Dancing Words Blog

Category: Animals

With So Many Dancers on the Zoom Screen, Let’s Explore Collective Nouns!

In light of many dance classes happening online this fall, I have been thinking about the new possibilities for using books as springboards within Zoom classes. I am thinking about the Zoom screen filled with a group of students, and how to build community and togetherness even via the distance learning.

Could words inspire group movement, ensemble thinking, follow-the-leader moments, and looking beyond ourselves to other movers in the class?

I think there is a lot of potential with collective nouns – a crash of rhinos, a journey of giraffes, and a kaleidoscope of butterflies. Animals are an ever popular theme for exploration, play, and joy. With each new group of animals, students can explore size, shape, levels, tempo, and dynamic changes.

My collection of collective noun books keeps on growing, including:

A Pandemonium of Parrots and Other Animals – Hui Skipp

A Dazzle of Flamboyance: An ABC book of Collective Nouns for Groups of Animals – Wendy Hayden

An Ambush of Tigers – Betsy R. Rosenthal, illustrated by Jago

A Zeal of Zebras – Woop Studios

Use the books as a springboard for an improvisational activity, or use a book's text as your basic "score." (Suggested age range – preschool through 2nd grade.)

Let's dance!

September 23, 2020
Zoogie Boogie Fever!
This book was made for our dance classes! It works so magically with preschoolers' and kindergarteners' love of animal dances, imaginative play involving sneaking out and dancing at night, freeze dance games, and more. The words literally will narrate your group dance or structured improv for your class.

The story will inspire swinging, swaying, jumping, and wiggling. We will move slowly and quickly. We will FREEZE when we don't want to get caught at the zoo….

Musical selections can include bright jazz tunes like "Watermelon Man" by Herbie Hancock, "Seven Come Eleven" by Oscar Peterson, or "Salt Peanuts" by Dizzy Gillespie.

Dance teachers – become the narrator of the book and let the words lead the sections of the dance (whether a culminating project or a recurring structured improv you repeat several times throughout the semester).

Tease out the concepts of the book over several lessons:
- Shapes/body positions
- Various animals and how they locomote, plus the levels they move on (high/middle/low)
- Fast and slow movement
- Improvised movement/set steps
- Naming steps/trying out new movement of your own that does not have a name
- Dancing 2 by 2 across the space
Purchase your copy of Sujean Rim's Zoogie Boogie Fever today!
September 2, 2019
Book of Bones

Do you work with students in grades 1, 2, and 3? I am in love with this book – Book of Bones by Gabrielle Balkan and illustrator Sam Brewster.

The content and format of the book calls for us to make a group dance with the book. Check out the table of contents, and the words that so relate to our dance work – small, big, long, heavy, light, fast….

"Guess who has the biggest bone? Huge. Gigantic. Tremendous: That's ME. Inside my massive body, I have the world's biggest bone…" So reads the text. Each of the 10 animals explored in the book has opening text, an image of the bony structure, and then a colorful two page spread with more text.

I imagine that you could be the narrator and literally read the text as each group dances their section – the blue whale, the Etruscan shrew, the reticulated python, and 7 more. Break your class into small groups to explore each animal in terms of shape, size, speed, and common actions.

The Book of Bones will be a delightful new class exploration this winter. The students will love the variety, the 10 animals highlighted in the book, and a culminating project with lots of small group sections. Select 10 different music options to support the different movements of each creature. Here are a few options. Use the first 1-2 minutes of each song:

Biggest bone: Blue whale ("Magic Hours" by Explosions in the Sky)

Smallest bones: Etruscan shrew ("Grace" by Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma)

Most bones: Reticulated python ("The Harder We Work" by My Dad Vs. Yours)

Longest neck bone: Reticulated giraffe ("See" by Tycho)

Heaviest bone: African bush elephant ("Kiara" by Bonobo)

Lightest bones: Peregrine falcon ("Particle" by Pantha du Prince and The Bell Laboratory)

Thinnest bones: Bumblebee bat ("Glass: In the Upper Room – Dance 1" by Philip Glass)

Fastest-growing bone: Alaska Moose ("Electric Daisy Violin" by Lindsey Stirling)

Spikiest bone: Regal horned lizard ("Vanilla Minus" by Gold Panda)

Fewest bones: Great hammerhead shark ("Irene's Good Night" by Slammin All-Body-Band)

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December 22, 2018
Tall Tall Tree by Anthony D. Fredericks

The 2017 publication of Tall Tall Tree (author Anthony D. Fredericks and illustrator Chad Wallace) is a delightful new book to try out with preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students. The book offers a variety of animal movements and also is a counting book – 1 eagle, 2 owls, 3 salamanders…. Tall Tall Tree explores the many different creatures that live within giant redwood trees.

