Dancers In School: #proudmotherhen

The Carolina Ballet Company sent two of their members to our school today. It was fabulous to experience the strength and beauty of ballet, up front and personal. The two dancers demonstrated their daily stretches, partner work, choreography, discussed how to stay fit and flexible, and gave tips for the students in their daily life (eat well, sleep, exercise, etc..) The kids enjoyed the jumps and spins, and the fancy "couple work" they did (as one 5th grader put it.)

Being "choreographers" for the selected 5th graders

Teaching the 3rd graders "floor work" and "jumps"



Demonstrating bar work for the students

The stage set-up with portable bars, something I would LOVE to purchase for my classroom and for the after school ballet club I'd love to teach one day. Note the BEAUTIFUL costumes in the corner of the stage.

It was interactive too, while I would have changed the layout a bit myself, for the first time out I thought they did a fine educational job. I tend to be picky when it comes to assemblies, so I won't post anything negative.

They even taught the fifth graders choreography!

Before the assembly I gave one third grade class a pre-test and it asked questions like, " What is Ballet?" and "Name a few famous ballet pieces..." I was incredibly pleased that all my students named the Swan Lake, Peter and the Wolf, and the Nutcracker! I felt like a proud mama when I knew my kids were listening to me in class all those months back :)

While some of the answers are, obviously, incorrect (i.e. boys don't wear pointe shoes) I'm SO excited that they were MOSTLY correct on all the PRE test knowledge. #proudmotherhen

Raindrop Prelude

Chopin's Raindrop Prelude is a class favorite and one of the first pieces we studied in preparation for the music listening contest. I first played the piece without giving the title and asked them...

• What did the music sound like to you? 
• After a few suggestions and answers we moved on to a power point about Chopin.
• HERE IS A GOOD LINK: There is a good radio show and a handout.
• I then played the song again, this time I drew four pictures on the board while the music played. The music can be broken into four segments, and if you draw these pictures it helps the students to see and feel  the change in the music. Very fun.
• If you are a techie... I use a Inexpensive but LOUD Bluetooth Speaker and my favorite ipad app Musical Masterpieces. I use it religiously because it has ALL my Listening exam music on it, and they are good- clear- quality.
• Toward the end of class we read this book Come on Rain- Karen Hesse. I stopped halfway through and had the students write a one paragraph continuation of the story, (what they thought would happen.) They were cute stories, they wrote about what they would have done in a rainstorm after a long drought. Fun LITERACY exercise. 

Composer Summary-

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

• HOW TO SAY THE NAME:

  ‘Chopin’ is said like Show-pan. ‘Frédéric is said like ‘Fre-der-ric’.

  BORN:

  22nd February 1810 in Żelazowa Wola (near Warsaw), Poland.

  
  

  Chopin’s grave in Paris

  DIED:

  17th October 1849 in Paris, France.

  BURIED:

  Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris (although his heart is buried in Holy Cross Church, Warsaw).

  TYPE OF MUSIC:

  Classical music from the romantic period.

  SOME FAMOUS PIECES:

  • ‘Minute Waltz’ (Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64, No. 1)
  • Funeral March (third movement from the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35)

  SOME GREAT PIECES:

  • Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2.
  • Études Op.10 and Op. 25. (See below for a video.)
  • Berceuse.
  • Plus many waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises and nocturnes. (See below for a video of one well-known nocturne.)

  SOME INTERESTING FACTS:

  • He started composing when he was only 7 years old!
  • He played the piano for the Tzar (like a king) of Russia when he was 15. The Tzar liked it so much that he gave Chopin a diamond ring.
  • Most of his music is written for the piano.
  • His piano music was so new that he needed to write his own piano exercises to help him learn how to play it! These exercise are his Études.
  • Much of Chopin’s music is very beautiful . However it can also be very angry as well.