72 - Devon Folk

ReviewsKEEPDANCINGEFDSSincollaborationwithHertfordshireFolkAssociationIn these days of national curriculum, SATs, league tables, performance management andinspections it is often hard to find the time in school to simply have fun. This CD offers thewherewithal for those times when the QCA documents fail to inspire!Iknow from experience how hard it is to find appropriate music to fit the faded dance notation thatis begrudgingly passed down from one retiring teacher to another who is nearing exhaustion -sothis latest offering from EFDSS is areal find. It's aCD for astart and therefore fits the soundsystem in school, no need to go rummaging around for the old tape recorder and amplifier. Thenotation is clear and concise without too much jargon to confuse those who are unfamiliar with folkdancing and it is simple to follow so that you can 'call' it while the music is playing. How lovely tosee notation for maypole figures too.Iparticularly liked track 6-Moonstruck -as it got the children's feet tapping giving them anincentive to learn the dance. Clapping games are still an integral part of playground behaviour andIfound several children teaching the clapping sequences of this and other dances to their friends atlunchtime in the playground -much to the delight of the dinner ladies! Track 7-Muffin Man -appealed to the younger children (KS1) and they also learned the song. The dance was simpleenough for them to learn as well. The variety of steps included in the dances was challenging too;stepping, marching, stephop, jig, reel etc. I'm glad the notation explained them.Ifthis CD isn't used for learning dances then it is still very easy on the ear. There are avariety oftunes, tempo and instruments. Iparticularly liked the use of whistle as this is something thechildren can learn to join in with. The bands donot sound dated but lively and modern, especiallywith the use of percussion, which appealedto the children Iplayed it to. Many of thetunes are very familiar and Ifound it useful tosee the names of the tunes included on the covernotes; very handy for musicians learning to playtunes for themselves. Having the duration ofthemusic enables forward planning in ateachingsituation and they are all quite short (no time forboredom to set in); not so sure about themetronome speed but I'm sure someone mustfind this invaluable.My only criticism is avery superficial one -thecover is boring! It strikes me as the sort of thingteachers are supposed to find 'politically correct'.It certainly doesn't represent me or thechildren I teach, or our lives and I certainlywouldn't have picked this from acatalogue oreven off the shelf. If any of the children hadseen it Ifear it would have turned them off thewhole idea of reviewing aCD. Why does folkdancing have to 'look'so old fashioned Iwonder.Fiona ElsworthAvailable from Cecil Sharp House, £12 (+£1.50 p&p). This CD replaces the cassette'English Folk Dancing in the Primary School)34PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com