Friday night I got to see Charlotte Diamond in Concert at Spokane Falls Community College. She was in town to do a workshop the next day. It was a sweet deal for only five dollars. I regularly sing her - I am a Pizza - before afterschool programs during that figgetty time after everyone is seated and the program still won't start for six minutes. I haven't used any other of her songs yet.
There were at least 400 in the audience, in a mix of parents, educators, and kids, ranging from infants to tweens. And they were very enthusiastic.
Charlotte did a fantastic job of keeping everyone involved. And she had great crowd control. She periodically sent a mob of little ones from the base of the stage with a "Go back to your seats, go back to your seats", and then into the next number. To acheive quiet when she needed it, she had everyone go "Shhhh", again "Shhhh" and then into the next number.
Charlotte signs (American Sign Language) many of her songs and teaches the sign before she begins. She had parents take out their keys and shake them to make the sound of rain. She donned not only a banana hat but also a fish hat and dog ears. Apparently folks in the workshop the next day were going to get to make their own dog ears. I was very envious.
She did a new song, "I have shoes and I can walk", which will fit into this week's storytime perfectly. She also did a fish song that I had never heard. She did this with cutouts of the fish, octopus, shark etc. As each animal is eaten it is put in a pocket at the back of the larger anima. I am definitely going to investigate this one further. She also sang "I am a bubble" to the tune of "I am a Pizza"
The audience knew her songs and loved them. She had the parents and kids hugging to "Four Hugs a Day" and had them dancing in the aisles to a rousing rendition of "La Bamba".
Here is Charlotte's website: http://www.charlottediamond.com/ And you can probably find many of her cd's at your library. And if you ever get the chance to see her in person, go for it.
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