Magic and Whimsy Series: All in a Day

Story Behind the Magic and Whimsy Series:

About 16 years ago I was taking a "teaching methods for children" undergraduate course at the University of Utah. Teaching artist Joni Urry Wilson lead a class one day, sharing how to use the book Caretakers of Wonder as a springboard for a dance with elementary school students. The text of the book is poetic and magical. It touches your heart. The idea of the book is how we can care for the world – be a perch for the birds, repaint rainbows to brighten their colors, and such. Joni was the one to model for me how to use children's picture books as a theme for special dance projects with elementary students, especially students in grades 3-5. Thank you Joni!

The first post in the Magic and Whimsy Series:

All in a Day is a picture book by two stellar children's book artists, writer Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Nikki McClure. "A day is a perfect piece of time to live a life, to plant a seed, to watch the sun go by. A day starts early, work to do, beneath a brand-new sky." All in a Day can inspire a dance project for 3rd-5th grade students in elementary schools, after school programs, and dance centers.

The book alternates with pages with a blue background and a yellow background. I love this pattern, and you can work with this pattern as the students choreograph a dance. Half of the class could dance the yellow pages/text, and half could dance the blue. You could even split your "stage space" in half, with the yellow group on one side and the blue on the other. One group could freeze while the other moves. You could even use these colors for your "costumes" for the dance (ie blue/black and yellow/black).

If you have a smaller after school or studio class, with 6-8 students, this could be a duet project. You could get a few copies of the book out of the library, so that each duet would have a book to use and refer to. 

Nikki McClure's paper-cut images have clear lines and strong images. Cynthia Rylant's text indeed has "magic and whimsy" in it. It is about hope and beauty – a perfect idea for a dance with young children.