Music Teaching Idea Display

Movement For The Heart Of America

Submitted by Roxanne Trump-Miles, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Idea posted April 30, 2002

My choir (or actually 16 of them) performed "The Heart Of America" (from Music K-8, Vol. 11, No. 3; also available as a Singles Reproducible Kit) this morning for the Lung Association breakfast. They were great.

Here's what we do (not too hard so I don't get mixed up):

Intro (clap on beat above heads) 16 counts
Left together step touch, right together step touch (twice)
Singing starts (stop moving sing to audience in stand-by position)
On the "We're living in the heart" part (refrain) I have them do step turn left, step turn right
On the Interlude
Left together step touch, right together step touch (twice)
2nd verse stop and sing to audience
Step turns on "We're livin'" part
Stop stomp, stomp "Listen to the heart beat" (four times)
Step turns on "We're livin'" part
Left together step touch, right together step touch (three times)
Stop (after last "America")
The (hands at shoulder - elbows bent)
Heart (hands up in a "V") freeze

Hope this makes sense. Our stomp, stomps made my CD boom box skip, and after it did it once - I whispered - "Let's clap instead." They did and carried on to the end that way... good performers.