Movement & Dance Songs

Dance moves such as promenade, sashay, reel, and casting the lines are demonstrated in this video.

Alabama Gal - (from Chimes of Dunkirk)

"Formation: Longways line, Virginia Reel style, men in one line, women in the other. The difference from an ordinary Virginia Reel is that as many as 20 couples or so can be in the same 'set.' About 6 feet of distance is necessary between the lines. Action: Verse 1: Head couple join hands and sashay down the center of the set toward the foot for the 'Come through in a hurry' repeated. For the third 'Come through in a hurry' they return to the head. Verse 2-4: Head couple reels down the line. At the end of the fourth verse the singing begins again with 'Come through in a hurry. ' At this point the second couple begin the figures with a sashay down the set, going as far as the first couple if that couple has not yet finished reeling to the bottom. Continue the dance until all couples have taken part." --Seeger, Pete. Liner notes to American Play Parties. (from kodaly.hnu.edu)

All Around the Kitchen

Amasee

Angel Band

A Ram Sam Sam - dance steps lesson ideas

Arkansas Traveler - dance instructions

Bow Belinda - lesson ideas

Formation: Longways for 5 to 9 couples. Six couples is best. For 10, 12 or 14 couples, divide into two even sets. Step: A light springy running step. Skip only for verse 6. 1. Head boy and foot girl meet, 4 beats, and fall back to place, 4 beats. Foot boy and head girl do the same, 8 beats. 2. Forward: 1 2 3 4 Back: 5 6 7 8 R L R L* R L R ft (feet together) on * you also bring feet together but immediately take weight on the left foot all set to go back with right foot. One foot falls after the other. When you poise on the 4th beat, don't miss a beat as you start back. The "bow" is only a nod of the head. Keep springing until you land back in place on "ft". 2. Head boy and foot girl turn, clockwise, with right hands, 8 beats. Other "corners" (foot boy and head girl) do the same 8 beats. 3. Corners turn, as before, but with left hands, 8 beats each corner. 4. Corners swing with both hands, clockwise. Hands joined straight across. 5. Corners move around each other, passing either right or left, and without turning around fall back (move backwards) to places. 8 beats each corner, as before. 6. All Promenade. Skip around, by couples, on the boys side of the set. Take near hands, or crossed hands, turn sharp left at the head and go straight down, turn sharp left again at the foot and return up the middle to places. 7. All raise arches in home places, and the head couple goes under all the arches to the foot place. Repeat as many times as there are couples. (kodaly.hnu.edu)

Buffalo Dance - youtube video

Buffalo Gals - youtube video

Charlie's Neat - dance steps

Charlie Over the Ocean

The children join hands in a ring and skip to their right. The leader, who is outside, skips in the opposite direction. He begins the song and the ring sings each line back to him. As the leader says "Charlie caught a blackbird" he touches one of those in the ring and begins to run around the ring. The child who was touched tries to catch him. If the leader can get around the ring to the empty place, the other child becomes the leader. If not, he remains on the outside. The song continues and all children take part as the leader. (from kodaly.hnu.edu)

Che Che Koolay - video

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo

The children form a circle around a center child and march or skip while singing. Then they stand still while the singer in the center "makes a motion", as her ingenuity dictates. She may kneel, prance, bow, dance a gig, or otherwide cavort. Sometimes the player chooses the motion and the others must follow her example, must "do it like this". -- Ruth Crawford Seeger, American Folk Songs for Children (from kodaly.hnu.edu)

Cripple Creek - youtube video

Deep in the Heart of Texas - youtube video

Down the Ohio (Down the River) - dance instructions

Dr. Knickerbocker

Dust of the Red Wagon / Pleasure Dance Medley

Dust of the Red Wagon Dance Steps:

Concentric circles moving around the "fire." Use reverse step: two shuffle steps forward and two steps back. Each step is ball, heel, both forward and back, bending the body slightly forward. The forward step is longer than the one back.

On "white" twist while hopping on one foot. Continue shuffle steps in circle.

Pleasure Dance Dance Steps:
Boys and girls in facing rows, six to eight feet apart. R foot forward with stomp (toe first), then L come to meet R, looking down. Move forward seven steps, then seven backwards.Raise & lower hands in unison as they move, as though they were shaking corn from a basket. R 2 steps, hop around, then to L. End, all kneel.

