Workshop Notes
Central District of Massachusetts Music Educators Association
January 19, 2010
Teaching Traditional Dance and Singing Games to Children
Dear Central District of Mass. Music Teachers,
We really enjoyed our first session with you and we are really looking forward to dancing with you again on Thursday, April 1.
Mary Alice and I are leading a week-long, 3-credit course for music teachers as part of Hartt Summerterm (Hartt School of Music, West Hartford) from July 5 - 9, 2010: Rich Traditions and New Creations: Dance, Song, Storytelling and Literature in the Music Classroom. For more information contact dehansen@hartford.edu
Your homework, as I mentioned, is to dance with your students; try teaching a few dances you have never taught before, and bring back to our April 1 session one or more of the following:
* a discovery, and/or a great (inspired?) teaching moment, and/or a moment of music teacher bliss, and/or a new teaching technique.
Also please bring one or more of the following:
* a teaching question and/or a recurring teaching problem and/or a class-going-ballistic moment and/or a dance that just didn’t work.
And:
* Go dancing. Here is a great website for finding a dance near you:
And a website for contra dancing in greater Boston:
http://www.neffa.org/invite.shtml
And in Western Massachusetts:
http://www.alongtheriver.com/dances.html
And, last of all, a listing of all contradances in Massachusetts:
http://www.contradancelinks.com/newengland.html#Massachusetts
Below is a list of what we did in the workshop, along with some extra notes. Any that we did will be described both below and in your April 1 handout. Be sure to bring your Jan 19 handout to the April 1 session as we will be doing some of the dances on April 1 that are in the Jan 19 handout that we did not do last Tuesday.
HERE IS WHAT WE DID ON JAN 19:
Pepperell Stomp by Mary Alice Amidon
Here's the first dance I've written ever; there are two versions, one for second grade with a progression and one for first without (just doing the dance with partner and then corner, alternating). Irish reel medley on Sashay is a blast. I think I'd get even fancier with fourth by alternating partner corner within the dance but haven't tried that yet (partner with the elbow swings, corner with do si do)
circle of partners (partner 1 and partner 2=neighbor)
with partner 1
Music: Irish Reel medley from Sashay the Donut
or any reel medley.
First grade version:
A1) forward and back with clap in middle
forward and back with Hoot/kick/hands up in middle
A2) partner right elbow turn
left elbow turn
B1) clap clap stamp stamp (facing center)
clap clap clap, stamp, stamp, stamp
dos si do partner 1
B2) clap clap stamp, stamp (facing partner)
clap clap clap, stamp stamp stamp
two hand turn
repeat with partner 2; continue alternating.
second grade version (third probably good too).
same except when facing partner only do clap clap stamp stamp; then pass right shoulders to the next person and two hand turn the new partner.
Tree Song p. 3 in the handout.
in NEDM’s Down in the Valley collection
Lorraine Hammond, who composed this wonderful singing
game, is a songwriter and musician, and the best known
Appalachian dulcimer player in the country. She is in the
greater Boston area. The piano arrangement on the CD
is Peter’s. We find this to be a calming, centering dance,
both for the children and for ourselves. Peter likes to
introduce this with a story he made up about the singing trees.
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.
Kindergarten Reel in NEDM’s Listen to the Mockingbird
Kindergarten Reel.pdf
In NEDM’s Listen to the Mockingbird collection
but just in the book, not on the CD, because the
idea is that you lead this with whatever instrument
you play: piano, French horn, recorder, electric
guitar, whatever!
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.
Comment ca va?
In NEDM’s Sashay the Donut collection
Music: Any reel (French Canadian is nice for this;
for example, “Quebeqois Reels” on NEDM’s
“Sashay the Donut” CD
This is really a version of “La Bastringue”
with a more sophisticated B1 section
(after the Circle L, Circle R, and before
the promenade) that makes it a great
dance for 4th - 6th graders; it is not
too difficult, but it keeps them engaged
and the flowing B1 figures makes them
Head & Shoulders
This is in our New England Dancing Masters (NEDM)
collection “Jump Jim Joe”
words:
Head & shoulders baby, one, two, three,
Head & shoulders baby, one, two, three,
Head & shoulders, head and shoulders,
Head & shoulders baby one, two, three,
Knees & ankles baby, one, two, three . . .
chorus
Well, I ain’t been to ‘frisco,
I ain’t been to school,
I ain’t been to college
But I ain’t no fool,
To the front, to the back, to the si-, si-, side,
To the front, to the back, to the si-, si-, side.
