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Educational and Residency Programs

FiddleKicks provides educational and residency programs tailored to every age and proficiency level. Narration, included in most performances, gives the historical background of the dancing and music.

FiddleKicks is on the roster of Young Audiences of Eastern Pennsylvania and regularly performs in schools. Assembly programs are presented to K-12 students in 45-60 minute sessions. Programs are interactive, include explanatory narration and a post-performance Q&A session. Volunteers can be invited from the audience to learn and demonstrate clogging steps. A comprehensive “Study Guide for Teachers” is sent to schools to prepare students beforehand.
Our after-show audience participation segment is the audience’s chance to learn a few clogging steps and a short routine. FiddleKicks’ musicians provide lively old-time music, while participants experience the fun and magic of an activity that is part of our country’s history. The session can segue into an old-fashioned square dance, with FiddleKicks teaching and calling the moves. For children ages a simple circle dance is taught.
  In our clogging toys workshop, children learn about clogging and its origins through exposure to a variety of toys. The limberjack is a charming, old-fashioned percussion instrument/toy that simulates a very limber (and hence the name) person clogging. Other toys such as spoons, bones and whammy diddles can be included. All of these activities help the children to hear the rhythms of the music. The target audience is children ages pre-school to middle school, but all are welcome, including adults.
For seniors, an interactive chair dance is taught by three dancers. The audience is divided into three sections and asked to clap hands or stomp feet in rhythmic patterns and sequence. Another favorite activity is to arrange sing-alongs that invoke nostalgic memories.
FiddleKicks regularly teaches workshops and master classes that can vary in length (from an hour to a week) for all ages: schools, recreational and semi-professional groups, college dance and theater departments and professional companies. Activities can include exploration of how dance patterns fit into the structure of music selected. Workshop material is custom designed for every proficiency level. Hand-out material is provided.
Ongoing classes follow a curriculum of clogging steps and short routines rotated over a period of weeks.
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