Cello!
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Greg Sinclair is a Starcatchers Associate Artist, performer, composer and cellist. Recently be brought his skills to the Expecting Something in Lochgelly families, to share the music from MamaBabaMe, our Spring 2017 Tour.
This was my first time visiting the Expecting Something group in Lochgelly so it was a lovely surprise to have such a busy and enjoyable session.
Hazel had informed me that most of the group had attended a performance of the dance theatre show MamaBabaMe – on which I had been the composer. Hazel said it would be nice to lead some of the activity in the session exploring some of the material from the show. I have previously worked with the Expecting Something group in Wester Hailes but this was prior to the group going to see the show; it felt easier in Lochgelly to talk about the show that they had already seen.
First of all, we watched the trailer for the show by Geraldine Heaney (you can watch it below!). This was useful as there was one mum (and her two kids) in the group who hadn’t seen the show. Next, we did some singing. We sang the lullaby theme from the show with me using my cello to teach the group. The toddlers in the group were really fascinated by my cello – one boy in particular kept running up to me whenever I started playing. We attempted to do a duet: 2 performers on 1 cello! I also taught the group another fun song that we had used during warm-ups for MamaBabaMe. This was a marching song which is quite tricky involving trips for the feet and the tongue…
By far the most successful activity of the day was cello musical statues though! Sometimes classic games just always seem to work. Having a live music element to a game that all the parents and children already know gave it a fresh edge. And one boy in particular kept wanting to play the game over and over (mostly so that he could win – I like his ambition!)
Another lovely moment from the session was seeing all the parents perform a task together for the children. It came from a book that Hazel brought in – various ways to make your baby laugh. This particular task asked for as many people as possible to play a game of peek-a-boo. The mums chose to hide behind a big curtain and peek their heads out to surprise the kids. It didn’t immediately make the kids laugh, but what was so great to see was how they persevered and kept trying new variations of the game. They pretty quickly had all the kids’ attentions and it was really funny and heart-warming at the same time.