Fiddle 'n' Feet

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Fiddle ‘n’ Feet presents a 45 minute to one hour long performance that introduces students to a wide variety of step dances, traditional tunes, and traditional songs. The focus of the program can be shaped according to the school’s interest. Dances demonstrated may include Appalachian Clogging, English Clogging. French Canadian Step Dance, Irish Step Dance, Morris Dancing, Tap, and Waltz Clog. The musical accompaniment pulls from Old Time, Irish, English, Canadian, and Swing traditions. Instruments used in performance range from the fiddle and banjo to the guitar and jaw harp. All performances include songs, some with an invitation for audience participation. Body percussion, or hambone, is also incorporated into each program, for its relevance to the rhythm traditions of dance. Historical and cultural context is interwoven throughout the program, which ends with a question and answer session.

Fiddle ‘n’ Feet also offers hands-on, feet-on workshops 45 minutes in length. Workshops are for classrooms of 30 or fewer students, to involve them in the physical experience of traditional dance. Again, the focus of a workshop can be determined with the school. Typically, students learn a circle or square dance, learn an Old Time song, and/or learn some body percussion techniques. They may explore a particular related style, such as Irish Set Dancing or Maypole Dancing, or they may have a focus on Play Party Games. Workshops work best when connected to a performance, because students more easily understand the cultural context of the dancing.
ROUTES & ROOTS to RHYTHM introduces clogging, body percussion, and square dancing, with a rhythm-focused, dancing is fun approach! We examine the history of traditional American movement forms and connect to their Celtic, European, and West African roots. We explore the many ways of combining dance and rhythm, including foot dexterity, eye/hand/foot coordination, and a sense of movement with others. Our material is appropriate for grades 3-8 and can be tailored to a particular school’s needs.

The goals of our workshops are to:

• Give children a vocabulary of dance, and a safe place to express it.

• Foster rhythmic and musical awareness.

• Explore the mechanics of clogging and step dancing, via foot drills and games.

• Learn to work cooperatively with others in creating an artistic piece.

• Understand the historical & cultural significance of traditional American dance.

• Teach children about phrasing, patterning, and sequencing.

• Encourage experimentation and improvisation to create collaborative works.

Our work applies to the following core curriculum:

• Math (repeating patterns, sequences, multiples)

• History/Social Studies (traditional dance related to several cultures)

• Physical Education (movement through space, eye/hand/foot coordination)

• Language Arts (new terms and new meanings)

• Music (phrasing, rhythmic patterns, integrating melody and movement)

Performance goals:

1. Educate audiences about early American immigrants – who they were, where they came from, and what they brought with them.

2. Show the similarities and differences between various step dance styles, to show visually how these styles are related

3. Demonstrate traditional music on a variety of instruments.

4. Explore differences in musical instruments - how many strings, what does the opening to the sound chamber look like, what is it made of?

5. Create a sense of community via participation and singing.

Workshop goals:

1. Give students an active, accessible connection to traditional dance.

2. Improve motor coordination and kinesthetic awareness.

3. Impart a new vocabulary of dance terms and meanings.

4. Learn to work cooperatively with a partner.

5. Experience the interconnection between traditional dance and music.

Curriculum Connections:

History & Social 5tudies: Traditional dance, by its very definition, draws its influences from the past. In examining the predecessors of the music and the dance, students learn about migration patterns to the Americas, about our notion’s geography, about the many cultures whose traditions intertwined. They learn to better understand the many aspects of culture, from music and dance to food to hobbies, such as quilting.

Language Arts: There are many new terms and meanings to be gleaned from a study of traditional arts. Via observation, students can reinterpret the music and dance they are familiar with. They are able to keep journals to document long-term dance experiences, and write appreciations of a singular event, finding new ways to compare past and present.

Math: Using an eight or sixteen count phrase is the cornerstone of traditional dance and music. For younger students, counting is strengthened, and for older students, the recognition of multiples improves. Patterns emerge in the dances in predictable fashion, aiding the students understanding of this concept. When patterns and shapes repeat, sequential thinking is reinforced.

Science: In movement, physics becomes reality. Humans have a center of gravity, and dance requires concepts of balance and knowing ones position in space. Giving weight produces physical tension, and turning with a partner introduces the idea of centrifugal force. On a chemical level, students can experiment with mixing oil and water (not easily done), sugar and water (easily done), or baking soda and water. The results of these experiments help students understand the variety of outcomes that occur when cultures are intermixed. And the science of sound (music) is its own course.

Physical Education: Perhaps the most obvious curriculum connection is that traditional dance improves kinesthetic awareness, builds cardiovascular strength, and strengthens muscles in legs and arms, It also provides an enjoyable way to do so!

Art & Music: Interesting visual connections can be made via the patterns or choreography of square dancing, and in traditional arts such as quilting or basket weaving. The music is integral to the understanding of tempo and pulse, and improvisation provides an avenue for creation and exploration.

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