pedagogy.

As someone who continually synthesizes music, theatre, and movement practices, I connected to the parallels and convergences of these contemporaries. Arts education can often become an exercise in intellectual pursuits. Returning to the work of Jaques-Dalcroze and Stanislavski can remind us to attend to the affective and psychomotor possibilities in our students.