The World Health Organization describes health and well-being as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (Grad, 2002, p. 981). The positive effects of the arts on health and well-being have been studied extensively. Findings have shown that the arts can affect physical and mental health by preventing poor health, promoting good health, and managing and treating various illnesses (Fancourt and Finn, 2019). The growing body of literature on the transformative value and benefits of music for health and well-being illuminates the effective contribution of music participation to the quality of life of a community (Dillon, 2006; Hallam et al., 2012; Lenette and Procopis, 2016). MacDonald et al. (2012) developed a conceptual framework illustrating that the growing multidisciplinary interest in the relationship between music, health, and well-being could enhance musical activities’ social, therapeutic, and communicative benefits. Paton (2011) states that music has a supportive function in enhancing a community’s emotional, mental, physical, and social well-being that goes beyond purely musical entertainment or performance. Participatory music-making serves various social functions in the community, such as involving community members in social communication and activities, and building trust and unity among individuals in the group (Garrido et al., 2016).

Music does not only play a sociocultural role but also has a significant impact on quality of life as it is “an inherently social act and one which contains enormous potential to bring people together and to facilitate various forms of social action” (Murray and Lamont, 2012, p. 76). Music making promotes the community’s wellness by having a calming influence on community members in despair and discomfort; it can be used to inform community members of important health and welfare matters, and music making “can lighten the load of the suffering” (Reigersberg, 2017, p. 134). Small (1998, p. 2) uses the term “musicking” to illustrate that music entails activity and adds that meaning is generated through social and cultural interactions. Stige (2003) views health musicking as an interdisciplinary field that promotes well-being through musical participation. Musical activities in health musicking create meaning in times of hardship and teach strategies to cope with different social problems (Bonde, 2011). A health-musicking perspective supports Dalcroze-inspired activities since the emphasis is on the inter- and intra-personal relationships which develop through musicking to promote health and well-being (Navarro Wagner, 2016). DeNora (2013, p. 1) developed “a grounded theoretical account of how music can be understood to create conditions conducive to wellbeing.” The Dalcroze-inspired workshop for the community members of Parys relates to her theory in so far as the musicking provided momentary respite from distress and afforded participants the opportunity to renew their environments.

Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865–1950) was a Swiss composer, pianist, and music educator interested in training the body to facilitate inner hearing, musical thinking, learning, and understanding. He was appointed as a professor of solfège¹ and harmony at the Conservatory of Geneva from 1892 to 1910 (Choksy et al., 1986).

After the First World War, Jaques-Dalcroze was concerned with social reform and cohesion by encouraging students to live in harmony with themselves and those around them. He envisaged the musical expression of human emotion and created an approach that included three branches, namely eurhythmics, solfège, and improvisation; of these, eurhythmics proved to be his unique contribution (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1919). The distinctive Dalcrozian approach to musical learning involves rhythmic bodily movements in response to the elements of music. As a result, scholars develop a bodily awareness awakened by active listening and inner hearing (Le Collège de l’institut Jaques-Dalcroze, 2019). In a Dalcroze class, students explores aspects of time, space and energy through locomotor and non-locomotor body movements.

Movement is the link between the ear and brain, leading the student to an embodied and deeply internalized understanding of music (Le Collège de l’institut Jaques-Dalcroze, 2019). In the Dalcroze approach, the muscular and nervous systems develop simultaneously with the body’s natural rhythms, stimulated by the auditory and visual imaginations of the musical mind. This approach is explained by Juntunen (2004, p. 68) as follows: “Dalcroze Eurhythmics primarily teaches habits of musical action or, more generally, ‘a bodily way of being in sound’, rather than conceptual or abstract knowledge of music.” Dalcroze envisioned making the whole human being more aware, receptive, and imaginative. This approach has spiritual, holistic, and intra-disciplinary dimensions (Habron and Van der Merwe, 2017) and is usually implemented in a group so that learners respond to one another, learn from each other, become aware of the group, and practice mutual respect (Le Collège de l’institut Jaques-Dalcroze, 2019).

