Just the title makes me want to get up and MOVE! And there's a CD! It includes Marilyn reading the poems to music. I can just see classrooms of kids falling in love with poetry while trying some of these dance moves. Fun!
The book opens with a reverso (of course!):
All Over the World,
Dancing is Joy
All over the world,
dancing is
joy.
Move your feet.
Spin.
Sway.
Just
feel the beat,
the rhythm.
Find
a partner.
Grab
your shoes.
All you can lose are
the blues.
Dance, dance away.
Now's your chance!
What do you say?
Joy is Dancing
All Over the World
What do you say?
Now's your chance.
Dance, dance away
the blues.
All you can lose are
your shoes.
Grab
a partner.
Find
the rhythm.
Feel the beat.
Just
sway,
spin,
move your feet.
Joy
is dancing
all over the world!
- Marilyn Singer
-----------------
... and here is one more favorite from the book:
Merengue
I merengue,
you merengue.
So does Cousin Marty.
All of us merengue --
when we have a party.
Moving sideways,
turning wrists,
while we do
our pretzel twists.
We sway our hips,
we shift or legs,
like we're whipping
lots of eggs.
We take a little
break and then,
we merengue
once again.
- Marilyn Singer
----------------
Happy dancing! And: tis the season for happy Halloween-ing... any Poetry Friday friends dressing up this year?? Do tell in comments. xo
Thanks for sharing this wonderful new book, Irene. No, not dressing up, but will love seeing all those trick or treaters at my door! They grab & "dance away" down the sidewalk heading out for more!
ReplyDeleteI love Marilyn Singer, and I love to dance so this is a book I must have! I'm not dressing up this year, but a few years ago, my hubby and I went on a Halloween mystery train trip. We dressed up as pirates. No one recognized us! We had a great time.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see this new book from Marilyn, who dances her way through life! Love the poems you shared. Not dressing up, though Annabelle is. Are you dressing up, Irene?
ReplyDeleteAwesome Reverso! I thought Brenda's bug looked like a Flamenco dancer...hm? I was already dancing when I got here!
ReplyDeleteI played tracks from the book's CD at the beginning of the year, but it has fallen off my radar. Now that we've learned more about poetry, it's time to bring back both the CD and the book! Thanks for the reminder!!
ReplyDeleteOh, this sounds like it would be so much fun to use with kids, who are often born with a beat in their soul that they just can't help but bounce to!
ReplyDeletePoetry and dancing, two of my favorite things. I might try a pretzel twist, myself.
ReplyDeleteMusic and dance have wonderful powers. If only we would dance with our eyes shut, then everyone would participate without fear of humiliating themselves.
ReplyDeleteThat, and world peace, is probably too much to hope for.
This looks like a fun collection of poems! It reminds me of one 8th grade class I taught where a student introduced and shared a poem at the beginning of class. The day a student shared a Weird Al Yankovich poem got a little out of control but we had such fun! Not really dressing up, but I did break out the black cat earrings today!
ReplyDeleteI got the beat and ready to do our pretzel twists. These reversos are great. Marilyn Singer is a wonderful presenter and poet but reversos are no easy feat. Thanks for sharing Irene.
ReplyDeleteThe "Merengue," such a delicious and joyful poem Irene–the rhythm's going. Thanks for sharing this poem and the reverso too, I definitely want to take a look at this new book of Marilyn Singer's!
ReplyDelete