Posing and Droning
Today I switched things up in the physical warm up, and brought back an old favourite game, where the kids walk or dance the length of the room like a runway and pose at the end of the room. It gave a great opportunity to hear some of the kids' favourite songs, and for some of the boys who are a bit shy with singing, they got a chance to come out of their shell and do some truly amazing group tableaus. One of the kids even launched into the splits! It was a lot of excitement to start, but for the second half of class we brought things into more of a listening zone, as I brought out my clarinet and droned with circular breathing to give the kids a consistent pitch to match their own voices against. I had never heard them sing in tune so well together! Then we tried making a collective drone with our eyes closed and the difference in musical quality was really apparent. The kids can really listen when you get them in a curious frame of mind!