Workshops
Atlanta Music Teacher Workshop notes
June 4 and 5, 2007
Dear Atlanta Music Teachers,
We had such a wonderful time with all of you in our two-day Atlanta workshop recently. Thanks for your enthusiastic participation, your great dancing, and your sublime singing! Here below are notes which include a list of everything we did in the order that we did it and a few extra notes on each song, dance, story, etc.. Whenever possible we are including any songs, dances and stories that we presented that are not in your handout.
Your homework is to go dancing! There are contradances EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT at the Morningside Baptist Church on 1700 Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta starting at 8:00 pm. There are occasional Tuesday night contradances also. Go to http://www.contradance.org/ for more information on contradancing in Atlanta.
English Country Dancing in Atlanta is almost every second Sunday of the month from 2-5 pm at the Life Enrichment Center, 1340 McConnell Drive in Decatur: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~dwoolf/ecda.html for more info on Atlanta English Country Dancing.
Monday
Circassian Circle
(p. 9 in notes.
In New England Dancing Masters’ (NEDM’s)
Listen to the Mockingbird book & CD.)
We used Other Side of the Tracks cut #1, Martin O’Connor.
We do this circle mixer with 4th grade and up. Note that
we did a new partner dosido/elbow swing in B1, but when I do
this with children I do only a long elbow swing in B1.
Tree Song
(p. 16 in notes. In NEDM’s Down in the Valley book & CD.)
Old Brass Wagon
(p. 15 in notes.
In NEDM’s Down in the Valley book & CD.)
Kindergarten Reel/Virginia Reel
(p. 10 in the notes.
Kindergarten Reel is in NEDM’s Listen to the Mockingbird.
Virginia Reel is in NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk.
I followed the Kindergarten Reel with a very simple version
of the Virginia Reel simply by adding a dosido after the
two hand turn and dancing to any jig or reel, not worrying
too much about following the AABB phrasing of the music.
La Bastringue
(p. 9 in notes. In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk book & CD.)
This is the dance I used to teach a lot of the fundamentals of
dancing including the taking hands/mitten lecture (notes. p. 88), moons
and stars (inside & outside) in promenade, making a circle from a
promenade, feeling and dancing to the phrasing of the music, calling
the dance while you dance it, etc.
Singing
Say What You Want
(p. 2 in the notes.
On the Mary Alice’s Keys to the Kingdom CD.)
All I Really Need
(On the Amidon CD All
I Really Need)
Mary Alice and I sing this song more than any other song we know.
Great for all-school sing. If you have our ‘All I Really Need’ CD
(or any of our other songs CD’s) contact us by
email and
we will send you an e-mail with lyrics to all the songs on the CD.
Now It’s Time to Go
(p. 2 in notes. On Amidons’ All I Really Need CD.)
Picture Books
We do not remember what order we did them in. They are all in the picture books and music bibliographies that start on page 24 in the handout. Here are all the books we did:
- I Live in Music
- Mother Earth
- Johnny Appleseed (Johnathan Chapman song)
- Keep on Singing (Marian Anderson)
Control- or Right-click to Download: MarionAnderson.pdf - On the Day You Were Born
- The Whales
- Owl Moon
BREAK
Down in the Valley
(p. 19 in notes.
In NEDM’s Down in the Valley book & CD.)
Thorn Rosa
(p. 17 in notes. In NEDM’s Jump
Jim Joe book & CD)
Simple Square
(p. 11 in notes. In NEDM’s Chimes
of Dunkirk book & CD.)
Kings and Queens
(p. 18 in the notes)
We used On the Danforth from NEDM’s Other
Side of the Tracks CD.
Before I teach the dance I get the children in a royal, stately mood by
‘dubbing’ them each kings and queens, talking about their royal posture
and attitude that can be summed up simply by saying that, for this dance,
being a king or queen means that you are the very best person you
can be.
Harmony Singing
Birds at the Dawning
(p. 22 in notes.)
Peter and Mary Alice’s harmonization of a song by Betsy Binstock.
Flower Carol
(p. 22 in notes.)
