My curation began with a quick scan to see if I knew any of the songs.  Immediately, I saw the Chuck Berry song and thought of my Dad dancing. He loved to party!  Back in the 70’s, he had these wicked shoes (which I later wore for a ‘nerd’ costume in junior high school).  Trying to find them online, a search of disco loafers did the trick:

I started to think of how I would curate a list for movement, but for what purpose?  Unlike my groovy Dad, I have ZERO dance ability, motivation and aptitude.  No amount of growth mindset can fix my moves! Which is sad because I am fairly musical and love listening to music and my inner body/brain can bust a move that my body can’t match.

Brainstorming a way to curate the Golden Record for movement, my mind shifted to professional life.  I teach 0.2 ADST/Teacher Librarian and 0.8 PE.  Of my PE position, half my time is spent teaching primary grades.  One thing that I focus on is locomotor movement skills and use music often.  I went through the list and narrowed it done based on my instinct if it was a song that I would use in class for movement activities. For the most part, Kindergarten children are open to new things, move in wacky and wonderful ways, are fun-loving, imaginative and uninhibited. They can also be brutally honest and will tell you if a song sucks (or comment on your new zit or ugly pants).  Using past Kindergarten classes and children (the especially zany, memorable movers!) as inspiration and a mental reference, I used these I created these guiding questions:

• Can I visualize Kindergarten children moving to this music in various forms? Walking, running, stomping, skipping, galloping, sliding, hopping?
• Could the music be extended to involve creative movements (i.e. walk like Frankenstein, dive like a dolphin, or move like a sloth?)
• Does the beat and pattern personify the movement goals and provide variety?
• Can I predict the reaction of students to this music? Would it be positive? Would it motivate them to move?

I went through each piece and made a ‘NAY’ or ‘YAY’ list on instinct of the above questions as I listened.  Could I see those little monsters stomping, skipping and giggling to the beat, effects and emotion presented in the music?  Here are the ten that made the cut:

Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor. 4:40

Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08

Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México. 3:14

“Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry. 2:38

Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima. 0:52

“Melancholy Blues,” performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven. 3:05

Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor. 4:35

Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20

Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57

Holborne, Paueans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs, “The Fairie Round,” performed by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London. 1:17

My New Year’s Eve family tradition is to bang pots and pans on the street at midnight and dance around and make obnoxious noise.  Growing up, I thought it was a common ritual that everybody did.  After meeting my husband and becoming an adult, I’ve been made aware that my family is just a bunch of weirdos and we probably scared our neighbours.

Just to prove my point about how weird and wonderful youngsters can be, here is a pic of my own two monsters on New Year’s Eve (Jan 31, 2014) – ages 3 and 6. They have horn blowers, 2015-shaped glasses, large pot lids as make-shift cymbals and are braced for running out onto our street at ‘midnight’ (it was really 7:00) to make some noise.  This pic is motivation for my curation: would these two bouncy, excitable, budding musicians be motivated to move and groove to the music I picked?