The power of music and song in children’s theatre

Last week I took our 4 -year- old grandson and his Mum to our state theatre to see a school holiday offering for young kids – “Room On The Broom”, based on the award winning children’s picture book by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler, published by Macmillan Children’s books.

The show was in the main theatre, the Heath Ledger Theatre, and because ours was an impromptu decision to attend, we were seated in the last available seats, right up at the back of the circle and some distance from the stage. This did not bother young William in the least; he was intrigued by the size of the theatre and the height from which he was watching the stage. It was the largest theatre he has been in, to date, and I’d imagine it was the same for many in the young audience. Around us were children ranging in age from babies to around the 8 years mark. Lots of grandparents.

I wondered how we would all fare up there, so far from the action on stage, when the show started.

As it turns out, the physical distance did not prove a problem for William, nor for kids of similar age. Younger children were more easily distracted, but that age were distracted downstairs in the stalls as well.

The show was just the right length – about 55 minutes – and delivered with an energy of around 150%. This would be exhausting for an audience if sustained for much longer,  but seemed an important component in holding their attention in this short show.

There were puppets – big, realistic, glove style puppets. And the actors operating them provided their voices. (At one stage the actor managing the dog and the frog mixed up his accents but no one much minded). Suspension of disbelief was abundant, which was wonderful to see in this audience. (Side note – last holidays we went to a puppet show where the puppets were made of fruit and veges. This was a step too far for our 4- year- old – “You can’t really make a puppet out of vegetables, can you?”)

The main actor characters were the witch and her cat – a costumed actor -  and the audience loved them.

But by far the component of the show which held it all together and brought kids’ attention back to the stage was the music. Backing -tracks and live singing – in parts, and of a high standard.  Fun songs with catchy but easy tunes. Towards the end we were all invited to join in the refrain of the final song – and we did it lustily. Audiences love to join in.

As the performance ended, William declared, “That was a really good show”.  And it was. But without the music it would have been so much less. 

As we walked to lunch in the city, I was thinking about how enriching music and song is to so many of young children’s learning. It is of course learning in its own right, but music also enables so much more in us.

Foreman Funnies - Part 2

Drama Tuesday - Teaching Improvisation

Music Monday - Holiday time

The Easter weekend is ending, and in most Australian states, schools are in the holiday break between terms. After a short term of only 9 weeks here in Western Australia – which was then shortened further by a one -week Covid lockdown at the start – I am surprised by how tired I am at the end of this term. My teacher colleagues and friends (in all age groups) have echoed this sentiment. Perhaps we all over-compensated for the short teaching term by trying to reach targets meant for a normal term length?

Anyway, this post has no discussion of teaching approaches or anything at all serious.

Instead, I have been thinking of a birthday card I received from a friend a couple of years ago. The front read “Things Musicals Taught Me” and then there were a bunch of song references, including:

It’s a hard knock life

Give ‘em the old razzle dazzle

There’s a place for us

There are 525,600 minutes in a year

All you’ve got to do is dream

You can’t stop the beat

You can love the life you’re living; you can live the life you’d like

You’re never fully dressed without a smile

Can you add to the list? Post in the comments below.

And enjoy your holidays!

Foreman Funnies - Part 1

How is drama travelling a year into the Pandemic?

We are a year into the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. Even though the roll out of a vaccine is happening in countries around the world, there are still students not in classes – not in drama classes. In many places, theatres remain closed and creatives are out of work.

The immediate responses to the Pandemic are one sign of the vital concerns felt in the drama education community – a pragmatic response.(See, for example, the support from IDEA:  https://www.ideadrama.org/Supporting-teaching-drama-and-theatre-in-these-times)  

But how are we travelling now 12 months on?

If anything, the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic has provided increasing opportunities for these alternatives to drama teacher education to flourish. In the midst of disruption there are  entrepreneurial openings (for example, Roundabout Theatre Company, 2021. https://sites.google.com/schools.nyc.gov/theater-ralp/home). 

The rescue has two modules – with grade related resources. Module 1 focuses on using your voice; Module 2 is an Introduction to Design. There are lesson plans and video resources to support instruction as well as independent  student learning.

There are professionally produced videos with personable presenters published in a YouTube channel. Check out the Using Your Voice: Vocal Warmups video to see if it will work for you.

For teachers working in Zoom environments these are valuable resources.

As always, check that these resources are suitable for your students.  also, question whether the US accents are useful or helpful. 

Australia

Closer to home, the Inclusive Creative Arts digital teaching resources produced by the New South Wales Arts Unit are also worth considering. 

https://digital.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/the-arts-unit-home/art-bites?subject=drama 

These Arts Bites are another source for stimulating drama activities. The accents are Australian and the presenters are enthusiastic and focus on speaking directly with students. 

