AlphaBeat by Kate Kuper

Today I am sharing Kate Kuper's album, AlphaBeat. This is my all-time favorite album for teaching the little ones. I play some of these songs every week in my early childhood classes. Let’s dive in!

​Class Staples:
The More We Are Together- This familiar tune is perfect as a welcome or warm-up song. For my Discover With Me (Parent/Tot) classes we perform this song seated. For my DiscoverTots (Age 2/3) we perform this song standing.

Imaginary Journey- Although there are many dance concepts explored throughout this song, this is the perfect track to have on hand when you need to change up the class or have extra time at the end. Your dancers will LOVE travelling through this creative journey. The blue jello is my personal favorite!

Concept Explorations:
Body Shape Jam- explore BODY SHAPES or BODY PARTS with this fun song that can be done seated or standing.

Show Your Feelings- explore SPEED to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. This song takes you through many feelings from mad to sad to sleepy to excited. I recommend this song for ages 4-6 as the “scared” feeling music is a bit…well..scary! :)

Action Dance- explore PLACE or ENERGY with this fantastic song. This is my FAVORITE song to do with my classes.

Locomotor Movement- explore PLACE with this catchy tune. Kate guides you through many locomotor movements. There is a time for reflection at the end of the song so the dancers can think about all the moves they just performed.

Near and Far- explore SIZE or RELATIONSHIPS with this fun track. It teaches the dancers how to move in and out of the circle as well as around the circle. Don’t forget your campfire!

Little Seed- explore SIZE or LEVELS with this imaginative song that guides little seeds to grow to big, high trees. Dancers start curled up small on a low level. The teacher “sprinkles” their backs with water so they can grow high.

Developing Skills:
Drumtalk- This is a great song to work on listening skills. There are some tricky parts so they REALLY have to pay attention. This one always gets them giggling.

Travelers in a Magic Forest, Swirl and Twirl, and Swirl, Twirl, Melt, Pop Up - These songs teach dancers how to take turns in groups. Dancers have to remember what group they are in as they take turns dancing away from their spot then returning back “home”.

Don’t miss these fun songs!
The Snowflake Dance- This poem was written by Walter de la Mare and is set to beautiful music. I use this song in my 1st-4th grade Creative Dance classes in the winter time. We choreograph the dance together.
Swirl and Twirl Instrumental- This song is great for a winter pre-ballet dance.

Best Part:
The album includes four guided warm-up songs. Sometimes I like to do these songs to change class up a bit. They also come in handy if I’m not feeling well and want to save my voice.
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You could do an entire class using just this one album. So, if you are subbing or don’t have time to plan anything out, whip this cd out and you are good to go!

Buy AlphaBeat HERE!
Happy Exploring!
Andrea Trench