Workshop Notes
Post-Session Notes:Missouri Music Educators Association Conference
Osage Beach, Missouri
Wednesday and Thursday, January 26, 27, 2011
Wow! What a great (and big) group of dancers and singers!
We had a wonderful time with all of you. Many thanks to René Spencer who took great care of us from the first contact right through the last workshop. Also thanks to all the behind-the-scenes folks, Rob Nichols, Christie Elsea, Michael, and kudos to Paul who provided the best sound system we have ever had provided to us, a critically important aspect of any teacher workshop.
Your homework is to go dancing.
Here are some of the websites with information on the many community and contra dances around Missouri:
Probably the best website for Missouri dancing:
- Mid-Missouri Traditional Dancers:
http://mmtd.missouri.org/ - Schedule of Missouri contra dances:
http://www.contradancelinks.com/schedule_MO.html - St. Louis contra dancing:
http://www.childgrove.org/ - Springfield, MO contra dancing:
http://www.springfieldcontra.org/ - Kansas City contra dancing:
http://www.kansasfolk.org/contra/
Below are announcements, followed bynotes on our sessions.
Or, jump straight to the session notes.
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MEET OUR BOYS
AMIDONS SUMMER WEEK-LONG 3-CREDIT COURSE
RICH TRADITIONS AND NEW CREATIONS: DANCE, SONG, STORYTELLING AND LITERATURE IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM
(or “Everything we know”)
Tues - Fri July 5 - 8, 2011
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
Upcoming Harmony/Choral Singing workshops, weekends and camps with the Amidons:
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Feast of Singing
Randolph, VT
A day-long choral singing workshop with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon and special guests Kim and Reggie Harris - http://www.kimandreggie.com/.
Contact: Jane Eubanks - jane@maresnest.com; (802) 234-9671
Friday - Sunday, June 24-26, 2011
Old Songs Festival
Altamont, NY
The Amidons lead a four hour (over three days) choral singing workshop at this great festival of traditional song and dance: http://www.oldsongs.org
June 16 - 22, 2011
Pinewoods Family Week
&
June 23 - 30, 2011
Pinewoods Harmony of Song and Dance Week
These two weeklong camps of song and dance are sponsored by the Country Dance and Song Society. Participants eat, sing and dance together all week. Family Week is set up for all ages; bring your children, or borrow some children to bring. Harmony of Song and Dance has an emphasis on choral and harmony singing and includes great dance as well. The Amidons are leading singing and dancing at both weeks; they are program chairs of the Harmony of Song and Dance.
http://www.cdss.org/summer-programs.html
Friday - Sunday, September 16 - 18, 2011
Star Island Choral Singing Weekend
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon are joined by Mary Cay Brass - http://marycaybrass.com/ who is not only one of our New England Dancing Masters colleagues, but one of the best and most popular choral singing leaders in southern Vermont. All this on one of the most beautiful spots on this earth, an island retreat an hours boatride off of the coast of New Hampshire.
Contact: Peter Amidon - amidonpeter@gmail.com; 802-257-1006
AMIDONS’ SESSION NOTES FOR MISSOURI MEA
WEDNESDAY
Session 1: 1:00 - 2:30
Blaydon Races
in NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection
We used ‘Blaydon Races’ from NEDM’s 2010 Revision of the ‘Chimes of Dunkirk’ 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.
My Heart is Ready
This is our favorite new instant singalong for group harmony singing. Mary Alice and I are longtime fans of Cindy Kallet’s singing. You can hear her singing this on her CD “Heart Walk” http://www.cindykallet.com/music/1568
You can hear a recording of the Amidon arrangement by going to our website www.amidonmusic.com, clicking on the “Listen” tab will take you to our Listening page. Double click on “SATB Secular” and scroll down to find “My Heart is Ready”.
Highland Gates
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.
Sally Go Round the Sunshine
Both this, and its English cousin “Sally Go Round the Sun”
are in NEDM’s “Jump Jim Joe” collection.
We like using this singing game with all ages:
especially 2nd grade and up (right through middle
school/high school/adults) to teach the
relaxed, rhythmic style of walking characteristic
of contra dancing and of nearly all the
Anglo and African/American dances we teach.
