Statues (teaching steady beat, phrasing and movement levels)
Statue Game By Joan Stansbury from the August 13th, 2019 publication of Reverberations (GETTING TO KNOW YOU: ACTIVITIES TO START THE SCHOOL YEAR).
About this video
Statue Game By Joan Stansbury from the August 13th, 2019 publication of Reverberations (GETTING TO KNOW YOU: ACTIVITIES TO START THE SCHOOL YEAR).
This statue game gets a class listening, moving, and interacting, incorporating both structure and creativity. Using a short piece of music with easily identifiable eight-beat phrases, students are asked to alternatively walk for eight beats and stand still for eight beats. As the game progresses, students freeze into "statues" during the second eight-beat phrase. Statue shapes are initially guided by the teacher, but become more individualized as students create their own. Ultimately, individuals connect with others, forming bigger and more complex statues within the walk/stop beat pattern.
Note: If another person isn’t close by, or if a child isn’t comfortable connecting with someone else, there is always the option of making a solo statue. On the other hand, it’s not unusual for statues comprised of three or four people to spring up around the room.
Suggested Music for this activity:
Lesquercarde, by Leo Delibes( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT9JeW41wtc )
Rondeau, by Jean-Joseph Mouret ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZib08sHrwE )
Bow Tie Music is free for every teacher. If this video helped your class, Buy me a coffee ☕
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