Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) was a Swiss teacher and composer known for developing eurhythmics, an approach to music education involving whole body movement.

Born July 6, 1865, Emile-Henri Jaques was the only son of Jules-Louis and Julie Jaques, a French-Swiss couple living in Vienna, where his father represented Swiss clockmakers. Emile and his sister were introduced as children to concerts, theater, opera, and piano lessons. After the family moved to Geneva Emile studied at the Conservatoire de Musique (1877-1883) and continued his professional training in Paris and Vienna (1884-1891) with Talbot, Fauré, Lavignac, Marmontel, Lussy, Graedener, Prosnitz, Fuchs, and Bruckner. He worked one season as a conductor at the Théatre des Nouveautés in Algiers, where North African music stimulated his interest in the connections of human movement and rhythm.

Emile Jaques began to compose seriously during his early 20s and soon changed his name to the...