Back to Basics - Lesson 6 Choral Speaking and Movement

Learning objectives By the end of the lesson pupils will be able to: Explain what choral speaking and choral movement are Use choral speaking and movement to realise (bring to life) a text Perform and evaluate their work and that of their peers Q: What grades do you think we should be aiming to work between today? A: E to C – maybe some of you will do even better!

Betty Botter Betty Botter bought some butter But she said my butter’s bitter If I put it in my batter It will make my batter bitter If I buy some better butter Better than the bitter butter And I put it in my batter It will make my batter better So she bought some better butter Better than the bitter butter And she put it in her batter And it made her batter better So ‘twas better Betty Botter Bought some better butter.

Let’s recap! In groups of 3 you have 2 minutes to discuss the following questions: 1.What key drama skills do we need to use in order to create clear characters? 2.What is vocal expression? 3.Why is it important to an actor? 4.What basic performance skills should you be thinking about and using in every lesson?

Everybody after 3…. So Sir, what’s choral speaking?

Very simply… Choral speaking is when a group of people speak lines of a text at the same time Choral movement is when a group of people perform movements at the same time

Choral speaking techniques Chorus words/lines spoken altogether Echo one word repeated Cannon words/lines repeated several times Descending cannon word repeated several times getting quieter Ascending cannon words repeated several times getting louder

Choral Movement Choral movement is when a group of people choreograph the moves that they are going to perform It is not dance but it is well planned and creative and often contains elements of physical theatre You can apply the same techniques for choral movement as choral speaking e.g. chorus, echo and cannon

Let’s take a look at the…

Task In groups of 4-5 you need to use choral speaking and choral movement to perform the text You might like to think about: How you can create the comedy of the scene Using different people to say different lines as well as all performing the speech using the techniques we have looked at Performance energy FINALLY, THIS IS AN ENSEMBLE TASK WHICH MEANS THAT EVERYBODY MUST BE EQUALLY INVOLVED!

Performance Time!!! Q: What should we be looking for in a top scoring presentation? A: Good use of choral speaking techniques; clear atmosphere; clear mime skills; good use of basic performance skills Q: What effect does choral speech and movement have on the text? A: It can help you to emphasise important words/phrases; more interesting than just having one voice tell the story; visually interesting fro the audience to watch

Traffic lights! Move to the green area if you can answer all 3 questions Move to the amber area if you can answer 2 of these questions Move to the red area if you can answer 1 or less of these questions 1.Can you explain choral speaking and choral movement? 2.Can you explain the affect of using choral speaking and movement? 3.Can you give an example of a choral technique?