10. Shiver of Sharks!
Nest of vipers creeping
Spider clusters creeping
Spider clusters creeping
Fascinations
Sharks do not have bones but they do have rows and rows of sharp teeth that continually move to the front row. Once there, they only have about 10 days of life before they are shed or fall out during dinner! If you were to be so foolish as to attempt to stroke a shark you would discover its skin feels rough like sandpaper. Should you come face to face with this deadly predator our advice is to flip it on its back where it will promptly enter a trance-like state allowing you to swim away to safety!
Sharks do not have bones but they do have rows and rows of sharp teeth that continually move to the front row. Once there, they only have about 10 days of life before they are shed or fall out during dinner! If you were to be so foolish as to attempt to stroke a shark you would discover its skin feels rough like sandpaper. Should you come face to face with this deadly predator our advice is to flip it on its back where it will promptly enter a trance-like state allowing you to swim away to safety!
Musicking
Think about how our mouths and teeth are important to communication - how many creatures can you think of that smile? Open mouths wide to stretch facial muscles, then smile showing your teeth like a shark who has spotted its dinner. Begin in a relaxed style and practise making sweet vowel sounds on la-(zy) and a-(zure). When this is secure and going swimmingly, introduce doubt into everyone’s minds with the second part which outlines the bass part of the accompaniment. From bar 19 enjoy singing in the minor key, which is often used to evoke scary feelings. There are two tunes to get to grips with:Part 1 starts low and swims its way up while Part 2 starts high and floats its way down. Listen out for sharps and sing with ‘fin’-esse and cutting-edge accuracy. Experiment with percussion instruments suitable to animate this section and build up for the dramatic ending with a trill (or shake!) on the final note.
Think about how our mouths and teeth are important to communication - how many creatures can you think of that smile? Open mouths wide to stretch facial muscles, then smile showing your teeth like a shark who has spotted its dinner. Begin in a relaxed style and practise making sweet vowel sounds on la-(zy) and a-(zure). When this is secure and going swimmingly, introduce doubt into everyone’s minds with the second part which outlines the bass part of the accompaniment. From bar 19 enjoy singing in the minor key, which is often used to evoke scary feelings. There are two tunes to get to grips with:Part 1 starts low and swims its way up while Part 2 starts high and floats its way down. Listen out for sharps and sing with ‘fin’-esse and cutting-edge accuracy. Experiment with percussion instruments suitable to animate this section and build up for the dramatic ending with a trill (or shake!) on the final note.
Learning moves
Performance etiquette for sharks
‘Look! There’s a shiver of sharks’ is not a casual observation - it is only ever screamed by swimmers and this song and game is not for the faint-hearted.
Playing the game Shiver of sharks involves everyone swimming around in a school of fish except for one person who is chosen to be Sharkie. Rather like tag, the objective is for Sharkie to catch the rest of the fish and as the shiver of sharks grows so the school of fish diminishes until there is a solitary Minnow remaining. Before Minnow is gobbled up they should be declared the winner!
Performance etiquette for sharks
‘Look! There’s a shiver of sharks’ is not a casual observation - it is only ever screamed by swimmers and this song and game is not for the faint-hearted.
Playing the game Shiver of sharks involves everyone swimming around in a school of fish except for one person who is chosen to be Sharkie. Rather like tag, the objective is for Sharkie to catch the rest of the fish and as the shiver of sharks grows so the school of fish diminishes until there is a solitary Minnow remaining. Before Minnow is gobbled up they should be declared the winner!
- Singers should begin by forming a school of fish (standing in a circle) singing ‘lazy afternoon…’ confidently whilst moving their feet in this relaxed box step dance move (so called because of the square or box shaped pattern your feet will make on the floor.) Your feet should move every two beats forming a four bar movement phrase. Do this four times in total (finishing at bar 18) before dispersing the school and darting off in different directions, looking to steer clear of Sharkie from bar 19 onwards.
- Hopefully there will be no shortage of volunteers for the Sharkie role! Starting in the centre of the circle, Sharkie performs the same box step moves but this time with his or her feet moving only on the words ‘Sharkie’. At the start of bar 19, Sharkie begins to glide around with a dorsal fin (hand) held above the head, preying on the school of fish, tagging victims and holding their hands (or putting hands on shoulders) to form a chain or shiver of up to five sharks.
- As more fish are caught a second shiver can be formed with Sharkie breaking away from the chain to become a lone hunter once again. Every shark should exaggerate the tremble and shake when singing the words shiver and dinner. Each fully formed shiver can gobble up (tag) fish.
- Repeat bars 19 - 26 of the song as many times as necessary until only one Minnow remains before swiftly moving to the coda - also known as the tail!
- Keep an ear out for controlled and expressive singing; note that cir-cl-ing = 3 syllables and gob-bling = 2 syllables. Singing and hunting multi-taskers with loose jaws are essential.