In the hands of a caring facilitator, the atmosphere of a Dalcroze class is a safe environment with an active, alert, and reflective approach, and participants learn by “doing” and are encouraged to take risks and develop inter- and intra-personal skills, as well as musical skills (Le Collège de l’institut Jaques-Dalcroze, 2019). In the process, they become more aware of themselves as human beings intersecting in a social ecology where music plays a formidable role in helping them articulate—through movement—how they feel and express what they experience subconsciously. Therefore, Dalcroze-inspired activities were selected as the most appropriate collaborative music-making experience since humans construct meaning from bodily experiences. The research group was particularly interested in understanding the meaning participants ascribed to their experiences of a Dalcroze-inspired workshop. By using music and movement to improve communication between all relevant stakeholders in Parys who wished to engage with the research group on the question of water-related problems, we wanted to find solutions to this critical issue in the community.

In the following sections, we first discuss the research procedures, the Dalcroze-inspired workshop, and the types of activities used. Secondly, in the findings section, we interpret the lived experiences of those who participated in the Dalcroze-inspired workshop and their views on local water-delivery problems. Thirdly we discuss the findings in the context of the relevant scholarly literature.

Fifty-three stakeholders from Parys and its neighborhoods and eight researchers participated in the event. The transdisciplinary research team included a biochemist, banker, chemist, political scientist, two musicians, environmental engineer, and two historians. Each one was also encouraged to describe the meaning they ascribed to the Dalcroze-inspired workshop and provide their perspectives on solutions to the water problem. Therefore, there were 62 participants in this study.

Two musicians organized the Dalcroze-inspired workshop in collaboration with the researchers and rehearsed a possible version of the workshop with the researchers the day before. The Parys workshop commenced with a two-hour Dalcroze-inspired session. The purpose of this workshop was to give an opportunity for the expression of emotions about the water challenges through music and movement and to promote creativity, communication, and problem-solving. The Dalcroze-inspired workshop generated a unique opportunity for the diverse participants representing different stakeholder sectors in the community of Parys to interact with each other.

Following the Dalcroze-inspired session, the water meeting focused on participants sharing their encounters regarding the water dilemma. Participants were then asked what action they would take to address the water situation if they were the municipal manager of Parys. The positive emotions generated by the Dalcroze approach broadened their minds (Fredrickson, 2013) and facilitated creative problem-solving. Their suggested solutions were included in an unpublished research report conducted for Sasol Limited on behalf of the office of the Free State Premier. Lastly, the participants were asked what meaning they ascribed to the Dalcroze-inspired workshop. Although some members were initially hesitant when invited to participate in a Dalcroze-inspired movement-to-music session, they were fully prepared to share their deepest feelings with us openly and transparently. The group developed a strong sense of togetherness, and participants could exchange their opinions. This article reports all the findings related to the Dalcroze-inspired workshop.

A pre-defined, ethically approved framework guided the research team’s actions. Significant effort ensured an inclusive communication platform between the stakeholders and researchers. Informed consent was obtained from each participant before the workshop to ensure we could use the data for research. Furthermore, pseudonyms were used to ensure participant anonymity and confidentiality. A feedback session with the stakeholders took place six weeks after the workshop to give them an opportunity to give input.

The data-collection process continued during the workshop. While the Dalcroze-inspired workshop was in progress, data were captured of the group in action using photos, videos, sound recordings, and active information gathering by means of notes taken by members of the research team. Data were also collected through focus group interviews and open-ended individual interviews. The objective was to use diverse data collection strategies to glean relevant information on the perceptions and opinions of community members. Immediately after the Dalcroze-inspired workshop, when the focus group interviews were conducted, participants were specifically asked: What meaning do you ascribe to your experiences of the Dalcroze-inspired workshop?

