Folk Dance Fridays!

• Kristen Buda
• Posted 7/7/22
• 0 comments

Dancing is one of my favorite parts of teaching music, and I always want to work more dancing into my classes. Two years ago, my school changed our schedule so that Fridays were on a different rotation than the rest of the week.  

Perfect – Dancing Fridays! And what could be even better than to use that time to learn about folk dancing? I started by looking at the Heritage Months and adjusted a bit to focus on a different country or culture every month.  

Calendar

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August: United States 

• Dance: Square Dance or Contra Dance  
• Instrument: Banjo 
• I use the books and music by the New England Dance Masters and Phyllis Weikert 

September: Bolivia 

• Dance: Chilili (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqviK9pU4eg) 
• Instrument: Pan pipes 

October: Mexico 

• Dance: Jarabe Tapatío (Primary) and Mexican Mixer from Teaching Movement and Dance by Phyllis Weikert (Intermediate) 
• Instruments: Mariachi Band 

November: Indigenous People 

• This month we learn about the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota cultures. 
• Resource: The Smithsonian and the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center website http://aktalakota.stjo.org/site/News2?page=newsArticle&id=9017. 

December: Israel 

• Dance: Zemer Atik (Intermediate) 
• Instrument: Lyre 

January: China 

• Dance: Gong Xi 
• Instrument: Erhu 

February: United States 

• Dance: Breakdance 
• Instrument: Synthesizer 

March: Ireland  

• Dance: I choose dances from Chimes of Dunkirk and Sashay the Donut by the New England Dance Masters. So many fun options! 
• Instrument: Fiddle, Harp, Bodhran  

April: Pacific Islands 

• Dance: Pearly Shells https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNsMRprvPrw 
• Instrument: Ukulele  

May: 

• Student choice 
• Time for review
• May is a short month in my district, and students enjoy repeating dances they learned over the year. 

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Lesson Structure

• Listen to the dance while playing a beat activity.   
• Beat Activity: A leader chooses body percussion and matches the beat, and everyone else copies. I recommend that the teacher starts as the leader and then selects a student to continue. 
• Identify the country or location of the music’s origin. 
• Watch a video highlighting the instruments used to perform the music. 
• Play the instruments that are available. 
• Teach the dance and try it out! 
• Watch a video of adults performing either the same dance or another dance from that country or culture. 

When watching videos, prompt students to share what they notice: clothes, instruments, type of movement, empowering students to share their own cultures and using this knowledge to compare and contrast with the new culture. Provide examples of language that can be nonjudgmental: “I noticed” is a great sentence starter. One of my rules is that if we wouldn’t say it to the performers in person, we don’t say it in our classroom either. 

Adjustments and Modifications

• Adjust partner dances into solo dances by assigning students to dots on the floor and performing the steps in the same direction. 
• Turn line dances into spread-out circles and double circles into single circles or lines. 
• Students move in small individual circles instead of large circles together or with partners. 
• Change hand claps into foot taps or long-distance clapping. It is hilarious watching kids try to “clap” hands six feet apart and being excited when they move at the same time. 

My schedule makes Folk Dance Fridays easy. However, I believe even without this schedule, I would keep my monthly routine. I suggest adding different countries into the rotation every school year, exposing students to many different cultures throughout their elementary years.  

I hope you will consider adding this routine into your curriculum – and I hope your students enjoy dancing as much as mine do! 

Recommended Resource Books

• Dance a While by Jane A. Harris 
• New England Dance Masters Collection by the Amidons 
• Dance like a Butterfly by Kwasi Dunyo and Karen Howard 
• Teaching Movement and Dance by Phyllis Weikert 

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This article was previously published by Music ConstructED on 7/15/2021.