We teach the song quickly by rote, and then
keep singing the song over and over again as
the students first walk in place in time to the
song, then do the dance, and then maybe
add a forward and back into the figures.
Dance 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.”;
Comment ça va
In NEDM’s Sashay the Donut collection
Formation: circle of couples (not a mixer)
Music: Any reel (French Canadian is nice for this).
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.
Two teaching tips specific to this dance:
1) “Bow to your partner, say “You are my partner.”
Turn your back on your partner and bow to this person,
saying “You are my neighbor.” (Drill this a bit by
having dancers bow to partner, then neighbor,
then neighbor, then ceiling, then partner, etc.)
2) Facing neighbor all put left hand in the air.
Everybody say and do this:
“Elbow down, hand up, thumb around
thumb, fingers over wrist, 7% arm wrestle
(give weight to neighbor), then allemand
left neighbor WHILE LOOKING FOR PARTNER,
and then dosido partner (Gents/Moons
going towards the middle first in order
to dosido passing right shoulders) WHILE
LOOKING FOR NEIGHBOR, then allemand
left neighbor again WHILE LOOKING FOR PARTNER,
then, “Hey”, take partners right hand in right
(like a brief handshake) and go into a promenade
with partner.
PICTURE BOOKS I
I Live In Music
In the Fiddle is a Song
Day is Done
Water
The Earth and I Are Friends
BREAK
Session 2: 2:45 - 4:30
I’m Growing Up
All School Sing
We briefly discussed different ways of having
an all-school-sing in your school. Here are
more thoughts on the All-School Sing:
Owl and the Pussycat
This is on the Amidons’ Faerie’s Gift CD
We encourage you to make up your own songs to poems, and
see how it makes you, the children, and the poem come alive.
Busy Monday Morning
We had you make up your own storytelling introductions
to this song. Thanks to those who shared. I try to
get as many details as possible from the song into the
story introduction.
Anansi and His Six Sons
Mary Alice learned this from the book of the
same name by Gerald McDermott (Author, Illustrator)
which you can get at Amazon.com. She
used two cuts from Micky Hart’s CD
‘Planet Drum’ - first ‘The Hunt’, then
‘Temple Caves’ - both available on iTunes.
Lucky Seven
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection
We used ‘Coming Dawn’ from NEDM’s
‘Other Side of the Tracks’ 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, counting 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 one: Wait 8 beats on 2nd
half of A2 music.
Level two: dosido partner on
2nd half of A2 music.
Bridge of Athlone
In NEDM’s Listen to the Mockingbird collection
This requires a 3-part tune. ‘Listen to the Mockingbird’
has a three part jig: ‘Blarney Pilgrim’ that works great
for this dance. We really like dancing it to the three-part
‘Reel de Rimouski’ on NEDM’s ‘Any Jig or Reel’ CD,
which is what we did with you. We find this to
be an engaging dance for 2nd - 6th and great for
a community dance.
Durham Reel
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk collection.
We used ‘Slow G’ from NEDM’s ‘Sashay the Donut’ CD;
Assembly (the same band that recorded Other Side of the Tracks)
at their dreamy best.
THURSDAY
Session 3: 8:00 - 9:00
Tree Song
in NEDM’s Down in the Valley collection
I introduced this with a story that I made up. Elements
of the story came from this singing game, the singing
game ‘Roger is Dead’ (NEDM’s Down in the Valley)
and the traditional song ‘Chiney Doll’ (on our
‘Song in My Heart’ CD).
Lorraine Hammond, who composed this wonderful singing
game, is a songwriter and musician, and one of the best known
Appalachian dulcimer players in the country. She is in the
greater Boston area. The piano arrangement on the CD
is Peter’s and is available as a children’s choir piece for
young singers. We find this to be a calming, centering
dance, both for the children and for ourselves.
Galopede
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.
The 2nd version of ‘Galopede’ on the 2010 revision
of the ‘Chimes of Dunkirk’ CD has an extra C music
at the end for the ‘eggbeater’ figure where, after the
top couple sashays to the bottom the last time through
the dance, each successive couple sashays down the
middle, while the outside couples continue moving up
towards the top of the set. Sometimes we practice
this final figure ahead of time, sometimes we don’t.
