Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Classes
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Develop your voice, physical and character skills by creatively exploring words, rhythm and movement.
Develop your voice, physical and character skills by creatively exploring words, rhythm and movement.
Student drama resource developed by The Arts Unit
Years 7 to 10 drama
What will I learn?
What will I learn?
You will:
explore rhythm and rhyme
create words and phrases for performance
respond to text using physical gestures, facial expressions and movement
perform to communicate dramatic meaning.
Before you begin
Before you begin
Welcome to Drop the mic!
If you love hip hop, theatre, words, music and drama, this is the Creative Class for you.
Think Shakespeare meets Missy Elliot as you go through exercises to expand your skills with your voice, rhythm, physicality and character.
You will need:
a clear space to move safely
pen and paper.
Watch the video and meet Candy B!
Candy B – introduction
Duration: 00:17- Explore words with your body
Warm up your voice and body!
Warm up your voice and body!
Stand up and watch the video 'Body rhythm'.
Follow the call and response with Candy B in the video as she introduces you to using movement and voice.
Create your own rhythm
Create your own rhythm
Choose your own physical movements:
1 arm gesture
2 leg gestures
a fierce facial expression.
Listen to the 'Dance Monkey' track and experiment with the movements to the beat.
Hit play and have fun with it!
Tones and I – Dance Monkey
Duration: 02:522. Hip hop and Shakespeare?
2. Hip hop and Shakespeare?
You may not realise that Shakespeare and hip hop have many similarities.
Watch the video 'Hip hop Shakespeare'.
Hip hop Shakespeare
Duration: 00:53Time to test your hip hop versus Shakespeare knowledge.
Which of the following quotes are from hip hop and which are from Shakespeare?
“To destroy the beauty from which one came.”
“Maybe it’s hatred I spew, maybe it’s food for the spirit.”
“Men would rather use their broken records than their bare hands.”
“I was not born under a rhyming planet.”
“The most benevolent king communicates through your dreams.”
“Socrates, philosophy and hypotheses can’t define me.”
Watch the first 4 minutes of the video 'Hip hop & Shakespeare?' to discover the answers and if you were correct.
Hip hop & Shakespeare?
Duration: 04:05Shakespeare also made up almost over 1700 words in his plays. Many of these words we still use today.
He took phrases like 'full of wonder' and mashed it up into one word – 'wonderful'.
Hip hop is a genre that can also make up words to fit a beat.
Watch the video 'Made up words' and see some of the words the students working with Candy B came up with.
What words can you make up?
3. Respond
3. Respond
Watch the Schools Spectacular 2018 performance of My Shot from the musical 'Hamilton'.
Schools Spectacular 2018 – My Shot
Duration: 03:13Respond by creating your own hip hop rap!
You could use this open plan seating hip hop to structure your own authentic hip hop theatre script:
First day at school and I’m feeling so __ __ __ __ __
Grateful for having __ __ __ __ __ on my __ __ __
Walk into the __ __ __ __ __ and it’s not that I’m __ __
But everyone can see me every time I __ __ __ __ __
Perform your rap for others.
4. Perform
4. Perform
Watch the video How to rap Shakespeare.
How to rap Shakespeare
Duration: 02:14Pick a Shakespeare play or download the sheet of Shakespeare’s verse passages below.
If you have chosen a play by Shakespeare, pick a section that is in verse. You will know it is in verse because the beginning letter of each line will be in capitals.
Identify the iambic pentameter and the stress on each syllable - / - /.
Write out the stresses on the piece that you have chosen.
Find a hip hop beat or use the music example below.
Put the words to the beat.
Rehearse and perform your hip hop Shakespeare.
Shakespeare Verses.docxLegend – Trap hip hop instrumental
Duration: 04:06Extension activity
Choose another section to perform and see if you can stay on the rhythm of the lines.
Yo! To thine own self be true!
Congratulations!
You have completed this Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Class.
Third-party content attributions
Third-party content attributions
Candy B image from The Arts Unit media library, reproduced and communicated with permission.
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