All data generated during the workshop were qualitatively interpreted as the data were coded, categorized and thematised. The textual data were organized and coded in one heuristic unit in ATLAS.ti, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software program (Friese, 2014). ATLAS.ti is a useful tool to organize, manage and support the process of qualitative data analysis. Using the NCT (noticing, collecting, and thinking about things) method (Friese, 2014), data were analyzed and interpreted by moving back and forth between these three iterative steps. Interesting aspects observed in the data were collected and collated in the process of constant comparison (Butler-Kisber, 2018). Throughout the process, we identified patterns and links in the data. This approach to data analysis is illustrated in, among other things, the network views. The data analysis took place in two phases. First, there was descriptive-level open coding (Saldaña, 2013). Later we entered the next conceptual phase in the data-analysis process, and patterns and links were identified.

The themes were subdivided into seven “problem” themes, five “solution” themes, and five “music experience” themes. This article focuses only on the “music experience” themes, namely the meaning participants ascribed to the Dalcroze-inspired workshop and does not elaborate on the water delivery problems and solutions that the stakeholders identified because of the Dalcroze-inspired workshop. The water delivery problems and suggested solutions expressed during the water meetings that followed the Dalcroze-inspired workshop, were included in a report to the Free State Provincial Premier.

In a situation where conflict resolution is necessary, the appropriate choice of music and activities is crucial. The workshop aimed to encourage communication between community members by creating an opportunity for them to express their emotions through music and movement. Although the researchers made suggestions for music that they believed could inspire movement, the first author guided the choice of music and activities with reference to her knowledge of the community and its context. As this was mainly an intuitive and spiritual process for the music facilitator, she walked to the music in her living room to get a feel for the music and asked herself: “Will this music make things better?”

The topics of the music were carefully chosen to facilitate reconciliation, such as Reconciliation Ballet by Rachel Portman, You and Your Crown by Matthew Mole, Baby can I Hold you by Tracy Chapman, Simple Gifts by Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss, and others. Each activity was built sequentially from the previous activity, and each activity had a social intention, such as making eye contact, being aware of other people, leading and following, synchronizing the beat, making physical contact, celebrating together, giving recognition to the other person, communicating to whom you are going to pass the beat, being expressive and creative together, being sensitive to another person etc. For each activity, clear instructions were given, for example: “Walk with someone you have never met before. Change directions together only by being sensitive to the other person (no talking).” Another example of an instruction for an activity was: “Pair up with someone you do not know. Mirror that person’s movement. Take turns to mirror and be mirrored - take turns to lead and follow.” These are just a few examples.

Our approach relates to Higgins, 2012 third perspective of community music, namely an intentional intervention emphasizing people, participation, diversity and accessibility. We recognized “the value of music to foster intercultural acceptance and understanding” (Higgins, 2012, p. 5). Our choice of musicking was Dalcroze-inspired activities since we have succeeded with this approach in similar community contexts. We acknowledge that other community music approaches that require active engagement in interesting, playful, musical movement activities could have similar findings.

In designing the workshop, the first author was also informed in her choices by the seven types of touch promoted by Greenhead and Habron (2015). She agrees with their statement that “the touch-like nature of sound not only makes contact with the body, inciting physical and emotional movement but also develops awareness of self, others and environment due to the social nature of musical participation in general” (p. 93). They further state that touch activities are suitable to “communicate intentions and feelings to others and receive their responses” (p. 101). Therefore, five of the seven types of touch activities were used as well as one additional category, namely eye contact and imagined contact. Massage and therapeutic touch were not included since sensitive cultural and gender issues were at stake. Recorded music was used since there was no piano available, and the participants related better to more familiar music. The six types of touch/contact included were:

It became clear from the people of Ngwathe’s stories that they suffered tremendously (Figure 1). This suffering is caused by the health risks posed by dirty water. People who do not have money to buy treated water end up drinking the dirty water and become ill. Old and ill people do not even have water to drink with their medicine. In many cases, there is also no water supply, which leads to vulnerable people having to fetch water for themselves. The water problem jeopardizes children’s education. They spend time fetching water when they are supposed to be learning. People also experience embarrassment and frustration with the unfairly and unevenly distributed water. Most participants stated simply and powerfully: “We need water.”

