5 minute read
UNIT 2: Performing arts
LEARNING AIMS
After completing this unit, the learner should be able to do the following: • Warm up the body and voice in different ways. • Move the body alone and with others. • Use different note values’ rhythmic patterns. • Use mime actions. • Sing different songs. • Listen to and classify Western and African music.
INTRODUCTION
People dance for various reasons. It can be for fun, competition or even rituals. In this unit, we are going to do more dance movements by moving our bodies in different directions and in different ways. During a dance performance the dancers use costumes and props to tell the dance’s story. Dancers use rhythm and levels in their dances – fast/slow or high/low. The learner will apply these elements in performing body movements. We must always warm up before any physical activities. I am going to show you a few warm-up exercises that will prepare the body for these activities.
The learner must also warm up those vocal cords! The different note values have different rhythmic patterns. It can be used in different ways to make music. We are going to revise the stave and different notes, and create and perform our own music combinations. The learner will also learn to use mime to represent something.
Lastly, we are going to listen do different pieces of Western and African music. It teaches the learner an appreciation of different kinds of music and musical instruments.
IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGY
• Breathing: Inhaling and exhaling. • Focus: The thing/person/situation getting the most attention at any given time. • Singing in canon: When two/more singers begin singing the same song at different times. • Senses: It is seeing, tasting, hearing, touching and smelling. • Pitch: How high or low the sound is. • Mood: The feeling of the music – sad or happy? • Level: The level, high or low, in which you move. • Rhythm: How fast or slow your music is. The beat of the music. • Routine: A series of steps you practise and perform. • Melody: The tune of the music. • Stave: The five lines and four spaces on which musical notes are written. • Call-and-answer: The repetition of the same rhythm, also called an echo
Recommended resources: open space, any musical instruments, CD player, any CD with children’s songs (I recommend: 60 Best Children’s Songs available at TOP CD), posters with musical notes, pictures of string and wooden instruments
Lesson 5: Warm-up and play (15 minutes per lesson; 2½ hours per term)
ACTIVITY 20 Learner can work alone or with a friend.
1. Learner uses movements like turning, swaying, galloping, skipping, pulling and reaching. 2. Learner creates a movement series with the movements in 1. The learner can use all the movements of just two or three. The facilitator can help the learner. The learner must rehearse the movement series well. 3. Learner must work in change of direction for example to the left, to the right in the movement series. 4. Learner must change levels in the movement series, such as high and low. 5. Learner must also work in variation in speed, such as from fast to slow or from slow to fast. 6. The learner must also do flowing or jerky movements or change it from a jerky movement to a flowing movement.
Lesson 6: Improvise and create (3 hours per term)
ACTIVITY 21
1. Use the table provided in 6.1 and practise the notes’ rhythm with the learner. The learner can clap the rhythm or use musical instruments. 2. Learner creates his/her own rhythms with the notes given in 6.1. The facilitator can help the learner with the assignment.
ACTIVITY 22
1. Let the learner choose two songs on the CD. One should have a slow rhythm and the other should have a fast rhythm. 2. Play the songs for the learner. Let him/her listen to it attentively. Learner must distinguish the difference in tempo, beat and metre. The faster song will have a faster tempo, beat and metre. The slower song will have a slower tempo, beat and metre. 3. Learner uses any of the movements as indicated in the block in the study guide and perform it to both songs. The movements will be performed faster to the songs with the faster rhythm and lower to the songs with the slower rhythm. 4. Let the learner explain to you how the movements are performed to each song. Let him/her explain the difference between the movement performances of the two songs. 5. Repeat the activity individually or in a group.
ACTIVITY 23
1. Look at examples of expressing the senses through mime with the learner. 2. Learner chooses any theme that includes the use of the senses in the mime, for example he/she is in a restaurant and the food does not taste or smell nice. 3. Learner creates a mime performance to tell the story. You may help and guide the learner. Remember to use your senses! 4. Let the learner rehearse it. It will be used again in Lesson 7.
Lesson 7: Read, interpret and perform (3½ hours per term)
ACTIVITY 24
1. Learner creates a movement series. The learner must vary the movements – fast or slow, high, medium or low, forward, backwards, left, right, flowing or jerky. The facilitator can give the learner guidance in performing the movements. 2. Learner rehearses the movement series. 3. Learner performs the movement series for the facilitator. Give the learner constructive feedback about the performance.
ACTIVITY 25
1. Learner uses the mime he/she rehearsed in Lesson 6. 2. The learner creates movements to complement the mime performance. The learner can use the movements in Activity 24 as reference. 3. Learner rehearses the mime with the movements. 4. The learner performs the whole performance for the class or facilitator.
ACTIVITY 26
1. Learner chooses a couple of favourite songs. Play the songs for the learner. 2. Let the learner make up his/her own song. 3. Revise 6.1 with the learner. Learner writes the notes for his/her song roughly on the paper. Do not let the learner make it too complicated. Keep the rhythm simple. 4. Let the learner sing his/her song while clapping or using musical instruments. 5. Learner sings the song for the facilitator.
ACTIVITY 27
1. Revise 7.4 with the learner. Let the learner draw a single stave in his/her book. 2. Write the notes he/she wrote down in Activity 26 on the stave. 3. Learner performs the rhythm.
Lesson 8: Appreciate and reflect (1 hour per term)
ACTIVITY 28
1. Look for any African music for the learner to listen to. The following websites could be useful: www.last.fm/music/+free-music-downloads/african www.capetownmagazine.com/south-african-music/54 www.mp3olimp.net/african-music/ 2. Let the learner listen to the music. Talk to the learner about what he/she heard. Which instruments can he/she hear in the music? 3. Listen with the learner to the pitches in the song. Is the music high or low? What kind of mood do the instruments create? Sad? Happy?
ACTIVITY 29
1. Learner’s own suitable answer. 2. Learner’s own answer. 3. Learner’s own opinion. 4. Learner’s own opinion. 5. Learner’s own answer.
