During the month of March, we explored music and dance from around the world. We began our study with Ghana and Western African music then moved to Ireland to look at traditional Irish dancing in honour of St. Patrick's Day. Over the last week we explored music and dance from Italy, specifically opera.  

My younger sister, Emily is currently completing a post baccalaureate in opera studies at the University of Manitoba. This week we video called Emily in Winnipeg and she told us about the singing voice and how she learned to sing.  She also gave us a mini-singing lesson and told us about why it is important to warm up our voice before we begin singing.  We had the opportunity to ask Emily questions about opera (like "how do you learn to sing in other languages?"; "why do the singers wear costumes?"; "how do you make your voice go so high?").  Finally, Emily performed two different Italian arias and delighted the students with her beautiful singing!

Here are a couple pictures of our video call sessions:

It is hard to believe it is already March! We are back after a nice February break and gearing down for the final few months of school. Here is what we have planned for the next few weeks.

World Music: We started our study by looking at a fun song from Ghana called "Kye, Kye, Kule". It is an echo song that is very catchy. We explored life in Ghana and how it is different from life in Canada. We also watched a great video about the importance of rhythm in Western African culture and how special instruments like a djembé (drum) are made.

In the next few weeks, we will be looking at music and dance from all over the world. Stay tuned for some Irish jigging close to St. Patrick's Day!
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Below is a video some school children in South Africa singing "Kye, Kyle Kule" (also called "Che, Che Cooley"). Notice how the leader changes the song using his body to lead the group.