Workshops
Workshop Notes
New York University
The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions
Office of Academic Initiatives and Global Programs
In Partnership with the
Kodaly Organization of New York
Presents
KodAly Summer Institute
2009Annual KodAly Lecture
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon
Creating A Dynamic Community
With American Traditional Dance, Song, And Storytelling
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Dear Kodaly Summer Institute participants and other participating Kodaly music teachers,
What is it about New York City? We loved everything
about our workshop with you. Many thanks and kudos
to Dr. Jerry Kerlin who was wonderfully gracious, thoughtful
and thorough in preparing for this workshop and helping us
from beginning to end. We loved your energy, enthusiasm,
humor and spirit; it made it as fun a workshop as we can
remember.
Thank you.
Time for your homework. GO DANCING!
Here is a website for finding a dance near
your community.
Here below are some announcements about
future Amidon workshops and camps.
Below that are the notes. You can just
click on the "POST-WORKSHOP NOTES"
below to go directly to the notes.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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You can get more detailed information on the below
upcoming Amidon workshops (and all our upcoming
workshops) at:
http://www.amidonmusic.com/workshops/index.html
or you could subscribe to the Amidon e-mail list. I send
postings maybe once a month - the classic format is
Dance Workshop - Announcements - Musings. Here is
the most recent one:
http://www.amidonmusic.com/newsletter/12_2008.html
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Here is an announcement about a course we know you
cannot take this summer, but we will probably continue
to offer this course next summer and beyond. Here is
this summer's description and details:
Mary Alice and I were pleased to see some of
the folks who have taken our summer week-long,
3-credit course at Hartt School of Music.
We are offering it again this summer:
Rich Traditions and New Creations:
Dance, Song, Storytelling and Literature in the Music Classroom
Mon - Fri, July 6-10, 2009:
http://harttweb.hartford.edu/summer-detail.php?c=13
or e-mail dehansen@hartford.edu for more information.
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Adult Village Harmony singing camp
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon are joined by two young
gifted singer/ percussionists: Luke Hoffman, and
the Amidons' son Stefan Amidon in leading a 9-day
camp of SATB singing from ethnic choral traditions
including American shape note music, African American
gospel, and the leaders' own transcriptions and
arrangements of songs steeped in the oral tradition.
http://www.villageharmony.org/summercamp/2009/VHA_greenmountain.html
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2009 NYU Kodaly Conference
AMIDON POST-SESSION NOTES
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Improvised Circle Dance
Music: was from NEDM's Any Jig or Reel,
cut 12 "Galope de la Malbaie".
I had a wonderful time making up figures.
One of my favorites, learned from the great
dance teacher Marian Rose (who has her
own wonderful "Step Lively" series of dances:
http://www.marianrose.com/ ) "Everyone who
got caught in the rain go forward and backs" etc.
Finished with
Swing Party
Everyone walk around for 16 beats, Everyone grab
someone's muscles and swing for 16 beats.
Repeat ad nauseum.
Old Brass Wagon
In NEDM's 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 "Now just do whatever
Mary Alice says," and puts on the CD.
Dance Teaching Tips:
Mittens; front of your mitten on the front of your neighbor's
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 partner's
hand, hang on, take partner's 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: "Hang on to partner stop walking, hang on
to partner face the center, drop hands, take hands.";
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; "thick"
calling, then "thin" calling then no calling; saying the
call right before the 'clap' or before the first beat of
the phrase and figure.
La Bastringue in the handout
Music: Mary Alice played for this, but you
can use "La Bastringue" from Chimes, or
any reel medley from any of the NEDM CDs.
We did this as a non-mixer, but you can make
it a circle mixer by having dancers do the two
hand turn with their corner,
who becomes their new partner.
All School Sing
Here are some thoughts on creating and
sustaining an all school sing.
I'm Growing Up by Mary Alice Amidon
in the handout
We do this with motions, or with a simple
stand up dance. We will put this and
"Seed in the Ground" on our new album which
will be released this autumn: "Song In My Heart-
Mary Alice and Peter Amidon's Favorite Children's
Songs"
From the Seed in the Ground by Connie Kaldor
who gave us permission to pass it out to you.
What a great song! The dance was inspired by:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM&feature=related
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkBepgH00GM
Picture Books
See handout for Mary Alice's bibliography.
She did:
Johnny Appleseed to her original song
In the Fiddle to Brittany Haas music
I Live in Music to "Take Five"
Introducing Songs with Stories
is a powerful way to engage children
in the song and in the singing. I
introduced and Mary Alice sang
Chiney Doll a version we learned
from the late Almeda Riddle of the Ozarks.
PDF of Chiney Doll
Sam Chiney Doll
Sam, 28 now (listen to cuts from his
"All Is Well" CD on iTunes or on
http://www.myspace.com/samamidon
was 2 1/2 when he told this, the first
story he ever told, followed by Chiney Doll.
This was a powerful demonstration to us
of how deeply children take stories in,
and how the storyteller takes images
and turns them into language, which the
listener then turns back into images,
a communal activity like singing and
dancing.
Water of Life
Mary Alice learned this from the great
Japanese American storyteller Motoko.
It is on her CD "The Promise of Chrysanthemums"
which you can order directly from:
http://www.motoko.folktales.net/
Acting out stories
Children do this quite naturally; you just
set it up and, as much as possible, get out
of the way. After telling a folktale I give
them the homework to retell it aloud,
we might go through a speed through of
the story or do a quick group map of the
story or discuss the story (What was the
funniest/saddest/most scary/most memorable
moment?) Once they all know the story well,
you are the narrator, and maybe also the musician
(guitar, accordion). Pull the characters (and
human props) from the 'audience' of children
sitting in a bunch in front of the 'stage'.
All the action takes place right in the middle
in front of the audience. The 'actors' speak
loudly so everyone can hear. If they forget
what happens next you can feed them a line
as the narrator: "And then Masa told Yoshi
how much he loved her."
You can use this method to create a musical performance
with added instrumental music, songs and dancing, or
just do it once and leave it at that.
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 'Kings' and 'Queens' language to help the
children get over their self consciousness over
choosing partners.
I have them all practice the words: 'May I please
have this dance?' 'Yes thank you.' 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 'Queens'. 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 King's hand.
They hang on to each other's hand and
walk to the top of the hall. The King
stands on the King's side, the Queen on
the Queen's side and they face each other,
nose, toes and bellybutton, taking two hands.
Then they drop their hands, and, voila, there
they are.
Then I have a volunteer Queen ask a King,
then a volunteer King ask a Queen, and then
all ask. This can be quite wonderful, and the
children who succeed in doing this should be
quite proud of themselves.
Kings and Queens in the handout.
In NEDM's Sashay the Donut collection
We used 'On the Danforth' from NEDM's 'Other Side of the
Tracks' CD for this dance. You might also use our other
version of 'On the Danforth' which is on our 'Sashay
the Donut' 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. This is in the style of an
historic English country dance.
Keep on dancing and singing, and tell your students stories.
Best,
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon
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Thanks!
Best,
Peter