Gallop - use with bubbles

Goin' to Boston

Formation: double line of partners, girls on right, in promenade position. Action: Verse 1. All promenade to right coming back to beginning position with head couple at top. Verse 2. All promenade left as above. Verse 3. Head couple joins hands, lead down between lines and back up to place. Verse 4. Head couple join right hands and begin grand right and left around the circle in opposite directions. All the men follow the leading man, continuing right and left around the circle. Women do the same. Head couple returns to place. Chorus is sung for the first time after this figure. Verse 5. Virginia Reel: Head couple, starting from original formation, swing each other in middle by right arms, then move to the opposite line and swing the next person in line and back to the middle to swing. Head couple then moves to opposite line again to swing the next person down the line. Head couple continues this pattern down the rest of the line. The chorus and verse 6 may also be sung when more music is needed to carry the head couple through the reel to the end of the line. Verse 6. (for extra music) Head couple remains at bottom of set and dance begins again with new head couple. (from kodaly.hnu.edu)

Great Big House

Formation: Single circle of partners facing clockwise, boy ahead of his partner. Action: Verse 1: With a strutting step the circle moves in a clockwise direction. Verse 2: On "Went down to the old mill stream" girls take three or four steps toward the center and join hands in a circle. On "fetch a pail of water" the boys move toward the center and reach across the joined hands of the girls and down toward the floor as if picking up a pail of water. (Each boy's partner is still at his right.) Boys join hands and on "put one arm" they raise joined hands over heads of the girls and make a circle behind their waists. On "the other 'round" the girls do the same, making a circle behind the boys' waists. Verse 3: All drop hands and face partners. Boy turns girl on his right (his "wife") around one and a half turns, exchanging places with her. Then he moves in a clockwise direction to take both hands of his "daughter" (the girl who was his "corner," that is, on his left) and turns her a time and a half. This puts him ahead of his new partner. The single circle again moves in a clockwise direction, each person strutting along by himself. NOTE: If the boys, during the first half of verse 3, will end up slightly outside the circle and the ladies slightly inside, it is easier to identify the person whom you are to move up and take. Verse 3: (simplified version for younger students) For first two lines the entire circle slide-steps clockwise gently. On the third line the girls quickly raise their arms back over the boys' heads, (we now have a double circle again). The boys then move along clockwise to the next girl, and the action begins again with a new partner. (from kodaly.hnu.edu)

Grizzly Bear - lesson ideas

Hava Nagila - dance steps / youtube video

Juan Pirulero

Kapulu Kane - youtube video

translation: That careless messy man, a very messy man.
No doubt that every one can plainly see, indeed!
Kreuztanz - dance instructions

Lil' Liza Jane - easy dance movements

Native American basket dance - dance instructions

Old Brass Wagon - youtube video

Old Dan Tucker - dance instructions

Circle Dance for an uneven number of players…over 4. Partners, with boy at left of girl, and extra player in center. 1. All circle left (4 beats) 2. Each boy turns right to his partner and swings her. (4 beats) 3. Then boy turns to left and swings his corner lady. (4 beats) 4. Swings partner again. (4 beats) 5. Boy faces partner and takes her left hand and passes on in same direction, taking the right hand of the next lady and so on grand right and left around the circle and back to original positions. During this time, center player tries to break in and get a partner, or get into the game. (12 beats) 6. Partners swing. The one left out goes to the center. (4 beats) (from kodalu.hnu.edu)

Old Joe Clark - dance instructions

Oliver Twist

Paw Paw Patch - dance movements

Pick a Bale of Cotton - youtube video

Pizza Pizza Daddy-O - youtube video

Pop Goes the Weasel - youtube video

Rattlin' Bog - youtube video

Sicilian Tarantella - dance instructions

Skip to My Lou

A partner-stealing game. All partners stand together in one big circle, girls on the right of boys. The one who is "It" skips around inside the circle while the others sing, and he steals a partner from one of the couples. The person whose partner is stolen follows immediately, skipping around the ring and stealing another partner. Meanwhile, the first couple skip around until they return to the girls place, where they rejoin the circle. This action is continuous, until the chorus is thrown in, at will, "Skip, skip, skip to my Lou," when all the couples join hands in promenade position and skip in a counter-clockwise circle, the one who is left without a partner skipping alone. At the end of this chorus, the big ring forms again and the game goes on as before with the stealer taking a partner wherever he will. (from kodaly.hnu.edu)

Tahitian Dance - dance instructions

Transportation Songs

Walk and Stop - use with bubbles