With the use of the ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software, we identified the following five themes from the interviews, focus group interviews, photos, videos, and observations during and after the Dalcroze-inspired workshop (Figure 2):

Elliott (1995) identifies enjoyment as one of the three essential values of music-making as a human pursuit, while Freeman (2002) found heightened enjoyment to be one of the four ways in which students engage in music when a spiritual approach to music education is followed. It is, therefore, a valuable finding of this study that the participants enjoyed the Dalcroze-inspired workshop. This was also a finding in a previous study that the stakeholders of the Brandfort community enjoyed the Dalcroze-inspired workshop experience (Van der Merwe et al., 2019). Jaques-Dalcroze (1912, p. 31) himself said, “I like joy, for it is life. I preach joy, for it alone gives the power of creating useful and lasting work.” Joy is also important because it opens us up for social interaction (Johnson, 2020).

McGuire (2003, p. 15) states, “Collective embodied practices, such as singing or dancing together, can produce an experiential sense of community and connectedness.” In the Brandfort study (Van der Merwe et al., 2019), the researchers found that the Dalcroze-inspired workshop facilitated interaction, cooperation, and connection between people. The current study takes it one step further. Not only did participants interact, but they also experienced synchrony and improved communication as a result. Furthermore, they learnt that they could depend on each other. Ansdell (2014, p. 71) explains that “Musicking allows us to explore, affirm and celebrate our diverse real and symbolic human relationships” and, according to Small (1999, p. 13), “It is in those relationships that the meaning of the act of musicking lies.” Jaques-Dalcroze (1919, p. xii) knew that his approach could help people to express emotions regarding a communal crisis. In 1919, he said, “Now the War is over, the coming generation will experience this need of forming groups for the expression of common emotion.”

Not only can Dalcroze-inspired activities facilitate social integration, but they can also enable the transformation of relationships. Boyce-Tillman (2000, p. 93) states that “Words divide, but sounds unite” and that “When a group of people makes music together, unity is restored.” The Brandfort study (Van der Merwe et al., 2019) revealed that the participants reached a phase of heightened awareness of each other by feeling part of the group. We argue that in the current study, this awareness facilitated the transformation of relationships by opening up boundaries between people. Jaques-Dalcroze (1930a, p. v) says: “I am certain of one thing: that the rightly-directed will can convert mean and selfish instincts into generous and altruistic ones, negative resolves into positive.”

Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b, p. 93) considers art “the outward projection of love and knowledge of beauty and truth.” For him, “receive and give” is the “golden rule of humanity” (1919, p. 63). In the Brandfort study (Van der Merwe et al., 2019), the participants felt positive about being open to each other’s needs and feelings. In the Parys study, openness led to people helping each other. Boyce-Tillman (2007, p. 1418) explains that in a globalizing culture, musical experiences might help us connect to the Other “in ways that are characterized by a combination of respect and empathy.” Virtuous behavior supports our well-being.

Croom (2015, p. 44) supports the claim that “music practice and participation can positively contribute to one living a flourishing life by positively influencing their emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.” The Brandfort study (Van der Merwe et al., 2019) showed that the Dalcroze-inspired workshop positively contributes to participants being able to express their emotions regarding the water crisis, active engagement, and connection with each other. In the Parys study, more explanations were found why Dalcroze-inspired activities supported participants’ well-being: they felt welcome, relaxed, present, and could escape reality. These aspects contribute to participants’ overall well-being. Jaques-Dalcroze (1930c) states that “it cannot be denied that rhythmic movements possess a calming influence upon the nervous system” (p. 159).