Let’s Dance!

Tuesday (17/01/2012)

a) Percussions
l Kids learnt different names of percussions. Example: tambourine, drums, bells, cymbals, gong, maracas and etc.
l We hear the different sounds.

b) Video Clips: Dragon and Lion Dance.
l Last year, we learnt about Lion Dance. Thus, we briefly glanced through Lion Dance video clips. Then we also watched some dragon dances and their percussions. We compared. Lion Dance needs 2 performers but a Dragon Dance needs about 6 until 50 people depending on how long their dragon is. The dance was beautiful and required unity for a beautiful show.
l We listened to the percussions music. Fast music encourages fast dragon dance while slow music portrays slower moves.

c) Let’s dance!
l Today, we used our own dragon model to dance. The kids took turns. 6 kids volunteered for the Dragon while the others chose their percussions. Then, they exchanged their roles.
l Initially, it was difficult because the body cloth kept covering the kids’ faces. Then, they adjusted their standing positions so that they can see the audience. The head carrier has to be very strong because it is the heaviest. The tail carrier has to be able to follow the dragon well. The pearl ball carrier has to be fast and smart. The kids had lots of fun! Tomorrow will be the performance day after class party.

d) Dragon Craft.
l We touched up on the dragon’s features such as beard, eyebrows, horns and also nose.

e) Worksheet Maze.
* It is a maze to help the hungry dragon search for its food; the mandarin oranges. At first, everyone used their fingers to move from dragon to the oranges. It was tough. Then, Xiang Wei suggested that we start from oranges to the dragon. Well, he was right! It was much easier. Then, the kids used a pencil to draw the lines in the maze.