The Sabre Dance
The Sabre Dance My students love to move to music and there’s no better piece to move to than Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance.” I don’t know who enjoys this lesson more: me or my students! I like to greet them at the door with a sabre to make them wonder what’s going on in music today! I have a really long plastic sword that works just fine for the effect! This free SMART Board Lesson can be downloaded at the bottom of this post. I realize there is way too much information for one lesson, but I like having different options for using this file with different grades or for revisiting the lesson at a later time for a different purpose. Information for orchestral study, and musical form are included. There is a home page with links to different sections of the lesson. I certainly would not go in the order that is given, simply because it’s better to talk a bit, move a bit, and explore some more. Having links on the home page and within groups of pages really helps manage the lesson flow using the SMARTBoard. I’ve also included links to an orchestra performance, a real Armenian sabre dance, and the music file via YouTube. A listening map and several fun activities are included. I hope you can use this file to introduce your students to Khachaturian’s incredible “Sabre Dance.”
