Dance

Non-Fiction

Pagett, Matt.
Best Dance Moves in the World Ever!: 100 New and Classic Moves and How to Bust Them.
793.3 PageM 2008
Capturing centuries of rhythmic wisdom just in time for Saturday night, this must-have compendium of classic dance moves and exciting new gyrations is cause for footloose celebration. Here are the illustrated, step-by-step moves for 100 hot-blooded hipshakers sure to please veteran groove-machines as well as those with two left feet. With easy-to-follow guides for the Robot, Running Man, Cabbage Patch, Smurf, Hustle, Funky Chicken, Moonwalk, and dozens of other bustable maneuvers, plus inspiration, suitable music, and special advice for each dance, this fun and stylish guide is the key to walking like an Egyptian or breaking it down like Napoleon Dynamite.

Wilkes, Angela.
Best Book of Ballet.
792.8 WilkA 2000
Takes readers from ballet school, where they'll learn the basic steps and techniques, to the stage, where they'll learn how a performance is created. Along the way, the detailed text and step-by-step illustrations give an overview of ballet history, display costumes and make-up, and reveal the busy lives of professional dancers.

Waters, Rosa.
Hip-Hop: A Short History.
782.421 WateR 2007
Examines how slavery and the civil rights movement helped lead to the birth of hip-hop and how the genre extends far beyond the music.

Fiction (Readers)

Bryant, Megan E.
Dance with Me.
READER BryaM
Strawberry and Ginger both want the ballet solo in the big dance recital-and they'll have to audition to decide who gets it. But when the girls decide to share the solo, both of them shine in a duet that wows all of Strawberryland!

Byars, Betsy Cromer.
The Golly Sisters Go West.
READER ByarB
The squabbling, blundering Golly sisters, Rose and May-May, are off on tour in their covered wagon to dance and sing in different towns. But the sisters never seem to agree on anything: in their first show, they spend so much time arguing over who gets to wear the blue dress that their audience goes home. Then May-May mounts their horse and tries to get it to dance on stage - but the horse tears out of town with her on his back. Six hilarious tales sure to have readers rolling in the aisles.


Fiction (Picture Books)

Ackerman, Karen.
Song and Dance Man.
PICTURE AckeK
Grandpa demonstrates for his visiting grandchildren some of the songs, dances, and jokes he performed when he was a vaudeville entertainer. Caldecott Medal, 1989.

Campbell, Bebe Moore.
Stompin’ at the Savoy.
PICTURE CampB
On the night before her big jazz dance recital, young Mindy has made up her mind not to go--she's just too nervous. But when she finds herself transported to the Savoy Ballroom, she quickly changes her tune. Filled from wall to wall with legends of the swing era, the Savoy is a place where the dancers move like acrobats and the seats stay empty all night long. It's an all-night party, and with all that fun going on around her, Mindy has no choice but to move her happy feet!


Dillon, Leo and Diane Dillon.
Rap a Tap Tap
PICTURE DIllL
In illustrations and rhyme describes the dancing of bill “Bojangles” Robinson, one of the most famous tap dancers of all time.

Schneider, Christine M.
Saxophone Sam and His Snazzy Jazz Band.
PICTURE SchnC
The sound of toe-tapping dance band music from the radio leads Drew and his sister throughout their house.

Walton, Rick.
How Can You Dance?
PICTURE WaltR
Rhyming text explores the many ways one can dance, like the leader of a marching bank, like a crab on a sunny day, lie a tree as it waves in the breeze.

Winthrop, Elizabeth.
Dancing Granny.
PICTURE WintE
Granny and her grandchild take a nighttime trip to the zoo, where the animals have prepared a fabulous party and Granny dances the night away.

Juvenile Fiction

James, Brian.
Everybody Hates School Dances.
FIC RockC
Fed up with being teased by the school bully, Chris blurts out that he's going to the school dance on Friday with the prettiest girl in Bed-Stuy -- and that he's taking her in a limousine! Word travels fast, and soon Chris has only four days to find a date and a limousine, or he'll be the laughingstock of Corleone Jr. High. As if that wasn't bad enough, he somehow lets it slip that he is the best break-dancer in all of Brooklyn -- and all the kids at school want to see him prove it on the dance floor. Can Chris get out of this mess without getting caught or beaten up? Probably not, but he's going to try!

Seuling, Barbara.
Robert and the Practical Jokes.
FIC SeulB
As a boys-versus-girls war of practical jokes escalates in his third-grade classroom, Robert finds it difficult to ask a girl’s help in learning to dance in time for a family wedding reception.

Soto, Gary.
Marisol.
FIC SotoG
Marisol is a lively ten-year-old who loves to dance. When her parents decide to move away from their close-knit central Chicago neighborhood and Marisol's dance classes, Marisol realizes that no matter where she is, her dreams and passion to dance are who she is-no matter where she goes. Marisol is part of the contemporary American Girl Today line.

