Diane Louise Jordan has the final dance session based on Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
3. The Queen of Hearts
After another garden skip, the children stamp and point angrily like the Queen of Hearts, then take part in an extraordinary croquet match, scuttling like hedgehogs (the croquet balls), stepping gracefully like flamingos (the mallets) and marching away like soldiers (the hoops). They then perform a set of sequences from all three sessions, before waking up from their curious dream.
Here are the shortened, adapted story-extracts:
A The Queen of Hearts "鈥hen the procession came opposite to Alice, they all stopped and looked at her, and the Queen said, severely, 鈥漌hat鈥檚 your name, child?鈥濃淢y name is Alice, so please your Majesty,鈥 Alice said, very politely. The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, began screaming, 鈥淥ff with her head!鈥濃淣onsense!鈥 said Alice, very loudly 鈥 and the Queen was silent鈥"
B A Game of Croquet 鈥溾an you play croquet?鈥 shouted the Queen.鈥淵es!鈥 said Alice. 鈥淐ome on then!鈥 roared the Queen. "Get to your places!鈥滱lice thought she'd never seen such a curious croquet-ground in her life: the croquet balls were live hedgehogs, the mallets were live flamingos, and the soldiers had to bend over on their hands and feet, to make the arches鈥︹
C A Curious Dream 鈥溾ake up, Alice!鈥 said her sister. 鈥淲hat a long sleep you鈥檝e had!鈥濃淥h, I鈥檝e had such a curious dream!鈥 said Alice. And she told her sister, as well as she could remember, about her strange adventures鈥"
Resources
Download the audio for this dance session as an mp3 file.
Guidance on using the dance sessions in this unit with your group (pdf)
Download extended music sequences for this unit (without presenter instructions)
Movement focus
Action: Skipping, crouching, stamping, lifting legs high, small steps, marching.
Dynamics: Sudden, direct pointing, angry gestures, elegant and graceful steps, scurrying, rhythmic steps.
Space: Changing direction, using the whole performance space.
Relationships: Interacting in pairs and groups within a coordinated dance sequence.
Related units of KS1 Dance: Time to Move
Pinocchio. collection
A three-part unit taking the famous story of Pinocchio as the inspiration for children's dances.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin. collection
A three-part unit based on the traditional story, popularised by the poem by Robert Browning.
The Great Fire of London. collection
Pete Hillier has three exciting dance sessions exploring the Great Fire of 1666.
