Freeze Dance!
When I was teaching elementary general music back in the 1990s and early 2000s, I used to have my students explore movement while I played a frame drum or improvised on the piano. I had them freeze when the sound stopped. One day when I was letting the students choose music activities or games, a second grader said she wanted to play "freeze dance" and all of the children enthusiastically agreed. That was the first time I realized what this movement exploration game was called. To me it was simply movement exploration and an important way to understand and experience music. Since then, I have considered many movement experiences as variations on freeze dance. Here are some steps and possibilities:
1. Create an open space. This can be a challenge in many classrooms. But, if the gym isn't available or if it's too cold outside, the classroom might be the only space to use. Develop a procedure for putting materials away and moving the furniture. Be sure to include in the procedure what the children should do when they are done with the transition. Of course, freeze dance can be done with axial or non-locomotor movements (movements that are performed without moving around the room), in which case it isn't necessary to have a large space.
2. Find your space and sit on the floor. In order to safely move around the room as a group, it is essential to maintain one's space. Ask the students to divide evenly within the space so that if they reach out they won't be able to touch others, walls, or furniture. If space is tight, have them reach out with elbows.
3. Sitting freeze dance. Move with the beat. The aim of this step is to help the children become familiar with moving with the beat and stopping when the sound stops. For this, I play a basic beat on a drum. By doing this step while sitting, the variables have been reduced so that they can focus on fewer new skills or procedures. Make this interesting by asking the children to move specific body parts. "Move your hands to the beat, etc." (fingers, head, shoulders, feet, eyes, touch your nose, etc.)
4. Standing freeze dance. This is an extension on the sitting freeze dance. No one should move from their spot for this activity. It is not necessary to go through all steps in this sequence in a single day, by the way. So, if this is as far as you are going today then, of course, you don't need to move the furniture; children can simply stand by their chairs.
5. Locomotor movement. For this step, you will need the space. Start with walking, tip-toeing, marching, and other locomotor movements that are less risky than others. Ask the students to not bump into each other. Vary the tempo/speed of the beat (including during a particular movement sequence). Ask the children to freeze with both feet on the floor; this is important because they will sometimes try to freeze in a difficult-to-maintain silly pose that will distract as they slowly fall over. Gradually increase the complexity of the locomotor movement (running, skipping, sliding, etc.).
6. Explore the entire space and maintain personal space. Instruct the students to maintain personal space throughout the movement experience. To help with this, have them move with their arms outstretched. Make it a challenge more than a rule: "Can you do this and keep your personal space? Can you still maintain personal space and not bump anyone else while keeping your arms out?" Encourage the students to explore the entire space in the room. Also, after the freeze, have them adjust their spacing to be divided evenly.
7. Move like . . . This activity gives students opportunities to explore the elements of dance through imaginative play. "Move like a giraffe" will likely lead students to explore high spaces and long, elegant steps. "Move like a mouse" will likely lead them to explore lower spaces and fast movements.
8. Freeze like . . . Just like "move like," in this activity student freeze in a specified shape or form. It can simply be a matter of freezing high or low or narrow or wide.
9. Props. Place objects around the room for children to move around or over (hullahoops, for example). Have half of the class move while the other half stands still.
10. Retrace your steps. Have the students try to remember the path they followed: move with the music and, on a signal, retrace steps back to the beginning point.
11. Take turns. Have some of the students move while others watch from a stationary position. The group standing or sitting in place can be scattered around the room as obstacles or sitting on the perimeter of the space as audience.
12. Verbs and adverbs. Let the children choose a locomotor or axial movement verb (run, jump, swing, etc.) and an adverb (fast, lazily, excitedly, etc.) and move like that. Do three sets of verbs and adverbs as a large group as a short performance. The accompanying sounds could change along with and signal the changes from one verb to the next. Divide the class into groups and have each group come up with a verb/adverb movement or sequence of two or three movements. Put out a bunch of musical instruments for them to choose from. Some could play the instruments while others dance, or they can dance with instruments. Perform as a group for the rest of the class and let the rest of the class guess the verbs and adverbs. There are many other ways, by the way, that freeze dance can be extended to be integrated with other subjects.