Peter’s arrangement of an old spring carol whose
tune was hijacked for the more modern Christmas carol ‘Good
King Wenceslas’.
- Words: Author unknown, 13th Century; first appeared in Latin in the Swedish Piae Cantiones, 1582; translated from Latin to English in The Oxford Book of Carols, 1928.
- Piae Cantiones was compiled and edited by Jaakko Suomalainen, a Protestant, and published in Finland by The doric Petri, a Catholic.
- Download the original lyrics (Control- or right-click to download): FlowerCarolSATB.pdf
Silver Rain
(p. 22 in notes. On Amidons’ Beatitudes
CD & Beatitudes
book)
LUNCH
Country Life
(p. 1 in notes. On Amidon CD All
I Really Need.)
Story Songs
Fox
(p. 3 in notes. On Amidon CD Faerie’s
Gift)
Owl and Pussycat
(On Amidon CD Faerie’s Gift).
Right- or control-click to download: OwlAndPussycat.pdf
Faerie’s Gift
Told by Mary Alice
(On Amidon CD Faerie’s Gift)
Right- or control-click to download: Faerie’sGift.pdf
Dance Classics
Chimes of Dunkirk
(p. 12 in the notes.
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk book & CD.)
Great for an evening community dance.
Alabama Gal
(p. 14 in the notes.
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk book & CD.)
Your students will request this one over and over.
The music on the CD is a little fast. We challenge
older students to ‘power walk’ the cast off so that they
can get back home in time with the music, even with a set
of 7-8 couples.
Heel & Toe
(p. 10 in the notes.
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk book & CD.)
When we do this with young children or at a community dance
we omit the right hand turn and go right from the clapping to
passing right shoulders onto the new partner.
Black Joke
(p. 11 in notes. In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk book and CD.)
The name is from an old English tune ‘Blackjack’ or ‘Black Joke’. We call
it ‘Hey Ho Diddley Dum’ in public to avoid any misunderstanding regarding
the name.
When we do this at a community dance we have each child
2nd grade or under dance with an adult or an older child.
Community Dance Discussion
We define a community dance or a community (all school) sing the same way, any gathering that is larger than a single classroom of students. For a community dance it could be on classroom of children, each with a parent partner. It could be two combined classes in a combined gym/music class. It could be an entire school community: students, teachers, parents, relatives, at an evening dance.
We usually call community dances to live music, but I have also called them to CDs. You need a very good sound system.
It is likely that the best caller for a community dance is: YOU! You know the children; you know which dances they know; you know the teaching language (the teaching language in a community dance is virtually the same as when you teach it in the classroom.) Or you could contact the Atlanta contra dance folks and find out if they know of anyone who has experience calling a community dance.
Intersection Reel
(p. 14 in notes.) This will be in NEDM’s
forthcoming book and CD Sashay the Donut (Oct 2007 release).
I am not sure which cut we used, but I know that Mouth of the
Tobique from NEDM’s Any
Jig or Reel would work great.
Durham Reel
(p. 11 in notes.)
For music we used
Slow G from Assembly’s January EP CD.
We are expecting to put that cut the CD of
NEDM’s upcoming Sashay the Donut collection
of dances, scheduled for October 2007 release.
Now It’s Time to Go (again)
BYE BYE
Tuesday
Blaydon Races
(p. 9 in notes. In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk book & CD.)
This is a great dance for chatting, lovely for weddings. With younger
children you can do it as non-mixer, just skip the ‘pass right shoulders’
and have them keep the same partner.
Rural Felicity
(p. 10 in notes.
In upcoming NEDM collection Sashay the Donut.)
This is great for a community dance, it is simple
and engaging and does not require much teaching.
Lucky Seven
(p. 9 in notes. In NEDM’s Chimes
of Dunkirk book & CD)
I think we used ‘Coming Dawn’ cut from NEDM’s Other
Side of the Tracks CD
for this. The exercises I did to teach the grand right and left include:
- All facing center and putting out alternating right and left hands counting from 1-7
- Doing exercise #1 but adding two steps of walking in place to each putting out of a hand
- All face partner, ladies crouch, gents weave around circle going alternatingly inside and outside of the ladies and
- Same as #3, but gents crouch, and as ladies go alternatingly outside and inside, the gents ‘assist’ them by with, alternatingly, right hand and left hand.