Counting books like this one so nicely lend themselves to "parts" for a group dance. So if you have 20 or more students in a class, everyone can get one or two parts to the dance.

1 eagle (soaring, searching)

2 owls (carrying food, sharing, nesting)

3 salamanders (climbing, hunting)

4 woodpeckers (quick movements, pecking, storing food)

5 woodrats (darting, eating)

6 chipmunks (dashing, darting, scampering)

7 bumblebees (quickly zigging and zagging)

8 bats (sleeping, waiting, hanging)

9 banana slugs (sliding, sliming)

10 ladybugs (crawling, flying)

Tall Tall Tree is nicely bookended with clear beginning and ending text to help shape your dance. Teachers – you can be the narrator for the dance and literally read the whole story aloud to help shape and pace the dance.

As for music selections, try out "Brace Brace" by Bonobo, or "Blind Man, Blind Man" by Herbie Hancock.

January 14, 2018
Dancing Off the Page: Bears Are Big by Douglas Florian

The other day I shared about Florian's book Flamingos Fly. Today I write about another book in the series, Bears Are Big. I am always on the lookout for books exploring opposites.

Bears Are Big is a great new option to use with parent/child and preschool dance classes. Illustrator Barbara Bakos shares playful images of a variety of creatures. Use the ideas to create a warm up for your classes.

Bears are big.

Bees are small.

Shrews are short.

Giraffes are tall.

I would like to offer two options with this particular text.

Option 1 – use the text from the beginning until the 12th page….ending with the idea, "Tree frogs stick." I think you can create a playful warm up that can be repeated for several weeks in a row.

Option 2 – using the entire text – you will need some fabric. I have been exploring how to use the final set of words in the book, "Ravens are black. Doves are white." My solution is this: use the whole book, and then when you get to the last two pages about the birds, have your class come over to you and get black and white fabric. This can transition into an improvisational activity exploring the fabric and the bird inspiration of flying, flapping, soaring, opening, and closing. My top suggestion would be to head to the local fabric store to buy cheap tulle fabric in both black and white.

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September 10, 2017
Dancing Off the Page: Flamingos Fly by Douglas Florian
Douglas Florian and Barbara Bakos have created four delightful board books to use in parent/child, preschool, and kindergarten classes. Use the ideas for improvisational activities or group dances. Today let's explore Flamingos Fly.

"Flamingos fly. Sailfish swim. Monkeys swing in a jungle gym." Twelve ideas/actions are in this book:
- Fly
- Swim
- Swing
- Dive
- Soar
- Creep
- Dig
- Lunge
- Plunge
- Jump
- Leap
- Sleep
Simple, clear, poetic, and varied. The students will explore a variety of traveling and stationary movements and level changes. Encourage the group to consider the timing and tempo for each kind of movement as well. For music, try out the instrumental piece "Biei (Ethereal Flow)" by Kodo.

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September 9, 2017
Animal Improv with 4-7 Year Olds

I love books about those quirky collective nouns we use to describe groups of animals (a smack of jellyfish, a troop of kangaroos, a colony of ants…). Today I highlight a board book for young ones to add to our collections. The book is Crowds of Creatures by Kate Riggs and Fiammetta Dogi.

This short book features 6 groups of animals:

Flock of geese

Colony of ants

Troops of monkeys

Prides of lions

Cloud of bats

Pod of dolphins

The 6-part structure and clear text can jump off the page and lead to a great structured improv with students in preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grades. With each change of the page and each new animal, the students' movements can change. They can explore flying, soaring, crawling, swinging, running, galloping, folding, going upside-down, swimming, and diving. I also think with each turn of the page, you could have a student leader for the improv (and the rest of the group follows). Six students can take turns leading; try the improv for a few classes so each student gets a chance to lead.

"A flock of geese flies to nest….A colony of ants works without rest…."

The book concludes with a "recap" of all of the animals in the book and the text, "Families go by many names." To conclude your improv – each student can select one animal from the book and move like that animal.

As for music, I am inspired to use Bonobo's electronic piece "Animals."