From here on out, the possibilities are endless.
Here's a list of Elements of Movement to help with the brainstorming process.
1. Create an open space. This can be a challenge in many classrooms. But, if the gym isn't available or if it's too cold outside, the classroom might be the only space to use. Develop a procedure for putting materials away and moving the furniture. Be sure to include in the procedure what the children should do when they are done with the transition. Of course, freeze dance can be done with axial or non-locomotor movements (movements that are performed without moving around the room), in which case it isn't necessary to have a large space.
2. Find your space and sit on the floor. In order to safely move around the room as a group, it is essential to maintain one's space. Ask the students to divide evenly within the space so that if they reach out they won't be able to touch others, walls, or furniture. If space is tight, have them reach out with elbows.
3. Sitting freeze dance. Move with the beat. The aim of this step is to help the children become familiar with moving with the beat and stopping when the sound stops. For this, I play a basic beat on a drum. By doing this step while sitting, the variables have been reduced so that they can focus on fewer new skills or procedures. Make this interesting by asking the children to move specific body parts. "Move your hands to the beat, etc." (fingers, head, shoulders, feet, eyes, touch your nose, etc.)
4. Standing freeze dance. This is an extension on the sitting freeze dance. No one should move from their spot for this activity. It is not necessary to go through all steps in this sequence in a single day, by the way. So, if this is as far as you are going today then, of course, you don't need to move the furniture; children can simply stand by their chairs.
5. Locomotor movement. For this step, you will need the space. Start with walking, tip-toeing, marching, and other locomotor movements that are less risky than others. Ask the students to not bump into each other. Vary the tempo/speed of the beat (including during a particular movement sequence). Ask the children to freeze with both feet on the floor; this is important because they will sometimes try to freeze in a difficult-to-maintain silly pose that will distract as they slowly fall over. Gradually increase the complexity of the locomotor movement (running, skipping, sliding, etc.).
6. Explore the entire space and maintain personal space. Instruct the students to maintain personal space throughout the movement experience. To help with this, have them move with their arms outstretched. Make it a challenge more than a rule: "Can you do this and keep your personal space? Can you still maintain personal space and not bump anyone else while keeping your arms out?" Encourage the students to explore the entire space in the room. Also, after the freeze, have them adjust their spacing to be divided evenly.
7. Move like . . . This activity gives students opportunities to explore the elements of dance through imaginative play. "Move like a giraffe" will likely lead students to explore high spaces and long, elegant steps. "Move like a mouse" will likely lead them to explore lower spaces and fast movements.
8. Freeze like . . . Just like "move like," in this activity student freeze in a specified shape or form. It can simply be a matter of freezing high or low or narrow or wide.
9. Props. Place objects around the room for children to move around or over (hullahoops, for example). Have half of the class move while the other half stands still.
10. Retrace your steps. Have the students try to remember the path they followed: move with the music and, on a signal, retrace steps back to the beginning point.
11. Take turns. Have some of the students move while others watch from a stationary position. The group standing or sitting in place can be scattered around the room as obstacles or sitting on the perimeter of the space as audience.
12. Verbs and adverbs. Let the children choose a locomotor or axial movement verb (run, jump, swing, etc.) and an adverb (fast, lazily, excitedly, etc.) and move like that. Do three sets of verbs and adverbs as a large group as a short performance. The accompanying sounds could change along with and signal the changes from one verb to the next. Divide the class into groups and have each group come up with a verb/adverb movement or sequence of two or three movements. Put out a bunch of musical instruments for them to choose from. Some could play the instruments while others dance, or they can dance with instruments. Perform as a group for the rest of the class and let the rest of the class guess the verbs and adverbs. There are many other ways, by the way, that freeze dance can be extended to be integrated with other subjects.
From here on out, the possibilities are endless.
Here's a list of Elements of Movement to help with the brainstorming process.