by Author Lauren Syrett

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Early Years Music and Dance

Can you lead a music session without movement being a natural response? Equally, can you lead a dance session without music also being a integral part of the session?

I don't intend to definitively answer these questions, simply explore the possibilities. 

I joined WILD Young Parents Project in July this year as an Assistant Music Worker, joining an established music project within the charity. As dance is my specialist subject and the art form which comes most naturally to me, how was my experience so far going to inform my new role at WILD? Also, how was my current teaching practice going to adapt to the new focus? 

Graduating from university only a year ago, and working as a freelance creative practitioner, I have found myself in a variety of different contexts and working environments during that time. Upon joining the music team at WILD, initially I didn’t believe “music” was an art form that came naturally to me however I quickly realised I had already been using similar if not the same tools in my dance teaching practice. So when planning my music sessions for WILD, I was using all of my knowledge of working with the age group rather than the creative art itself, incorporating dance within the template sessions which were already being facilitated in the WILD groups.

“To dance is instinctively human” (O’Connor & Daly 2013).

Dance needs music? Is this strictly true? Dance and movement may be a spontaneous human response to hearing music and when working with early years music is a great tool to hold attentions within a session however the need for music may not always be neccessary. 

Have you ever danced to the music in your head? Do you hum a tune which has no resemblance to any music you’ve heard before? Do you find you walk down the street with a natural rhythm? Or have you seen someone else do any of these things? 

Free expressive movement whether music is used or not is an integral part of my teaching practice. Allowing participants (whatever their age) to improvise with and without music allows them to discover new ways of being, develop their imagination and creativity as well as to simply have fun. Dancing to music is an easy way to incorporate these ideas into a session for the less confident of participants and practitioners. As a practitioner choose a song you like dancing to, choose music in direct response to a topic you might be exploring or even ask the children to choose their favourite song. Choosing a nursery rhyme that everyone knows and creating a simple dance to this rhyme is a great way to develop musicality, rhythm and coordination. 

Option 1 (easy route): making an obvious choice in “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” where movements are already created. Option 2 (feeling brave): choose a rhyme which doesn't have any pre-choreographed movements associated with it but is still simple enough to create a short dance to. Five Little Bees have been buzzing around my dance studio recently, dancing and singing at the same time. Always remember when planning exercises and activities make sure you feel confident delivering to your group. 

Children need time to understand their own natural rhythm and pace to develop patterns of performing simple human movements of both a physical nature and also when learning language. Creating your own music or as mentioned previously, improvising to no music is an excellent way of allowing this time during a child's development. 

Incorporating dance and movement into music sessions may not always need labelling as ‘dance’. Singing a lullaby whilst rocking a baby increases their spatial awareness as the child begins to understand their body moving through space; which in essence is dance in it’s simplest of forms. 

 

Each of the WILD groups who meet weekly are able to participate in 5 music sessions. I’m only half way through my first set of music sessions with one of the groups, with 4 more groups booked in for the coming months. 

My question to you as the reader is have you been incorporating dance into any music sessions you’ve been facilitating? If so how? Are you confident when it comes to leading movement?

I’m always interested in hearing from other practitioners so feel free to get in touch email lauren.syrett@wildproject.org.uk

Resources: All About ... Dance in the Early Years (O'Connor & Daly 2013) Beyond Twinkle Twinkle: Using Music with Infants and Toddlers

**Note: Thankyou to everyone at WILD especially those of you who made the wonderful bee puppets featured above.