Throw the ball, baby, one, two, three . . .
Milk the cow, baby . . .
chorus
Kick the bucket, baby . . .
Around the world, baby . . .
chorus
We often use this dance in a school assembly program:
we teach most of it with the students sitting down, then
they all just stand up and do the dance in place.
Alabama Gal (p. 7 in handout)
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection. We used
the Alabama Gal cut from the Chimes of Dunkirk CD.
Teach this as an a cappella singing game before
trying with the CD which, as you found out,
goes pretty fast. With younger children I
teach the cast of figure in sections. The first
time through the dance finishes with just the
Gents’ line casting around to the left and back
to place; then the whole dance ending with
only the Ladies’ line casting to the right
and back to place; then the dance ending
with both lines casting and the children taking
partners’ hands as they come up the middle
(but no arch), then the dance ending with
the BOTTOM couple making the arch while
the same (exhausted) 1st couple leading the
remaining dancers around under the arch,
and FINALLY, the “real” way to the do
dance, where the head couples finishes
the sequence by leading ALL the dancers
in a cast of, and the head couples make
the arch for the other dancers to go under.
Highland Gates p. 7 in handout
in NEDM’s 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.
Old Bald Eagle Square p. 11 in handout
In NEDM’s Sashay the Donut collection
Andy Davis’s brilliant version of ‘Old Bald Eagle’
is the simplest square we know: a great first
square dance for young children. Try it with
the Sashay the Donut CD to Andy’s calls.
Simple Square from NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk
Music: Golden Slippers, or any jig or reel
Formation: Square dance
Opening figure could be bow to partner, corner, wave to the person across the set, circle left & right.
Chorus: Allemande left corner, dosido partner, allemande left corner. (16)
Promenade partner once around the square. (16)
Figure: Couple #1 stand back to back, separate and walk around the
outside of the square (in opposite directions) passing each
other on the opposite side, and continuing until they meet
at their home place. (16)
Couple #1 swing. (16)
Then do chorus, figure with 2nd couple, chorus, figure with 3rd couple, chorus, figure with 4th couple, chorus, figure with head couples, chorus, figure with side couples, chorus, figure with all couples at once, chorus.
You can throw in a break in the middle if you want. Also optional to tag on a different ending.
Larry’s Mixer
in NEDM’s Listen to the Mockingbird collection
Music: Any jig or reel
Formation: Circle of couples, gents facing out, ladies facing in.
A1 (16) Do-si-do partner. (8)
Allemande left the person to the left* of your partner. (8)
A2 (16) ‘See saw’ partner. (8)
Allemande right the person to the right of your partner. (8)
B1 (16) Swing partner. (16)
B2 (16) Promenade partner. (8)
Gents move up to the next lady and promenade. (8)
Notes: The ‘see saw’ in A2 is simply a do-si-do started by passing left shoulders with the person you are dancing with.
* To your left or right, not your partner’s. When teaching this to children you can say ‘The person closest to your left (or right) hand.’
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 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. “And the method they
came up with was so good we still do it today.”
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. 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 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,
and when they are finished I have a
volunteer King ask a Queen, and they get
in place in the line beside the first King & Queen.
Then all ask. This can be wonderful, and the
children who succeed in doing this can be
quite proud of themselves.
Durham Reel
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection
Formation: Longways dance for 4 - 6 couples
Music: Slow G from NEDM’s Other Side of the Tracks CD, or any jig.
This dance does not need to go exactly with the phrasing of the music.
Take hands in a circle and circle left and right.
Top (Lead) couple lead a cast off around outside. Lead couple meet partner at bottom, take one hand, and promenade back to top; all others follow.
