Post-Session
Notes for
Wyoming
Music Educators Association
Monday,
January 16, 2012
Evanston,
WY
TEACHING
TRADITIONAL DANCE & SINGING GAMES TO CHILDREN
We had
a wonderful time with all of you at our dance
workshop
last Monday. Thank you for your
enthusiastic
participation.
We know
that there are many folks who worked to make
our
visit possible, and we thank all of you, but we would
like to
give a particular thanks to Pamela Schweigert who
was
quite thoughtful, thorough, gracious and fun to be
with as
she took care of us before and during the conference.
Below
are notes about all the dances that
we did
in the workshop.
The
post-workshop notes for our Storytelling - Picture Book workshop are at
http://www.amidonmusic.com/NotesWyomingLitMusicJan2012.html
I could
not find any contra dances or English country dances
in Wyoming.
Here is information on a regular dance in
Salt
Lake City:
Contra
Dance, Salt Lake City, UT
First
Unitarian Church, 569 South 1300 East
Music
by Loose Shoes
Chief
caller: Rob Snow
Usually
fourth Saturday of the month, September through May.
Beginner
Classes 7:30 PM, Dancing 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Cost
$5.00
Contact
801-328-4742
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To
get on the Amidon mailing list (notices 2-3 times
a
month on upcoming music teacher workshops,
choral
singing workshops, new publications, and
new
choral arrangements (both treble voice and
SATB),
please send an email to
saying
you would like to be on the Amidon mailing list.
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MEET
OUR BOYS:
Stefan
(with his band ÒThe Sweetback SistersÓ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpUPk6ldwE&list=PL106068EE434419C7&index=3
Sam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R19BBsMvwQk
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AMIDONS
SUMMER WEEK-LONG 3-CREDIT COURSE
RICH
TRADITIONS AND NEW CREATIONS: DANCE, SONG, STORYTELLING AND LITERATURE IN THE
MUSIC CLASSROOM
(or
ÒEverything we knowÓ)
We do
this every summer. Our next course
is
Monday
- Friday, July 2 - 6, 2012.
Hartt
Summerterm, West Hartford, CT
general
info:
http://harttweb2.hartford.edu/summer.php
The
foundation of this class is the wealth of songs, dances, singing games, and
folktales that spring from the Anglo American/African American oral traditions.
Each participant will write a song and tell a folktale.
Contact: Dee Hansen * 860-768-4128 * dehansen@hartford.edu
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AMIDONSÕ
SESSION NOTES FOR Wyoming Music Educators Association
Teaching Traditional
Dance & Singing Games to Children
Blaydon
Races (p. 4
in handout)
in
NEDMÕs Chimes of Dunkirk collection
We used
ÔBlaydon RacesÕ from NEDMÕs
2010
Revision of the ÔChimes of DunkirkÕ
CD for
this. You can also use any jig or
reel
medley for this dance.
We did
this is a mixer, but you can also do it with
younger
children without changing partners.
We
often call this at weddings. We
always start
teaching
this, as we do with any circle mixer, by
having
the dancers promenade and defining the
gents/moons/peanut
butter/inside partners and the
ladies/stars/jelly/outside
partners.
Dance
Teaching Tips:
Mittens;
front of your mitten on the front of your neighborÕs
mitten,
thumb lightly on back; take hands drop hands take
hands
drop hands; posture; teach the forward separately
from
the back in the forward and back; shake partnerÕs
hand,
hang on, take partnerÕs left hand for teaching promenade;
while
promenading: inside person is the moon/peanut butter/gent,
outside
is the star/jelly/lady; four steps of making a circle from a
promenade:
ÒHang on to partner stop walking, hang on
to
partner face the center, drop hands, take hands.Ó;
9 ways
of keeping the circle big and round on circle
left
and right; dosido (gents start on inside, ladies start
going
outside) flowing into two hand turn flowing into
promenade;
when music starts clapping the first of
each 8
beats; doing the dance with your hands; ÒthickÓ
calling,
then ÒthinÓ calling then no calling; saying the
call
right before the ÔclapÕ or before the first beat of
the
phrase and figure.
La
Bastringue (p.
4 in handout)
This is
in New England Dancing MastersÕ
(NEDMÕs)
ÒChimes of DunkirkÓ collection.
For
music you can use ÒLa BastringueÓ from
the
ÒChimesÓ CD or any reel.
Highland
Gates (p. 2
in handout)
in
NEDMÕs Down in the Valley collection
This is
a great dance for opening a community dance.
Folks
can join in the dancing as they straggle in.
Choosing
Partners
We
think it is a real gift to children to teach them
how to
choose their own partners. I like
to frame
this in
ÔKingsÕ and ÔQueensÕ language to help the
children
get over their self consciousness over
choosing
partners.
