In this lesson, we did two variations of the Brain Dance as a warm-up.
The first variation was seated on the floor
and that presented the students with some challenges
about how they can move through those patterns
while remaining on a low level.
(teacher) And two, up.
And two.
Good.
Now, what was the next one? Anyone remember?
- Yes, Khalil? - Cut the body in half.
Cut your body in half, that's right, Khalil, awesome.
Whoosh.
Just [inaudible]. Whoosh.
Stretch, make it as big as you can.
You can make sound effects like Jaleel.
- Do you remember the last one, Judy? - Spinning.
- We're going to spin on our bums.
Six spins, round and round and round.
(children) Whee!
And then the second variation we did is a mirroring activity
where one student was the leader for one movement pattern
and the next student was the leader for the next movement pattern,
and they had to try to remain in sync with their partner as much as possible.
Continue with the mirroring activity, where one student is the leader
and the other student is facing them and trying to mirror their movements
as accurately as possible.
We're going to keep doing a little more mirroring,
but this time you're going to listen to the music, okay?
So, you're going to move sharply when the music is sharp
and you're going to move smoothly when the music is smooth, okay?
But at the same time, you're going to try to mirror your partner.
So, Ava is going to stand up.
So, Ava is going to do something smooth for me.
And I'm going to try to copy it as closely as I can, so that if I'm looking at it,
it's really hard to tell who the leader is and who the follower is, right?
Encourage students to begin using slow and simple movements
so that their partner has the best chance at success.
As partners become better at this activity,
their movements can become faster and more complex.
♪ (music) ♪
So just smooth.
If it's smooth, then you move smoothly.
Now, smooth.
Think about tai chi, maybe.
Tai chi is much slower.
♪ (music) ♪
Ooh, I like that, [Trace], that's nice.
Good, and whoever is the leader is going to change pretty soon.
Nice, Yannis.
Think about that you don't have to do everything standing up,
you can crouch down lower to the ground.
You can take a leg back.
Oh, this is really nice, Mirabelle and [inaudible].
Good, now you're going to move sharp.
Sharp! Sharp!
So, whoever is the boss now is going to move sharply.
Sharp, sharp, very nice, you two.
Can you do that with your legs?
Highlight the work of pairs who were moving very successfully
in the mirroring relationship
or whose movement was very interesting and unusual
and share that with the class.
I'm going to turn the music back on
and Alya and Eliana are going to just quickly show
some of the sharp stuff they were doing.
♪ (music) ♪
Good, that was really great.
I really like that because they were using--
a lot of you were using your whole arm,
which was also really good,
but they were getting into using their fingers and their wrists.
Highlight a pair who learned that it was easier to move together
when there was a pattern to their movement.
So, for instance, when the leader did one movement four times
and then another movement four times,
it was easier for that partner to mirror that movement accurately.