Going to Alberta (Atlanta)
(p. 18 in the notes.
In upcoming NEDM collection Sashay the Donut.)
A great way to teach both the polka step and
the waltz position.
Singing
Harriet Tubman
(on the Amidons’ All
I Really Need CD)
Voting Song
(p. 4 in the notes. On Amidons’ I’ll
Never Forget CD)
Children’s Miracle
A ballad written by Peter Amidon.
Listen to it, download the lyrics, find out more about the story at:
http://www.amidonmusic.com/Children'sMiracle.html
Picture Books
BREAK
Swing Party
You can use the music for ‘Heel & Toe Polka’ from
NEDM’s Chimes
of Dunkirk CD for this dance:
- A: Walk around the room.
- B: Grab someone’s muscles and swing.
The actual contra dance swing is done in ballroom position, but this is a great non-gender way to teach the swing. Go to the contra dance chapter of the NEDM Chimes of Dunkirk - Teaching Dance to Children DVD to see what a contra dance ‘buzz step’ swing looks like.
Haste to the Wedding
(p. 12 in the notes.
In NEDM’s Chimes of Dunkirk book & CD.)
This is a great first contra dance to teach to older elementary school
children.
Jonathan Chapman
(p. 5 in the notes)
Chiney Doll
This is the song to which two-year-old Sam told the story. Right-click
or control-click to download:ChineyDoll.pdf
Sasha
(p. 17 in the notes.
In upcoming NEDM collection Sashay the Donut.)
A great dance for just about every age and situation!
Harmony Singing
Let Your Little Light Shine
Ysaye Barnwell’s arrangement
of an African American spiritual. She has told us it is fine
to teach it, but not to write it down. We’d be happy to
do the answering machine method of passing it on.
Thing that Makes Beautiful
(p. 20 in the notes.
On the Amidons’ Beatitudes
CD and Beatitudes Book.)
We use this for Mother’s and Father’s Day
and we find it a great song for our hospice singing.
Silver Rain (again)
LUNCH
What a Wonderful World
(On the Amidons’ Faerie’s
Gift CD.)
Month Brothers
(Peter told)
I have never written this down. If you Google
Month Brothers you will find a lot of picture books
of the story. Marushka, Helene, the mother, the
young man coming to dinner, plan A (violets),
B (strawberries), C (apples), April, June and
September. Takes place in January.
Do you sit in the highest place.
Don’t talk back to me!
Don’t come back till you’ve got some violets!
Acted out Month Brothers:
Before you act it out, tell the story and have the
children retell the story so they know it really well.
You act as narrator (and musician). Students sit on
floor in audience; all action takes place right in
front of them. Children, as much as possible,
make up their own lines on the spot. You keep
the story going with your narration. Later on
you can add an orchestra, songs, dance.
First Night Quadrille
(p. 9 in notes.
In NEDM’s Listen
to the Mockingbird book & CD.)
Teach the children ‘Lucky Seven’ before you teach
this square. A great square for older children with
some dance experience.
Love Call Me Home
(p. 23 in the notes.)
Picture Books
Sashay the Donut
(p. 13 in the notes.
In upcoming NEDM collection Sashay the Donut.)
We used Flying Tent from NEDM’s Other
Side of the Tracks CD. You might also try the last cut on
Any Jig or Reel.
We find that this can go with the AABB phrasing of
the music with seven couples. With more than seven
couples you might just let the dance go across the
phrasing of the music.
Sicilian Circle Dance
(p. 13 in the notes.
In upcoming NEDM collection Sashay the Donut.)
We used Golden Keyboard from NEDM’s Any
Jig or Reel CD.
A lovely dance for fifth and sixth graders with some
dance experience.
Now It’s Time to Go (again)
What Wonderful World (again)
BYE BYE