Winthrop, Elizabeth.
The Red-Hot Rattoons.
FIC WintE
After the death of their parents, five young rats decide to leave the barnyard to make a name for themselves in the big city, facing unscrupulous rivals and dangerous humans along the way.

Dance Music

Big Fun
Greg and Steve. Youngheart, 2000. CD.
Includes “The Mack Chicken Dance.”

Dance Along
Walt Disney Records. 2004. CD.
Music , lyrics, and instructions for popular party dances. Booklet contains lyrics and dance instructions demonstrated by Disney cartoon characters.

Kids in Motion
Greg and Steve. Youngheart, 1997. CD.
Includes “Beanbag Boogie,” two versions, and other movement songs.

Dance Movies

Happy Feet
Warner Brothers. 2006. (86 min.) PG.
In Antarctica, the Emperor Penguin must attract his mate with his own distinctive hear song. Mumble is a penguin who is born without the ability to sing … however his is the best tap dancer at the South Pole! Toe tapping may ensue in this sweet animated comedy.

Hip Hop for Kids
School house hop / Jumping Fish Productions. (45 min.)
Ages 5-14.
Dance, groove, stretch, and have fun while learning all the latest moves, including the Chicken Noodle Soup, the Snap, Walk It Out and more with hip-hop great Roger G. Includes exciting live performances that will have kids up and dancing in no time!

Mad Hot Ballroom
Paramount Films. 2005. (105 min.) PG.
There is a program in many New York City schools that requires students to take ten weeks of ballroom dancing. This inspiring documentary follows eleven-year-olds from three schools in the toughest and most culturally diverse neighborhoods in NYC. These kids must overcome awkwardness with the opposite sex, a lack of self-confidence, and their tempting surroundings to create a new path for themselves.

Web Sites

Ambassadors DJ Service
www.ambassdj.com/page25.html
Instructions for doing the Macarena.

Cheer Wiz
http://cheerwiz.com/cheerleading3.htm
Look for a variety of cheers and chants.

Hampton and the Hampsters
www.hampsterdance.com
Home page of the Internet phenomenon. Listen to the music and watch the Hampsters dance.

Kiddyhouse
www.kiddyhouse.com/Farm/Chicken
Click on “Chicken Dance Song” under Songs, Poems for original lyrics and the music.

Music for Little People
www.musicforlittlepeople.com
Has a variety of musical audio recordings, music and dance videos, toys, and more for young children.

Songs for Teaching www.songsforteaching.com/jackhartmann/dinosaurstomp.htm
Instructions for doing the “dinosaur stomp.”


Activities


Make Musical Instruments for Your Next Dance Party

Here are ideas from the Between the Lion’s website. http://pbskids.org/lions/parentsteachers/activities/activities-music_and_dance.html

Materials
• Small box
• Rubber bands
• Cans and containers with lids
• Coffee can
• Yogurt container with lid
• Large pot or bucket
Directions
Make musical instruments from materials found around the house. Children can play their instruments as they sing or as they listen to recorded music. Try putting on a family band concert!
Rubber-Band Banjo:
Use the bottom half of a shoe box, an empty box of tissues, or other available box or container. Stretch four or five rubber bands of different widths over the opening of the box. Pluck and listen. Using both hands, see how many different notes you can make on one rubber band? What is the highest note you can make on the Rubber-Band Banjo? What is the lowest?
Shakers:
Put beads, buttons, paper clips, dried pasta, dried beans, or rice inside empty containers with lids, for example, a coffee can and a yogurt container. Make at least two different shakers. Shake and compare the sounds.
Drum:
Almost anything can be a drum. Try drumming with your hands on a plastic bucket or dishpan, a metal pot, and other household objects. Compare the sounds.

Make Ballerina Puppets
From FamilyFun.com
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10630

Craft a troupe of tiny dancers for your fingertips.
 
Materials:
Poster board
Markers (or construction paper, glue and googly eyes)
Bubble wrap
Pipe cleaners
Fingernail polish

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Sketch a simple ballerina silhouette on the poster board. Draw the head, torso and arms held upright (called en couronne), but do not include the legs.

2. Cut out the sketch. Draw on a hairdo, facial features and a leotard with colored markers or glue on construction paper clothes and googly eyes.

3. Near the lower edge of the torso, cut out a pair of legholes for your fingers to fit through.

4. For a frilly tutu, use an 18- by 3-inch strip of bubble wrap. Thread a pipe cleaner through one long edge, gathering the bubble wrap as you go. Then wrap the tutu around the ballerina's waist and twist together the pipe cleaner ends behind her back.

5. Turn your fingernails into a pair of ballet slippers by brushing on a coat of satiny polish.

Created by Ms. Jean