I start
with a story about how Kings and Queens
realized
that it might be more fun to dance with
more
than just their own spouses, and so they
needed
to devise a polite and efficient way to
choose
other partners. ÒAnd the method
they
came up
with was so good we still do it today.Ó
I have
them all practice the words: ÔMay I please
have
this dance?Õ ÔYes thank you.Õ and then
practice
answering me, and then practice
asking
me. Then I demonstrate what it
looks
like to ask a partner to dance, by
asking
one of the ÔQueensÕ. Then, I
have
that Queen sit down, and I ask
her
again, showing the 10 steps:
The
approach. Eye contact. The question.
The
answer. King puts out his hand.
Queen
stands and takes KingÕs hand.
They
hang on to each otherÕs hand and
walk to
the top of the hall. If there are
two
Queens then there is a Queen on one
side
and a Queen on the other side. If
there
are two Kings (you know the rest).
If it
is a King and a Queen, the King
stands
on the KingÕs side, the Queen on
the
QueenÕs side and they face each other,
nose,
toes and bellybutton, taking two hands.
Then
they drop their hands, and, voila, there
they
are.
Kings
and Queens p.
10 in the handout.
In
NEDMÕs Sashay the Donut collection
We used
ÔOn the DanforthÕ from NEDMÕs ÔOther Side of the
TracksÕ
CD for this dance. You might also
use our other
version
of ÔOn the DanforthÕ which is on our ÔSashay
the
DonutÕ CD.
Before
we teach this dance we will dub each child a King or a
Queen,
and talk to them (sometimes while the music is playing
to help
sustain the mood) about what it means to be a King and
Queen:
They have royal posture, they never rush, they make
good
decisions, they are very attractive; basically describing
the
ideal King/Queen or, which, in my mind is being the
very
best person they can be. Then I
ÒdubÓ each child a
king or
a queen, making sure they have their royal posture before
I dub
them. This is in the style of an historic English country dance
(e.g.
dances done in Jane AustenÕs time).
Old
Brass Wagon (p.
3 in handout)
In
NEDMÕs Down in the Valley collection.
This
can be an a cappella singing game, or, with the
CD (or
live music) a great early dance to instrumental
music. When Peter teaches it he walks through
the
figures
first, and then says ÒNow just do whatever
Mary
Alice says,Ó and puts on the CD.
Heel
& Toe Polka
p. 5 in the handout.
In
NEDMÕs ÔChimes of DunkirkÕ collection.
With
younger children and at community dances
we
usually skip the right hand or right elbow turn
that
follows the clapping, and we go directly to
Ôeveryone
pass right shoulders with partner, walk
straight
ahead, and take two hands with new partner.Õ
We have
done this dance with children as young as
Kindergarten. Like other circle mixers, you can
start
out
teaching it with the children staying with the same
partner,
and later one teach the changing partners version.
Lucky
Seven (p. 4
in handout)
In
NEDMÕs Chimes of Dunkirk collection
We used
ÔThe Coming DawnÕ from
NEDMÕs
ÔOther
Side of the TracksÕ CD
which has
a
lovely dreamy feel and goes on for a while,
but you
can do this dance to any jig or reel.
The
grand right & left exercises: First all
promenade
to determine inside/outside
gent/lady
or moon/star roles. Then all
face
partner. Ladies crouch while men
weave
around circle, starting on the inside.
Then
Men crouch and assist ladies as they
weave around:
right hand for outside, left
hand
assist for inside. Then all stand
and
face
center and do a stationary grand right
and
left just with the arms, counting up to
seven. Repeat that, but this time stepping
in
place (two steps per arm reach).
Then
face
partner and Ôrepeat after meÕ some
of the
rules: ÔI will not turn around, I
will
not go backÉÕ etc. Tell them that
it
always
takes seven times to get it right,
and
make sure, when it doesnÕt go right,
that
they all go back to where they started
from (rather
than trying to fix it in the middle
of the
grand right and left figure).
Level
one: Wait 8
beats on 2nd
half of
A2 music.
Level
two: dosido
partner on
2nd
half of A2 music.
Circle
Waltz Mixer (p.
3 in the handout)
In
NEDMÕs ÔSashay the DonutÕ collection.
We used
ÔIn ContinentalÕ
Waltz from the ÔSashayÕ CD
for the
music. This is a wonderful dance for a wedding
where
you can do it the original way we learned it, doing
a short
waltz instead of the two hand turn.
In the original
dance
gents are the ÒpostsÓ and women are the ÒtwirlersÓ,
but it
works perfectly fine in a non-gender community
dance
with a two hand turn. Here are
some tips to
for
teaching this dance:
Start
by having everyone promenade.
Tell
all the inside (left hand) partners they are
ÒpostsÓ
and all the outside (right hand) partners
they
are ÒtwirlersÓ.
All
look at partner and say ÒgoodbyeÓ.
Posts
stay in place and keep their feet planted
during
the ÒtwirlÓ figure.
Carefully
teach the first ÒtwirlÓ each ÒPostÓ
does
with their left hand neighbor, from left to right.
Once
the dancers get that twirl, the rest of the dance
can go
pretty smoothly.
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Again,
we are grateful for your enthusiastic participation.
Keep on
dancing with your students!
Best,
Peter
and Mary Alice Amidon