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A Peabody Dance student does his exercises. (William H. Mortimer, Baltimore Sun files, Dec. 31, 1971)

Peabody Dance is celebrating its centennial this year. The anniversary of the program is being marked with an exhibition in Peabody Mews, a conference for dance history scholars on the last weekend of March and — the big event — a March 28 centennial celebration performance with guest artists, returning alumni and advanced students in the conservatory’s program.

The first dance lessons were given at Peabody Preparatory, the pre-college and community division of the Peabody Institute, in late 1914, when Portia Wager began offering classes in Dalcroze Eurhythmics, an influential multidisciplinary training method developed by the Swiss composer Emile Jaques-Dalcroze.

The Baltimore Sun took note from the start, writing in a Jan. 3, 1915, article about the new dance classes:

“To keep alive the joy of children — and of men and women — by letting them dance and dance until they are a conscious part of the great rhythm of nature, is one of the aims of the famous German teacher of dancing, Jaques-Dalcroze. And Baltimore, through the Peabody Institute, is to have the privilege of being one of the first cities in the country to know his theories and methods.” 

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Esther Nordin demonstrates the elaborate use of arm position 11, which was a feature of allemande dance style. (Clarence Garrett, Baltimore Sun files, May 10, 1963)

In the early years of the 20th century, eurhythmics, also known as rhythmic dancing, competed for attention with the aesthetic dancing popularized by Isadora Duncan.

The Sun seemed persuaded by eurhythmics, which had a reputation for rigor.

“The mothers of the world and the great teachers have long struggled to lead a child into responsible maturity without destroying all the glad freedom of its youth — perhaps Dalcroze has found a yet better way than any of the others to accomplish this.”

The Peabody Dance centennial celebration performance is at 7:30 p.m. March 28 in Peabody’s Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall. General admission tickets are $40. For more information, call 410-234-4800 or go to peabody.jhu.edu.