Elderly people in a new study cut their risk of falling by more than half after they took classes in eurythmics, an exercise-and-music program designed for young children.
The 12-month trial recruited 134 people, average age 75, who were unsteady on their feet. Half were randomly assigned to weekly, hourlong eurhythmics classes for the full year, and the other half for just the last six months.
The program, developed by the early-20th-century Swiss composer Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, teaches movement in time to music, from Mozart minuets to jazz improvisations. Participants have to walk and turn around, stay in step with changing tempos, learn to shift their weight and balance, handle objects while walking, and make exaggerated upper-body movements while standing and walking.
The two groups were monitored outside of class to determine how many times they fell. In the full-year group …
