Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           www.selu.edu/NewsEvents
    Date: 1/31/97
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple  95A

SLU COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL OFFERS CLASS FOR PRE-SCHOOLERS
     HAMMOND -- The Southeastern Louisiana University Community Music School is offering
a new pre-instrumental music class for pre-schoolers.
     "Music and Rhythmic Movement" will be open to children ages four to six years old. Lessons
will begin Feb. 17 and will continue for ten weeks at 10 a.m. on Saturdays.
Tuition is $110 and there is a $10 registration fee.
     The new course will be taught by SLU education professor Christopher J. Della Pietra. 
     The idea behind the course is to "cultivate a musical understanding" in young children before
they actually begin studying a musical instrument, Della Pietra explained. The course, he said, is
based on "Eurhythmics," the music education method of Jaques-Dalcroze. The method uses the natural
movement of the body as a tool to teach musical concepts. The method fosters the development of
focused listening, concentration and coordination of mind and body through rhythmic movement to
music.
     Della Pietra, who also taught preschool through middle school music for several years, studied
Jaques-Dalcroze's method at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, California State University-
Los Angeles and Manhattan School of Music. 
     For more information contact CMS Director Thais Perkins at (504) 549-5938.
                                 - SLU -
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