The question still remains

What is unclear is how they present antidotes to trends towards dis-embodied drama education. The lure of the on-line world and the ZOOM meeting present traps for embodied drama learning and teaching. 

Drama is practical, hands on, embodied learning. How does that change in the “new normal”?

Whatever approach is taken to drama teacher education, there needs to be an underlying robust, durable, practical schema to serve as a living and responsive guide to our work.

Learning to teach drama focuses on embodied learning in the arts  (Bresler, 2004). Through practical, hands on experiences in the drama we model the ways that your students learn the arts and ways that you teach the arts. This engenders embodied teaching.

Bibliography

Bresler, L. (2004). Knowing Bodies, Knowing Minds - Towards Embodied Teaching and Learning. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

Music Monday - More about Practice

Last week’s post about music practice generated some interesting discussion. Thank you to those who contacted me with anecdotal stories about students young and older.

I’ve been thinking and reflecting further on this essential component of successful music performance.

Our daughter, Hannah had an outstanding piano teacher. Sue’s students were typical suburban kids, but consistently achieved above - average results in their AMEB piano exams. Her own daughters all went on to become professional string players. The family are clearly extremely talented in music, but I have often wondered if a significant part of their professional success was their mother’s guidance about practice routines from an early age.

I have been searching (without success) for one of Hannah’s old practice books, but my recollections of a typical page would read something like this:

D major scale. Practise hands separately 3 times then together, slowly, 3 times

Gavotte. New. Try page one slowly, separate hands. 3 times each practice.

Revise List A and D pieces once each practice.

List C. Check bars 43-49 (wrong today) and practice slowly 3 times each practice

And so on.

Very specific.

This week with my Year 8 boys’ singing group, I quizzed them about their practice since the last lesson. Interestingly - but unsurprisingly - the boy who scored highest in a technical work assessment had the most specific practice routine. Here is what he reported as being his practice routine:

“I sang each of our (5) scales 5 times to warm up.

Then I sang the vocalise, checking the breathing and the dynamics.

I practised the song, checking the rhythms at the bars you told us to.

I recorded myself singing to make sure that I wasn’t scooping or sliding.

Then I went through my parts in Matilda (their current school musical).”

Again, very specific and ordered.

We are living in an age where technology provides so many tools for practice – warm up apps, recording devices on our phones, backing tracks with or without voice / piano / orchestra. The list goes on.

But as music educators we still need to train effective practice habits.

Drama Thinking - Part 6

Finding the stories for drama

The town of Littlight and its people live in a grey and lifeless community, dictated to by the Mayor, an autocratic man who fears change and difference. Mysteriously, the brick walls surrounding the town start to disappear and as they do so, light, colour, sound and eventually people start to appear through the every enlarging holes.

This is a story about one person setting of a change reaction - about celebrating difference, tolerance and not just being open-minded to those who live different lives, but being open enough to embrace and enjoy their differences.

The illustrations are simple and stylistic - quite childlike. Stark shades of grey depict the township except for one bright, colourful girl and a ladder. As the bricks disappear psychedelic colours leech through along with small differences to start with - as brightly coloured birds start to emerge. As the holes in the wall grow larger we get glimpses of different people doing different things - cooking, dancing etc with different senses being awoken but the Littlelight townsfolk. The Mayor is angry, and at first the people are frightened of something new and different but as the colours take over their community they become happy and cheerful. The vivid endpapers are filled with bright and colourful houses side by side and provide a good talking point.

Goodreads

A frequent  question I am asked is about the stories I use in drama workshops: where do you find the stories?

I find stories for drama literally everywhere.

I am always looking for stories for drama.

You might find me in the children’s picture book section of the book store. Or, I might see something in a newspaper clipping. Or, a friend might tell me a story from local history. 

For example, in the children’s section of a bookshop and found a new book by a Western Australian author, Kelly Canby, called Littlelight (2020). Immediately, I could see the situation – a town that is walled in  – and the roles – the pompous mayor and the fun-loving stealer of the bricks in the wall. I could use the Drama Thinking processes described in earlier posts to generate dramatic action that can help students understand important life issues.

Another time the same bookstore I saw The Wanderer by Peter Van den Ende (2020). 

At once I could see a starting activity of making paper boats and talking about them – an activity outside the frame that enables us to edge into the drama where we take on roles.

A little boat sets out to sea and begins its voyage toward home. To get there it must travel across many strange, beautiful oceanscapes, full of fantastic creatures and deadly monsters, swept by terrifying storms and sailed by mysterious ships. Can the Wanderer pick a path through all these perils to a safe harbour?

Murdoch Books

The story itself  is so open ended. We could springboard from images in the book itself.  Each of the images could provide an episode for a drama activity. 

Or, we could invent our own adventures and places for the little paper boats to be  travelling.

These sorts of picture books are so great for generating drama thinking ideas. 

Generative stories are rich with potential drama.

