5. Flambo of flamingos
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Flamboyant pink flamingos
Stand watching as the hippos Crash mudwards and begin to wallow deep |
Fascinations
These tropical wading birds have long legs with backward-bending knees, long curvy necks, and most noticeably, they are pink. We can admire flamingos or laugh at them (and often both), so we may as well learn something about them. Flamboyance is the collective noun for a group of flamingos. Flamingo comes from the Spanish/Portuguese ‘flamengo’ meaning flame-coloured and flamboyance hails from French, meaning to flame or flare. The performance indication ‘swng with flare’ obviously means ‘with flair’ but the pun was too good to miss! Hippos have numerous collective nouns, and a group of hippos is often referred to as a crash, bloat, herd, pod or dale.
These tropical wading birds have long legs with backward-bending knees, long curvy necks, and most noticeably, they are pink. We can admire flamingos or laugh at them (and often both), so we may as well learn something about them. Flamboyance is the collective noun for a group of flamingos. Flamingo comes from the Spanish/Portuguese ‘flamengo’ meaning flame-coloured and flamboyance hails from French, meaning to flame or flare. The performance indication ‘swng with flare’ obviously means ‘with flair’ but the pun was too good to miss! Hippos have numerous collective nouns, and a group of hippos is often referred to as a crash, bloat, herd, pod or dale.
Musicking
Gather your singing hippos and wallow in the introduction until everyone is fully immersed in learning. Take the words flamboyance, flamingo and mudwards and play around with them on your lips and tongue before mouthing the words to one another, articulately but silently; practise lip-reading. Listen to the melody together and demonstrate the small intervals (semitones) on the piano which must be sung as accurately as possible. As you sing, think of a flowing musical line which is easier if you stand tall and take in lots of breath. You may need to focus on bar 12 which is the hardest! Use these suggestions for percussion in bar 9: claves or woodblock and in bar 13: tambour or drum.
Gather your singing hippos and wallow in the introduction until everyone is fully immersed in learning. Take the words flamboyance, flamingo and mudwards and play around with them on your lips and tongue before mouthing the words to one another, articulately but silently; practise lip-reading. Listen to the melody together and demonstrate the small intervals (semitones) on the piano which must be sung as accurately as possible. As you sing, think of a flowing musical line which is easier if you stand tall and take in lots of breath. You may need to focus on bar 12 which is the hardest! Use these suggestions for percussion in bar 9: claves or woodblock and in bar 13: tambour or drum.
Learning moves
Flamingos stand on one leg because it is physiologically easier for them to do so. The way their legs work means they can rest all of their weight on one side without having to use their muscles to maintain balance. The question is, can you stand on one leg, without wobbling or swapping legs, whilst singing ‘a flamboyance…’ until the hippos return at bar 15? Who can stand on one leg for the whole song? Now swap legs….
Flamingos stand on one leg because it is physiologically easier for them to do so. The way their legs work means they can rest all of their weight on one side without having to use their muscles to maintain balance. The question is, can you stand on one leg, without wobbling or swapping legs, whilst singing ‘a flamboyance…’ until the hippos return at bar 15? Who can stand on one leg for the whole song? Now swap legs….