I had an assembly at Freemansburg ES on Monday at 2 pm and then an after school program back at Jefferson at 4:15 so I had a tight schedule for the day. I set up at Freemansburg in the gym for ~325 kids plus teachers.
The kids were primed from my visit last spring so when I did The Cat Came Back, the kids were in full voice. I knew we were in creative space.
As I primed the kids for Giants, I invited teach and former Touchstone actor Jenny Gilrain and one of her students up to lead in the spooky sounds, like what I had done on Friday. What happened as we went along surprised me and the whole school. The young boy not only did the up and down motions to direct the sound track, he started to make hand motions adding some movements that were really spontaneous and creative. His side of the audience responded accordingly. Even Jenny took from his cues and together, they energized the whole gym with crazy sound and movement. I simply watched in amazement, as did the principal and the faculty. Yes, totally amazing.
I finished with All Around the Kitchen, bringing up three teachers and then the principal as well. They all contributed some nice moves and the gym rocked. Community. Mission accomplished.
Off to Jefferson.