Make a magic wand and guide your family’s
dance moves to create a choreography!
Do you like to dance?
What if you could make up new moves and direct your family’s steps to perform a super creative choreography?
Slide, kick, turn to the left, turn to the right, a little stomp… one more time!
Make room in the living room and let’s get dancing!
Materials
See some suggestions of things that can turn into a magic wand:
- Twisted paper
- Straw
- Spoon
- Popsicle stick or skewer
- Piece of wood or any other material
- Paintbrush
- Ruler
Steps
Here’s an example of how to do this activity:
1. Imagine!
How are dance choreographies and expressive moves created in the theater? What movements have you and people in your house done today? A step to the front, bend down to get something from the floor, extend your arm to reach for something…
Think about the movements your body makes on a daily basis and imagine how these movements could turn into choreography if you combined them with upbeat music!
2. Create!
Pick a space and…make room!
Choose a place to do the activity. It could be the backyard, if you have one, or the living room. You can also move some furniture around to make space.
Make your magic wand!
Use the material you have or just your own arm as the magic wand that will guide everyone’s dance moves. Let everyone know they’ll have to follow the magic wand’s movements!
Press PLAY and get to dancing!
Choreographing means coming up with a set of movements that result in dancing. In order to do this, get in front of everyone, ask them to pay attention to the way your wand waves: everyone should do the same movement you’re doing!
To start in a fun way, explore the dance moves little by little. Say out loud which body parts have to move in that part of the song as you wave your wand to the beat. For example, wave your wand as you say “Now, move your right shoulder”, and everyone should move their right shoulder! Keep playing until everyone’s dancing and having fun!
Oh, and don’t forget to play that special song that makes everyone want to dance!
3. Share!
Is your family a blast?
Record this magical experience, share it on social media and tag your friends and family. Invite them to dance too and make their own choreographies! Use the hashtags
#PlayingConnects and
#CreativeLearningAtHome
so that we can see you dancing, too!
Cool tips
If you want to create a fancier choreography,
make the dance moves more difficult throughout the song.
You can do this by changing…
Height levels
Level 1: do dance moves close to the floor, bent over, sitting down…
Level 2: explore dance moves with your body tilted or a little bent over…
Level 3: explore dance moves with your body straight up or your arms raised.
Rhythm
Start with a slow rhythm and progress to a faster one,
going back and forth,
mixing fast and slow moves as the beat changes.
Interaction
If there’s more than one participant,
make them interact with each other by creating
different dance moves for each one and alternating each dancer’s moves!
And guess what? Everyone can have a chance to be the magician, so take turns!
Take a look at what some people have created!
Acknowledgements
This activity was created by Carolina Portela and Renan Briao,
from Arteria Espaco Arte
