Dancing Words Blog

Category: Animals

  • Alphabet Series: The Letter F

    When you and your students explore the letter F, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

    F is for Feet

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    Exploring the letter F is the perfect time to study our feet  and the many actions they do. Check out the following books:

    Use the text to inspire a list of actions of feet – fast, slow, high, low, etc. Make a warm up or improv activity with these various actions.

    F is for Flowers

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    I love the alphabet book A Garden of Ordinary Miracles. This alphabet book of various flowers is fun inspiration for making different shapes in our body, or in a group. 

    F is for Flamingos

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    As I have written about on the blog previously, Flora and the Flamingo is pure inspiration and joy for dance classes. It is a great book to explore the concepts of following a leader and mirroring. 

    F is for Fast

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    Opposite words are great to explore in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade dance classes (fast/slow, high/low, up/down, etc). Explore the book Fast and Slow: An Animal Opposites Book by Lisa Bullard. This book can easily turn into a group dance. 

     

    F is for Flamenco

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    George Ancona's book Olé Flamenco is a detailed book with classic Ancona photos as well as text about the dance style of flamenco and its costumes, music, and use of the hands.

  • Off We Go!

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    I was excited to stumble upon this book at the library, Jane Yolen's 2000 picture book Off We Go!. Off We Go! will quickly become a well-used book in preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade dance classes. 

    Like Steve Jenkins's book Move!, Off We Go! is a super easy and accessible book for movement inspiration. The various animals in the book tiptoe, hop, dig, and slither. Laurel Molk's illustrations evoke a calm and joyful energy. 

    Dance teachers can use the text as inspiration for an improvisational activity, or teachers can easily create a dance based on the text.

    Young dancers always love animal inspiration. Students will love exploring the movement of spiders, ducks, snakes, and mice.

    Off we go!

     

  • Repost: Flora and the Flamingo (Now a Caldecott Honor Book!)

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    The folks at Chronicle Books (one of my favorite book publishers) have released another playful picture book to inspire young ones to dance. 

    Flora and the Flamingo, by Molly Idle, is a wordless picture book with two characters – a young girl and a flamingo. Both wear their "pink costumes," ready for dancing.

    The story is a playful dialogue of a friendship forming. In movement terms, it is a fun way to introduce the ideas of follow the leader, mirroring, and call and response with students in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.

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    Share this book within a creative dance or pre-ballet class, or purchase it for your your one who loves to dance. The beauty of wordless books is that they encourage us to ask the kids, "What is happening here? What's the story? What do you think?"

    Check out the Chronicle Books website for two reasons.

    1. There is a "book trailer" that shows you all of the pages of the book. It is set to the classical piece, "By the Beautiful Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss II. Watching this trailer inspired me to want to use this particular piece of music when using this book.

    2. Also, orders over $25 receive free shipping this week. (Chronicle publishes lots of inspiring books for dance classes, including the new book on Josephine Baker, Josephine.)

    Flora and the Flamingo will lead to multiple movement possibilities. What a great way to start doing work in pairs/duets with young ones. One dancer can be the role of Flora, and one dancer can be the role of the flamingo. I also love the use of color in the book, and it inspires me to want to bring in large pieces of pink fabric with the kids as well. (Pink tulle is very inexpensive, and then you can give each student a yard of fabric.) Pick out several of the images and ask the students to make the same shapes in their bodies ("see and do").

    Have fun and play!

     

  • Alphabet Series: The Letter A

    When you and your students explore the letter A, some of these books can be springboards and inspiration for improvisations and dance projects. 

    A is for AROUND

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    I am always looking for books and stories with prepositions. Check out this picture book about plants and gardens - Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres and illustrator Nadine Bernard Westcott. It will inspire a fun warm up and get students thinking about relationships in space.

    A is for ANIMALS

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    You can do an entire dance class with animal inspiration – shapes, actions, traveling patterns, levels, tempo, and much more. Books to investigate include:

    A is for AUTUMN LEAVES

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    Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins is a beautiful picture book with vibrant photos of leaves. You and your students can explore the shapes of the leaves in a warm up exercise. Add some of the classic "autumn music" as well – the jazz standard "Autumn Leaves" or the Autumn section from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

    A is for ARTISTS ALVIN AILEY AND ALICIA ALONSO

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    You can also share biographies about modern dancer Alvin Ailey and prima ballerina Alicia Alonso:

  • Remarkable Animals

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    Today I would like to highlight one of those fun "flip books" where the pages are divided into thirds. Depending on which third you flip, you can create fantastical animals with each variation of the head, torso, or tail.

    Remarkable Animals by Tony Meeuwissen can be a whimsical warm up activity with students in 2nd-5th grades. Use the book as a springboard for group improvs in trios. With each page turn of the book, the group's shape changes. 

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  • Book List: Animal Inspiration

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    Over the past year, I have written several posts about animal books. Today, with a stack of books beside me, I wanted to share a compiled list for you. Some of the books have text that can lead to a dance. Others are simply beautiful visuals to use as inspiration and springboards for projects.

    Ages 2-5

    • Swing! Like a Monkey by Harriet Ziefert and Simms Taback
    • Wiggle! Like an Octopus by Harriet Ziefert and Simms Taback
    • Move! by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
    • Into the A, B, Sea by Deborah Lee Rose, with artwork by Steve Jenkins
    • In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming
    • In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming
    • From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

    Grades K-2

    • African Animals ABC by Philippa-Alys Browne
    • Move! by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
    • Into the A, B, Sea by Deborah Lee Rose, with artwork by Steve Jenkins
    • Down Down Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea by Steve Jenkins
    • Living Color by Steve Jenkins
    • Zoo-ology by Joelle Jolivet

    Grades 3-5

    • Panorama: A Foldout Book by Fani Marceau and Joelle Jolivet
    • Zoo-ology by Joelle Jolivet
    • A Zeal of Zebras by Woop Studios