They enable us as drama teachers to work between the

narrative threads to find the drama.

They focus on human experience that can be shared in embodied ways.

Similarly, a friend told me the story of the shipwreck off the coast of Western Australia – quite infamous for the bloody insurrection and mutiny and the terrible justice imposed on the mutineers. 

what her was fascinated about was that in the party of several ships in the convey making the journey from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies, there were many children. 

I thought about the potential for drama in this story from our shared history. 

Stories don’t have to be written down or published in books.

Just as Drama reflects life, so too, all of our lives can be the source for good drama lessons.

They open doors to Process Drama activities. 

With my teacher education students we worked through the Process Drama of the Batavia Children, to learn about Process Drama. 

An associated question I am sometimes asked: Why do I use stories for drama?

My job as a drama teacher is to help students learn about drama - using the Elements of Drama to express and communicate ideas and feelings as well as to understand and respond to drama.

Stories are ways of embedding these important elements into packages that. Help students learn.

Of course, there are times when I plan a drama based on a concept – such as using voice dynamically to create character. Or, teaching about the important ideas of Brecht as a playwright and director that have influenced contemporary drama. So there are drama lessons that don’t necessarily start with a story. I can start with a specific lesson concept in mind. But even then, I try to find a way of bringing it to life through including part of a story. 

But there is nothing to match the power of a generative story to hook and engage students. Into that story, I can embed important conceptual and practical learning.

In overview, this series of posts have focused on the ways that we as drama teachers move from a starting point – often a story – through processes of drama thinking linked with my portfolio of Drama Teaching and Learning Strategies. Through these processes, I am in a position to create a specific drama lesson plan.

My planning often looks something like this:

Excerpt from Batavia Children Process Drama Planning

Bibliography

Canby, K. (2020). Littlelight. Fremantle, Western Australia: Fremantle Press.

Peter Van den Ende. (2020). The Wanderer. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Music Monday - Practice

A couple of weeks ago I was shocked when a tertiary singing student confessed to me that she had never done any singing practice. Never. Not in the 15 months I have been teaching her and not at any point during her secondary schooling, which is when she started formal singing lessons. What was even more galling to me was that I hadn’t realised. This student is naturally talented and learns new song repertoire easily. She had recorded her lessons with me, including exercises to teach and reinforce new aspects of vocal technique. In my turn, I had observed that her progress with new vocal technique concepts was slow; however her strong natural instincts for ‘selling’ a song, as well as a naturally robust vocal instrument had enabled her to get away with it to a certain extent. Her confession came in response to my observation (at this particular lesson) that she was taking a long time to develop a secure head dominant mix.

In our frank discussion which followed, the student confided that she had always had a lazy attitude towards work, but more than that, no one had ever told her how to practice. That really set me thinking.

With my young beginner singers, I always make explicit instructions- “do this exercise 5 times each day”, “sing through the song then go over the problem phrases”, “check in the mirror to see that you are….”. The younger students have a journal in which to write instructions and record their practice times and at each lesson there is discussion about how they have fared since the previous lesson.

With tertiary / adult students, I have, until now, verbally suggested the recommended number of repetitions of new exercises and techniques, but I have assumed that these were practised at home. Clearly this has not always been the case. 

Since that lesson, I am now quizzing students in more detail. Instead of a generic “how has your practice gone since the last lesson?” I am asking, “How many times did you do the … exercises?” etc.

And what of the student who started this? Well, in the past week she has practised in detail twice. Not yet ideal, but baby steps towards a more effective artistic practice routine.

Drama Thinking - Part 5

In Part 5 I share with you one further Drama Thinking process to help you move from a story to your planned drama lesson. This is a simple strategy. Think about your story in terms of Before, During and After the story.  

Before During and After

Perhaps the simplest of all these drama Thinking Processes, Before, During and After looks carefully at the story.

What happened before the story starts – to the people in the story. Think about their situation, relationships and what they are thinking and feeling. 

Look inside the story – what happens during the story. It is useful to look here at the narrative chain. 

Finally, we can look at what happens or might happen after the story ends.

Alternative stories 

Sometimes, within a story we can imagine alternatives.

We can asks ourselves what if questions. 

If the original story of our travellers to a New World, their adventure begins in Europe and they venture to the Dutch East Indies. 

But what if… instead of reaching their destination, their ship is wrecked on rocks on the coast of Western Australia and they must learn to live with the Aboriginal people.

Or, what if… in a huge storm, their ship is swept into outer space and they travel to the Moon.

Stories do not have to go in straight lines. 

There are no limits to your imagination. You can make alternative stories. 

Introduce new tensions.

Introduce new people and characters.

Change the location. Or, the time. Or the ending of the story.

Story drives drama. The Principles of Stories work along side the Elements of Drama. To plan our drama lessons, we need to understand how story can be unpacked and understood, so that we can make drama with our students