chickens dancing.

[bobcornett]

I do lots of work with children and music. Among other things, my family has put on a bluegrass music festival for 37 years--"Festival of the Bluegrass", Lexington. Ky. As part of the festival we have a camp for kids to learn bluegrass. I love the camp, and I'm helping to encourage lots and lots of situations where kids learn the old-fashioned way--from grandparents and other elders in their communities. Some of the finest educators have convinced me that this is more important than just music--it connects kids with the real life around them, which is more effective than sitting in a classroom memorizing information long enough to pass a test.

I've recently learned, based on research done by some Harvard professors, that we humans share with some birds our capacity to respond to music. And that brings me to my point. I would dearly love to see some chickens dancing--and I would love to see children teaching chickens to dance. I think this may be doable--there's a parrot named Snowball who has become very popular on YouTube. To stretch my imagination perhaps a little too far, I would like to have a clogging contest at our festival--chickens clogging to the music, maybe with children joining in the clogging. If we could come close to doing this, we could share it with the world via the web. And the kids could learn some important things about brain research in the process.

My guess is that 99% of the people who read this will figure that I sound nutty. I plead guilty, but I blame my nuttiness partly on my grandchildren--I have 25 grandkids so far (counting great grandchildren), and they like having a granddaddy who is as nutty as they are.

I'm guessing that there will be somebody out there who knows something about the dancing potential in chickens. Let me hear from ypu.

I'll keep you posted.

Bob Cornett
Georgetown, Kentucky.

 

[ranchhand]

Bob,

you are no nuttier than the rest of us.


I have no clue about how to teach clogging to chickens, but I will be looking forward to the results!

 

[Dick Downing]

Sorry to have picked up on this so late.
My wife is starting rehearsals today for the latest childrens' production at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, on of the UK's leading repertory theatres. ( http://www.wyp.org.uk/events/event_details.asp?event_ID=5625 ) This year it is 'Jack and the Beanstalk', a traditional tale often told through the stage form known as pantomime.
The cast, except for the actor playing Jack, will all be portraying chickens (Beyonce, Lady Ga Ga, Rhiana and Leonie) and they will be line dancing.
At this very moment they are visiting the urban farm in Leeds to pick up tips. If you have made progress with your enquiries, maybe you would consider sharing them. Likewise from this end.
(Although Yorkshire is famed as an origin of clog dancing, I regret that I cannot yet report that my wife is going down that route - but she only read your posting this morning, so give her time.)

 

[Southernbelle]

This is my favorite dancing chicken (she starts about 30 sec in)