Noble Duke of York
This is in NEDM’s “Jump Jim Joe” and also in NEDM’s new
book/CD/DVD “Alabama Gal - Nine Never-Fail Dances
and Singing Games for Children”.
I did not include in the handout what the other dances
do during “When they were up they were up”, when
the top couple sashays down the middle and back:
Everyone else mimes the words of the song:
standing on tiptoes with hands high in the air
for “When they were up…”, all crouching down
low for “When they were down…”, all crouched
halfway with hands on knees for “When they
were only halfway up…” and jumping up
and landing standing facing up the set on
the word “up” in “They were neither
up nor down.”
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.
Kings and Queens
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.
Picture books II
Mother Earth
Summertime (on the Amidons’ CD “All I Really Need”)
We All Went on Safari, by Laurie Krebs, Barefoot Books
First Strawberries
Session 4: 12:00 - 1:00
From the Seed in the Ground song
by Connie Kaldor.
This is on the Amidons’ “Song In My Heart” CD.
Peter also has a piano, SSAA Children’s Choir
arrangement of it available for purchase on the
Amidons’ Listening/Sheet Music Download page:
Go to
http://www.amidonmusic.com
click on the “Listen” tab
It is in the “Children’s Choir” section.
Month Brothers
MonthBrosSummary.pdf
Children need to hear stories, they need the classic folktales as
a way to help sort out their emotional lives. The archetypal
characters that inhabit folktales: the kings, queens, princes,
princesses, ogres, giants, witches, wise old women and men,
and everyman Jacks and Marys are, according to one of
my storytelling mentors, Donald Davis, all part of our own
inner selves. When a prince marries a princess at the end of
a folktale, Donald Davis goes on, that marriage represents our
male self marrying our female self; a healthy emotional integration.
There are depths of meaning of these wonderful folktales that
we will never fully plumb, but whenever we tell folktales to
children, it is wonderful to see them uncover endless and
often surprising new meanings.
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: “Then Helene asked the young
man what he had been talking about.”
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.
Sasha
In NEDM’s Sashay the Donut collection.
A great dance for all ages! We are not sure of the origins
of this dance: one source suggested it was a novelty dance
based on a Russian pop song from the 60’s. ‘Ras, dva,
tri’ is Russian for ‘ready, set, go!’
Acres Grace
This was composed for a musical I wrote:
"Truth" (script and directing by Stephen Stearns,
music and lyrics by Peter Amidon) premiered by
New England Youth Theatre in Vermont in the
spring of 2009): Prince William, who has abandoned
Princess Katherine at the altar, disguises himself as a
troubador and ends up with the Acres, a farming family
who, like the Copper Family, the Watersons and the
Von Trapps, burst into song at any occasion.
This is their grace for every meal.
From the Seed in the Ground dance
Here is the dance we did that I’d made up to this song:
If you got the sun
*Walk sideways with hands miming sun rising.
and if you got the rain
*Walk sideways the other way with hands miming rain.
and you plant a little seed
*Crouch down.
in the old back lane
Then jump and turn halfway with
arms moving directly over head,
end pointing in opposite direction.
And you wish and you hope
hands clasped together in front,
take step to diagonal left, then diagonal right,
And you keep the weeds down
Crouch down, keeping head up.
You might find, oh
standing up, step and gesture with arm to left.
You might find
step and gesture with arm to right
a root growing down from the seed
mime with hands
in the ground
take one step forward (leaving other foot in place) ending with forward leg bent a little and back leg straight as arms and hands sweep from front to both sides (separating) as if miming the flat surface of the ground.
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 a child who is 4th grade or older.
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”.
All look at partner and say “goodbye”.
Posts stay in place and keep their feet planted
during the “twirl” figure.
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.
* * *
I am writing this from the airplane somewhere between
Missouri and Vermont. We are grateful for your enthusiastic
participation - we had an absolutely marvelous time with
all of you - and we wish you the best in your dancing,
storytelling and singing with your children.
Best,
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon
http://www.amidonmusic.com