Vine Dance

by Teresa Jennings

Melody nylon guitar, mandolin, electric rhythm guitar, and 12-string guitar combine to make this lovely country folk song. Borrowing further from our light-hearted theme of this issue, we playfully suggest that a song about pumpkins and vines can be sung and performed as a "vine dance." (Line dance. Get it? Feel free to shake your head here...)

The melody is pleasant and singable, and should be quickly learned with two or three times through the recording. (If your kids are reading the actual music, it will probably go even faster.) Knowing the music pretty well is significant in that on the third time through at measure 5, we are suggesting that your performers combine their singing and line dancing. If you feel this is too challenging, simply select some students to do the singing while others do the dancing. Let them alternate, then perhaps rejoin at the end of the song.

If you are not familiar with the line dance terms, here are a few helpful hints:

left - step down on left foot

right - step down on right foot

scuff - "scuff" heel of foot across floor, back to front

forward or backward - step forward or backward using foot indicated, L or R

touch - touch toes of moving foot to side of stationary foot or to ground in front

step L - step sideways to the left

step R - step sideways to the right

L grapevine - step right foot behind left leg and to other side, then pass left foot in front till both feet are beside each other again

R grapevine - opposite of L

Feel free to use the steps exactly as we have suggested them, alter them a little bit, or create your own steps entirely. At the end of the song, direct students in their slow bow down and up.

In any event, the use of pumpkins and/or vines as props would be ideal. Plastic pumpkins are readily available for re-use in the future, though real ones would certainly be nice, too. Let students take them home afterwards for their own seasonal decorations.

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.