This week’s theme:
Mysterious People – Inspirational Women pt.2
Fact of the day:
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) is known as the ‘Mother of Modern Dance’.
Resources list:
Youtube; sheets or flowing cloth.
Activity 1:
As a child Isadora Duncan hated sitting still, she longed to leap, spin and twirl and express the joy of being alive through her body.
Come up with some actions or dance moves that express different emotions. How would you show you were happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised, etc? For example, you might leap about the room for happiness, crouch in a ball for sadness, etc.
Activity 2:
Isadora once said “I want to dance like a wave on the ocean or a tree in the breeze. Natural and free”.
Move your body to show what a wave on the ocean looks like, and what a tree in the breeze looks like. Come up with some other natural things that you could move like (a bird in the sky? A dolphin in the ocean? A crab on the beach, etc)
Activity 3:
Isadora set up her own dance schools for people not to follow her dance moves, but rather to come up with their own dance moves.
Listen to music from different musical genres such as Classical, Reggae, Pop, Country, Dance and Rock & Roll. Does the music make you want to dance in different ways? Come up with your own unique dance moves for each piece of music. You could film your dance routines and share with us on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or send it to melanie@purplepatcharts.org and we’ll put it online for you!
Activity 4:
While dancing Isadora wore bare feet and free flowing loose white outfits – she wanted the cloth to echo the flowing movements of her limbs.
Make yourself a dancing outfit from sheets or flowing cloth, you could make a veil, or tuck cloth into your waistband that swishes when you move.
Activity 5:
Isadora believed that “You were wild once, so don’t let them tame you!” She didn’t like the restrictions of classical dance and ballet, and her unique, new, and ‘wild’ style of dancing shocked some people, but she was just being herself. We’re all unique and different and do things in our own ways – it’s what makes us special.
Think of different ways to complete tasks, as we all do them slightly differently and all of those different ways are right. How many different ways can you think of to travel from one side of the room to the other – you could wheel in a wheelchair, sprint, hop, moon-walk, etc – give them all a go. How many different ways can you write your name on a piece of paper? How many different ways can you greet somebody? How many different ways can you draw a flower?