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 "…When the procession came opposite to Alice, they all stopped and looked at her, and the Queen said, severely, ”What’s your name, child?”“My name is Alice, so please your Majesty,” Alice said, very politely. The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, began screaming, “Off with her head!”“Nonsense!” said Alice, very loudly … and the Queen was silent…"
B A Game of Croquet “…Can you play croquet?” shouted the Queen.“Yes!” said Alice. “Come on then!” roared the Queen. "Get to your places!”Alice 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…”
C A Curious Dream “…Wake up, Alice!” said her sister. “What a long sleep you’ve had!”“Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!” said Alice. And she told her sister, as well as she could remember, about her strange adventures…"
Resources
Download audio
Download the audio for this dance session as an mp3 file.
Teacher's Notes
Guidance on using the dance sessions in this unit with your group (pdf)
Download music sequences
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.
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