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Related posts:

More books with collective nouns

Blog Series: Animals

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September 4, 2017
The Wonder Garden and “Habitats” Dances with 3rd Graders

I love the big book The Wonder Garden, as it reminds me of one of my favorite 3rd grade dance projects from about 15 years ago.

Years ago, I was teaching dance at Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley, California. I was teaching in Jennifer Stinson's class. Jennifer shared that the students were exploring rain forest habitats, and we created a magical group dance based on the subject. Here is my memory of the basic format — beginning, middle, and end. Rain forests are amazing with their layers, levels, animals, and plants. And, how does the temperature affect movement and tempo? Lots of dancing potential.

Part A of our group dance was an opening tableaux/group picture/group shape with all of the students. We played with levels, size, and shape. Then everyone dispersed from our stage space.

Part B – small group sections. The students were divided into small groups of about 5-6 students. Each group had an animal – such as spider monkeys or macaws. Over the course of a few classes, each group created a short movement phrase of about 6 ideas in it to show what each animal does and how it moves. One group at a time came out into the performance area, danced, and then exited. We made a basic list of notes for each group, to help remember their phrases (ex. swinging, eating fruit, grabbing a vine).

Part C – Last, we ended as we began. All creatures re-emerged and finished in a group shape.

As for music, I believe we selected a piece of jazz (possibly Art Blakey and the Afro-Drum Ensemble). We selected a piece based on feel and flow.

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Now, back to the book I first mentioned! If you also like the idea of a group dance about habitats, please check out The Wonder Garden! Kristjana Williams is a magical and talented graphic artist, and Jenny Broom's writing offers students key descriptors about each habitat and its plants and animals. This book can be a perfect springboard for a habitats project. The book features 5 habitats: Chihuahuan Desert, Amazon Rain Forest, Black Forest, Himalayan Mountains, and Great Barrier Reef.

Also, as students read and research for the group dance, consider also checking out the following excellent animal books:

Animalium by Katie Scott and Jenny Broom

Zoo-ology by Joelle Jolivet

Panorama by Joelle Jolivet and Fani Marceau

The Animal Book by Steve Jenkins

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September 2, 2017
123 Dream by Kim Krans – A Playful Book for K/1 Dance Classes

This year, I am loving the idea of using a counting book to inspire a dance with different sections and roles for your students. Try out books like this one with kindergarten and 1st grade classes. Each student will be able to be in a few of the sections.

Author/illustrator Kim Krans counts to 20 in 123 Dream, with a variety of creatures and plants. The 20 different ideas will naturally lead to movement with varying qualities, tempos, shapes, and level changes. The illustrations with ink and watercolor evoke a tone of calm and fluid change. I am inspired to use some electronic music without lyrics; try out Bonobo or Mike Wall (Mike's website is http://www.soundformovement.com).

1 owl

2 turtles

3 thistle

4 foxes

5 fish

6 snakes

7 starfish

8 ears (rabbit ears)

9 narwhal

10 trees

11 elephants

12 toads

13 thorns (rose thorns)

14 feathers

15 fireflies

16 strawberries

17 salamanders

18 eggs

19 nuts (acorns)

20 toes

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Related posts:

The Ghosts Go Scaring

Numbers on the Move

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September 2, 2017
Flying Frogs and Walking Fish

I am a huge Steve Jenkins and Robin Page fan. Their books are whimsical, fact-filled, and many of their books naturally lend themselves to dance activities. Flying Frogs and Walking Fish, published in 2016, has an excellent format to launch a dance project with K-3 students, especially a large class. Narrate the book as the students dance.

The first page sets the stage for the book:

Animals walk, leap, climb, and swim. Some roll or turn flips. Others fly or glide, and a few are even jet-propelled. These creatures are found in many shapes and sizes……Have you ever seen….

Then, the book launches into an A B A B format. One page asks a question, and then the next gives 3 action words. (In classic Jenkins/Page style, every page has illustrations and smaller-type sentences describing the various animals.) To give you a feel for this, here are the first few pages….

Have you ever seen….

A Walking Octopus?

Marching, strolling, tiptoeing….

A Leaping Lizard?

Jumping, pouncing, springing….

The book inspires solo and group sections, to appeal to different kinds of movers and performers. 46 different creatures are in the book, exploring the key actions of: walking, leaping, swimming, climbing, flying, rolling, and jetting.

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Related posts:

The Letter M (featuring Move! by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page)

Book List: Animal Inspiration (Including 4 books by Jenkins and Page)

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August 6, 2017