Waterbeat Presentations for Schools Theaters and Festivals:

 

School Programs - The Water Beat

Here is a list of some of the movement and music segments we have created in the past 20 years of our water programs. We can combine any these segments to create a unique custom-made show. We are also open to creating new segments as well.
We love collaborating and creating!   

- Water conservation - storm drain runoff - toilet and shower efficiency - watershed birds -
- tides and waves - stream and river ecology - waves - water cycle - properties of water -
- plastic pollution - beach stream and neighborhood cleanups - recycling - water recycling -
- water usage - water names throughout world - transportation of water - sprinklers -
- draught tolerant plant - tide-pools - wildflower and native plant gardens - water sources -
- aquifers - reservoirs - leaky faucets - waste water treatment - coral reefs - wetlands -
- FOG (fats oils and grease) in sinks - sea turtles - whales - salmon and dolphins -

Length: 45-90 minutes
Venue: Schools, Festivals, Theaters, and Libraries

Water Music of the Americas:

 

A selection of water songs from North, South and Central America

Latin infused music of original and folkloric songs. Can be acoustic background music or full band dance oriented music. This is happy, festive music using instruments from many cultures throughout the Americas. Brazilian and Cuban percussion, Andean panpipes, Mexican and Colombian rhythms, strings and vocal harmonies make these songs a true celebration of our connection to water.

Length: 30-90 minutes
Venue: Conferences, Festivals

The Siren’s Guitar :

Musical Inspirations of Water

This is a one-person show about experiences in the Andean mountains, finding cultural and musical significance in water sources. Through music and captivating storytelling, and using the 10-string Andean charango as the focus, connections between music, culture and environment are explored.  Performed by Stephen Snyder, this is a musical travel story that highlights music of the Andean mountains and folkloric believes in the musical properties of water.

Length-1 hour.

Venue-Small theaters, Conferences and Festivals

Sample water education performance:

1) Andean Rainstorm - This segment starts with saying droughts are common and normal here in California. We let students know that music and movement are major parts of our program, so to get started with our show about water, we make a rainstorm of music and movement using sounds from the South American Andean mountains. We create sounds of wind, thunder, wildlife finding shelter, rain and rivers using unique folkloric instruments of South America (Charango –stringed instrument, bombo drum, zampona and quena flute, chak’jas rattles). Students are asked to help with movements that coincide with the sounds throughout the segment. We talk about droughts and atmospheric rains that play an increasing role in our climate-changing world.

2) Water/Energy Saving Dances - Using Berimbao (a stringed instrument from
Brazil), we demonstrate ways to conserve water while singing “Doing the water
dance, save some water when you get the chance.” The water saving dances
which students create with us are the “sprinkler” (water plants when it’s cool, try
and plant drought tolerant plants), “the swimmer” (don’t turn bathtub into
swimming pool and 5-minute shower) and the “washing machine shimmy’ (fill up
washing machine before using). We also talk about the use of energy to transport
water and heat water, and how water/energy use inside and out can be reduced
by being thoughtful and conscientious water users. Always wonderful to see
teachers doing these dances as well!

3) Save 20 Gallons - We review water saving techniques, while adding a few more
(turn off drips, water turned off while brushing teeth) in a continual movement
using Brazilian percussion. We start off slow then ask students to try the
sequence faster…and faster!

4) Flush - In this segment we sing about toilets and flushing using accordion, while
looking at ways to save water by not flushing trash (paper towels, baby wipes,
dental floss) or spiders and bugs, and by the ‘cool” invention of the low flow toilet.
We also mention leaky toilets, and how to detect them in your home. We
emphasize saving water saves energy!

5) Storm drains/sewage - We show with aid of our colorful backdrops, the difference between sewer pipes and storm drains, and we talk about keeping trash off our streets as they often find their way into storm drains and out to the greater watershed, becoming unsightly and dangerous to wildlife. We give examples of plastic bags looking like jellyfish in the ocean, and how these confuse and endanger sea turtles.

6) Polluted Water Dance - Through a series of movements accompanied by ukulele and an original song, we follow polluted water (oil, soap, trash) down a storm drain where it ends up in the sea making fish sick. Students are asked to perform movements with us.

7) Birds of the Watershed - We celebrate birds of the watershed and common to
the area, by illustrating the adaptations that help them survive in and around
water through a series of movements accompanied by ukulele. Students do
these movements along with us as well.

8) Garbage Percussion -We talk of the importance of recycling and trash clean up
to keep our neighborhoods and watershed healthy for all to enjoy- humans and
wildlife. We demonstrate how to make instruments from trash that we found on a
beach clean up. Played together, these recycled instruments create a percussion
sound based on batucada music from Brazil, which we demonstrate. We
introduce the concept "tap into tap" by introducing the idea that tap water used in
reusable containers are a much more ecofriendly way of drinking water on the go
(better choice then plastic bottles).

9) H2O-Go With the Flow - We sing this popular original song with accompanying
movements as a review of all that we have learned. This song demonstrates the
water cycle and properties of water. We introduce the song with different ways to
say water in languages from around the world, many of them introduced to us
through students like themselves. We give examples of over 12 languages.

End Comments/Questions-We thank all teachers involved in setting up the
program and then offer ten minutes of questions and comments from students.
We also remind teachers of their follow up materials.

 

The Waterbeat Live Stream “Zoom” Performance

A live streamed very active performance emphasizing movement
(can be used for PE class)

This is a very active and fun water education program, designed for active learning, and in fact has been used for on line PE classes by participating schools. In the performance, songs touch on various water education subjects such as watershed protection, water conservation, water cycle, watershed protection, aquatic wildlife and recycling. Catchy songs and movement activities are all paired with interesting folkloric instruments from around the world. Program can be done bilingually Spanish / English. End of program has time for student questions and comments with performer. Program is performed live in front of a colorful water backdrop, and is lighted and recorded professionally.

Length: 30-45 minutes.