Patriotic Theme Recital

....from Sally's Studio

In 2002, my students really wanted to do Patriotic music. 

We had a screen placed on one side in front of the stage and the students chose pictures that portrayed the music they were performing.  We used Power Point and had one person running that program on a laptop during the performances.  That afforded them the opportunity to choreograph their own pieces.  They made marks in the music to tell where each picture should change.  It was a lot of work but added a very unique touch to the recital.

Since the attacks of 9-11 were very fresh in our minds, many of them wanted to use pictures of the World Trade Center and Pentagon and show the devastation.  I reminded them that there was more to patriotism and encouraged a variety of scenes of America.   They found many wonderful scenes and moods.   The pride they had in their country was very evident.

We expanded the theme to “The Music of America” so it allowed them to choose many kinds of music from ragtime through modern.   It was a great way to explore American music and still let them include many patriotic pieces.