Lead couple lead 2nd cast off.
Lead couple hang on to partner’s hand and lead a promenade around to the left and back to place; all follow. This is called ‘Coach and Horses’.
Lead couple lead ‘Coach and Horses’ promenade to the right and back to place.
All take hands along lines and at the bottom (but not the top) thus forming a semicircle. Top two ladies (‘Queens’) make the Queen’s Arch, by raising their held hands. Top gent (‘King’) lead the entire line through the Queen’s arch. The top ‘Queen’ keeps her feet planted throughout; the second ‘Queen’ follows the rest under the arch, and changes her grip with the first ‘Queen’ as her hand twists around.
Top Queen lead lines through the King’s Arch, and back to place.
My Heart is Ready
Dance tales
This was when we got in groups of about four to talk about our dance experiences as children and as teachers.
Old King Glory p. 3 in the handout
in NEDM’s Jump Jim Joe collection
This simple singing game is magical and galvanizing for K/1 students.
Sashay the Donut p.10 in the handout
in NEDM’s Sashay the Donut collection
I like calling this with groups of 4th-6th graders, 6-8 couples
in a set, to “The Flying Tent” on NEDM’s “Other Side
of the Tracks” CD. You have to call pretty strongly in
the beginning to help define the phrase, but later on the
phrase gets much more clear and the dance goes great
with the music. You can also do this dance with larger
groups, in which case the dance will go across the phrasing
of the music (once through the dance is more than once
through the tune). You just pick up the beginning of the nearest
8 or 16 bar phrase when starting each sequence over again.
Lucky Seven p. 10 in the handout
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection
We used ‘Golden Keyboard’ from NEDM’s
‘Any Jig or Reel’ CD.
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, counti2ng up to
seven. Repeat that, but this time stepping
in place (two steps per arm reach). Then
face partner and ‘repeat after me’ some
of the rules: ‘I will not turn around, I
will not go back…’ etc. Tell them that it
always takes seven times to get it right,
and make sure, when it doesn’t 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 II, which we learned from contra dance caller
Lisa Greenleaf, simply replaces the waiting (at the
end of the A2 music) with a partner dosido.
Down Down Baby p. 2 in the notes
We have found that some children know other
versions of this. Encourage children to teach
this to their friends on the playground; that
is where Maureen Kenney (Kennedy) learned it.
Dizzy Snowflake
An original dance by workshop participants.
Formation: Circle mixer.
Music: Any jig or reel.
A1 Ptnr bow, dsdo
Ptnr promenade
A2: Neighbor (who is now new partner) bow, dsdo
promenade clockwise (gents on left/outside, ladies on right/inside)
B1 All promenade into center, take hands, back out.
Forward and back
B2 Circle left, Allemande R partner
Galopede p. 9 in the handout
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection
We always do this to the specific tune ‘Galopede’
which is on the Chimes of Dunkirk companion CD.
We often end a community dance with this dance.
If you have a live band, have them play an extra
C section the last time through at the end of the
dance and have each of the successive top couples
keep going down the middle while the rest of the
dancers move up the outside. Sometimes we practice
this final figure ahead of time, sometimes we don’t.
The Chimes CD Galopede does not have the double C
music required to do this final “eggbeater” figure.
E-mail me if you would like a version of the Galopede
music that has a this double C music - I can e-mail
you an mp3.
Circle Waltz Mixer
In NEDM’s ‘Sashay the Donut’ collection.
We used ‘In Continental’ Waltz from the ‘Sashay’ 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 “posts” and women are the “twirlers”,
but it works perfectly fine in a non-gender community
dance with a two hand turn. In order to make sure
that this works in a community dance you:
Limit the dance to Kindergarteners and older.
Tell K-3 students that they must dance with
an adult or older partner.
Start by having everyone promenade, and have
the older partner promenade on the inside.
Tell all the inside (left hand) partners they are
“posts” and all the outside (right hand) partners
they are “twirlers”.
Posts stay in place and keep their feet planted
during the “twirl” figure.
All look at partner and say “goodbye”.
Carefully teach the first “twirl” each “Post”
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.