In some cultures, there is no differentiation between music and dance; in fact, many don't even have separate words for them. I, too, believe that music and movement should go hand-in-hand.
Over the last couple of weeks, the Maple class has been exploring "mirroring." They face a partner as if they are looking at their reflection in a mirror. As slow music plays, one of the children acts as the leader, and the other is the follower, "reflecting" the leader's movements to the music.
At first, I was the leader, and the entire class reflected me together. Then we discussed the movements I made, and what made them easy to follow: slow, large movements that are easy to see, keeping to the beat of the music so movements are predictable, and repeating movements.
Next, the children partnered up! Here are some photos I took of the 1st graders from yesterday, after their second class that included Mirroring:
Over the last couple of weeks, the Maple class has been exploring "mirroring." They face a partner as if they are looking at their reflection in a mirror. As slow music plays, one of the children acts as the leader, and the other is the follower, "reflecting" the leader's movements to the music.
At first, I was the leader, and the entire class reflected me together. Then we discussed the movements I made, and what made them easy to follow: slow, large movements that are easy to see, keeping to the beat of the music so movements are predictable, and repeating movements.
Next, the children partnered up! Here are some photos I took of the 1st graders from yesterday, after their second class that included Mirroring:
It is so lovely to see how they get into expressing the music, and focusing on their partners' movements. I like to see their facial expressions!
Two of our friends discovered that if they cross through the mirror, interesting things happen! One of our shyer friends finally found his "movement voice" yesterday, and we discovered some very cool floor movement through him! This was a beautiful moment.
Two of our friends discovered that if they cross through the mirror, interesting things happen! One of our shyer friends finally found his "movement voice" yesterday, and we discovered some very cool floor movement through him! This was a beautiful moment.