There we were, on a wet September morning, gathered in a school gymnasium. Immediately the room was filled with the energy of Orff. Starting with a rhythm clock, Judith created an atmosphere of anticipation and energy that required everyone in the room to pay attention! Leading us into four parts, we created a wonderful mixture of body percussion and voice that woke up the body, a perfect lead into a percussion game.
As the morning progressed, Judith seamlessly wove dance, movement and body percussion into her session, giving us an eye into how to practically introduce and develop well-rounded activities for the classroom. Her ability to give guidelines that left plenty of room for creative choices was evident as groups explored and presented with a wide variety of expression!
With “Interlocking” as our afternoon theme, various explorations of percussion and body forms as a group fed an experience of collaboration and interdependence. No teachers were harmed in the making of these forms! Concrete translations using ropes, inspired by interlocking images we viewed (new for most I think), sent groups into varying directions, with different ways to interpret, but isn’t that the point? One idea, but so many places to go from there.
As always, the day culminates in a progressive group piece, but the parallel ends there. The sense of wonder that came from developing parts independently and then counting on the theme of interlocking to link dance and sound together built a sense of discovery that was truly an moment in time to remember.
– Jilly Tiffin, Web Editor
