Standing Still

Classic exercises in eurythmics lessons are the so-called inhibition exercises: Musical stimuli are coupled to the execution of certain movements, so that coordination and musical understanding, among other things, are trained. In a simple form of this exercise, what is heard is coupled with movement and what is not heard (e.g., pauses) is coupled with standing still. Especially in lessons with children this "game" is very popular. However, if one observes standing still more closely, it quickly becomes clear that depending on the type of "not sounding", standing still can also take on different qualities. For example, the experience of retarding pauses before a climax in music can be extremely dynamic, i.e., suspenseful. Then again – e.g., at the end of a piece, at cadences, at formal boundaries – the pause may actually also be experienced as a moment of releasing tension.

Maria Hector