Let the Spook-tacular Halloweek Dance Games Begin!

by on Oct 19 '16

Looking for some fun + festive games during HALLOWEEK that also keep the focus on DANCE? Look no further! We have some SPOOK-TACULARLY imaginative games to share that will be a SKELE-TON of fun!

HAUNTED OBSTACLE COURSE

Obstacle courses are ghoulish fun for all ages, and HALLOWEEK is the perfect time to create one for your dancers!

Start by giving your obstacle course a Halloween inspired name. For your tiniest dancers, you could call it the Goblin Garden, BOOgie-oogie Obstacle Course or The Pumpkin Patch. For your older dancers, you can use a spookier name, like Graveyard Crawl, Haunted Highway or Zombi Zig-Zag.

Next, create a path around your dance floor with SPOOKY stops along the way. To make the path come to life, you can use props from your prop/craft closet, Halloween decorations, crepe paper, orange/black Washi Tape or even real pumpkins (if your faculty decorated pumpkins at a Fall Fun Fest like this, what a perfect time to put them to use!!). If you have black lights, strobe lights and/or a disco ball, this would be a FANG-TASTIC time to use them!

Here are a few dance activities to incorporate at each spooky stop along the ghoulish path. These examples are geared toward the little ghouls, but the concepts can easily be adapted to the age and skill level for each of your classes!

First, have your dancers tip-toe in a sneaky, spooky style, as if they are trying to hide, until they reach the first stop. Have them pretend to pick up the biggest pumpkin in the patch (unless you have real inflatable pumpkins:) to hold in front of them while they demonstrate plié and relevé in first position. When finished, jump out to 2nd position with jazz hands around their face and shout “BOO”!

Continue traveling to the next stop with grand battements alternating feet while holding their arms straight out in front of them with flexed hands. We call these Frankenstein Walks! Once they reach this stop, have them demonstrate pas de chat (step of the “BLACK” cat) with their cat claws out. Once finished, jump out to 2nd position with jazz hands around their face and shout “BOO”!

Next, travel to the last stop while demonstrating BOO-urrée. Once they arrive, let them free dance like a scary skeleton, finishing with a jump to 2nd position with jazz hands around face shouting “BOO”!

Lastly, fly like bat and end the obstacle course with a ghoul-ish grand jeté toward the end of the line.

The possibilities are endless with this concept. You can give them more challenging steps, or it could even be an improv activity with you calling out alternating Halloween words they mimic, such as witches cauldron, cobweb, ghoul, goblin, haunted, creepy, spooky, fangs, grave, potion, tombstone, mummy, owl, spider, vampire, zombie, spell, magic…and so on. Endless options and endless fun!

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GLAM GHOULS

This fun activity is inspired by Project Runway’s “unconventional” challenge, and is such a fun idea for your older classes! We’ve used this activity in class several times, and everyone loved it! For starters, we went through our costume/craft closet (we have a LOT of stuff!) and randomly selected several items…an old recital t-shirt, ribbons, tape, pipe cleaners, felt, scraps of fabric, straws, buttons, pom pom balls, trash bag, etc. You can really use anything you have on hand! After you collect your supplies, mix them up and place an equal number of items in several bags. Divide your class in to groups of 3 or 4 (based on the size of the class) and give each group a bag. Supply scissors and safety pins for them to “sew” their garments.

Each group will either draw from several themes you prepare before class, or you can have them come up with their own theme.  Give them a time limit to create a short piece of choreography AND design a costume based on their theme. Don’t give them too much time! The idea is to make it happen quickly and see what they come up with! Some of our groups use one dancer as their “model” and others decided to use parts of the supplies for each person. There are no specific rules! The last 10 minutes of class, have each group perform their choreography for the class! You can award a prize (WOW card anyone!?) to the winning group! You can have the class vote on the winners, or you can choose!

Here are some sample themes and music ideas:

Preppy Zombies – I’m in Love with a Monster by Fifth Harmony
Revenge of the Birds – Bird Flu – M.I.A.
Mad Scientists – Creator – Santigold
Red Queen Madness – Heads Will Roll – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Witching Hour – Night of the Dancing Flame – Roisin Murphy
Vampire Garden – The Garden – Mirah

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JACK-O-LANTERN JUMBLE

Your dancing “boos” and “ghouls” will all love this fun show-and-tell choreography activity! First, write out several dance steps on notecards (enough for 2-3 per student). Also, add a few fun Halloween improv topics like Sneaky Spider, Creepy Cat, Spooky Skeleton, Ghastly Ghost, Wicked Witch, Zany Zombie, Gregarious Goblins, Ballerina Bats, etc.

Place all the notecards in a plastic pumpkin (Or, you can use a plastic black witches cauldron and call the activity Cauldron Choreography). You can allow dancers to be in teams, in pairs or to perform the activity on their own. Depending on how you structure it, each group or dancer will draw three cards. Give them about 10 minutes to prepare one or two eight-counts of choreography combining all three cards, and then they can perform it for the class. To make it more challenging, dancers can each teach their choreography to the rest of the class. By the end of class, they will have a fun Halloween-inspired combo!

An alternate version for your younger dancers is to simply have dancers draw one card and demonstrate the step or action. Or, the entire class can perform each action, alternating the dancer who draws the card.

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We hope these ghoulish games help make your Halloweek dance classes even more Spook-tacular! For an added BOOst of zombie-tastic fun, don’t forget to download and teach our Hip Hop Halloween Combo to your classes. We can’t wait to see your videos! Remember to make your social media post public and use #halloweekonthedancefloor and tag @confettionthedancefloor!

Happy HalloWEEK, Everybody!

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