EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL
De Stilte dances Flying Cow
You and your pupils will be attending a performance by dance company de Stilte from the Netherlands. To
get acquainted with the company, click on the link for a short introduction: http://youtu.be/-rRCUqnNgy0
About the performance
Playtime is fun yet serious at the same time. Once you’re totally immersed, anything can happen. Flying on
the wings of their imagination, two girls and a boy embark on a standoff: because when there are three of
you, who plays with whom?
From among the rolling eggs, the shuffling old woman and the flying cow, a game of friendship, loneliness
and solidarity emerges. Flying Cow is a reworking of the successful show MADCAP.
Watching a performance without words
You are taking your pupils to see a non-verbal performance. A performance without words can make us
insecure. Do I really get it? What exactly do they mean? Why are they not saying anything? Such questions,
this uncertainty, can prevent children from enjoying the show. For this reason, children should be told
upfront that they can create their own story, use their imagination. Albert Einstein already knew, ‘Logic will
get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere’.
Additionally, you can prepare the children for a nonverbal performance by talking to them about body
language. The assignments described below can help you with this.
What is body language?
Dance begins with the language of the body. A language that we speak continuously and understand
without being conscious of it. We give off signals, even if we ‘don’t say anything’. Without saying a word we
recognize when someone is sad or angry, shy or cheeky, mean or honest. We look straight ahead or face
the floor. We let our head hang down or held high.
We dance with full awareness. With their bodies, dancers express precisely what they want to say. They tell
their story without words, making use of body language.
You can talk about body language. Alternatively, you can practice it in the classroom by posing the following
questions to the children:

How do I make clear without words that everyone has to be quiet?

How do I indicate that I hear something somewhere? What if you hear a very soft sound? Or if you
hear a very loud noise?

Who has an idea how to get the other children to sit or stand up without using words?

I wave to someone who cycles past very quickly. Can you tell from my gestures which way he
went?

Can you demonstrate what you do when you are sad? What do you do if you are cold? And warm?

How do you sit like a ‘tough’ person? And how do you set as a ‘sweet’ person?

What are the differences between body language and sign language?
(You know your pupils best. Pose questions that you find relevant for the children and their situation.)
In advance: a game of Pictionary
You may also put it to the test right away by compiling a game of Pictionary. On a card, have all the children
write down an action or a feeling. Collect all cards in a basket and have one of the children pick a card from
that. Ask him or her to depict the action or feeling that is written on the card and let the other children
express what they see. With very young children you may do this game based on small drawings and
images that you stick on the cards. Ask them what movement belongs to the drawing/image.
We hope you enjoy the show!
We assume that, prior to your visit, you have informed the children about the behaviour in a theatre.
Reflective talk after the performance
After seeing the show, it is important to talk about it with the children. In this way, children learn to express
and share their experiences, ideas and emotions with each other. Every child views and experiences the
performance in a different way. We encourage this individuality!
You can guide the conversation by a number of descriptive and associative questions.
Descriptive and open questions such as:

What have you seen?

What did you notice?
Associative questions such as:

What did the performance make you think of?

What images do you get seeing this performance?

Have you been able to discover a story?

What characters did you see?
Challenge the children to use their imagination, pose questions where multiple answers are possible. And
give them the trust and confidence that every idea, every thought is valuable.
Assignments in the classroom
After the talk, you can do a number of assignments with the children as described below.
Assignment 1 – playing with two or three children
In the classroom
You can start a conversation with the children about the characters from the performance and how they
interacted with one another. Questions you may pose are:

Did the dancers play together?

What kind of play / games have you seen in the performance?

Did the dancers get along well?

Who of you also plays with three sometimes?

What is the difference from playing with two?

How does that work? When does it work and when does it not?

How do you solve that?

Do you play different games with different friends?
Assignment 2 – the wind orchestra
In the classroom
Talk to the children about the role of wind in the performance. What season does it remind them off? Can
they explain why?
What possibilities can the children come up with to produce wind sounds themselves? Think about small
music instruments or using the body to create sound (voice, clapping, tapping the feet, stomping etc.)
Now appoint a conductor of the wind orchestra. The conductor decides when there is a gentle breeze, when
it storms, when there is no wind at all or when the wind stirs, turning into a huge whirlwind.
From the orchestra, you can appoint a number of children who take on the role of dancer. Can they
responds to the music they hear and translate this in movement? How could they show a whirlwind?
Assignment 3 – pass it on
In the classroom
PVC pipes are used in many different ways in the performances. As the basket of a hot air balloon, as the
handlebar of a bike or as the head of a cow.
Have the children collectively pick any item from the classroom (e.g. a book). How many different functions
for the item can they come up with, and how does that show in movement? It can range from a writing block
to a television screen, a pillow, a paving stone or a cell phone.
Alternatively, pick another item and have children pass it round in different ways, giving the item a new
function/meaning each time it is passed on.
Assignments in the gymnasium or sport hall
Cycling
Music suggestion: track 7 and/or 10 of the CD
Make the children sit in their own spot in the space. Tell them all of you are going on a bicycle tour. While
you are talking, the children will follow along.
Grab the handlebars with two hands
 Pose the dance question: are the handlebars wide or narrow? Do you have to bend over or can
you sit up straight to grab the handlebars?
Let the children try everything or let them make a choice themselves from the possibilities you offer.
 You say: “Show me what your handlebars look like….”
Once everyone is ready we can get on the bike and start cycling!
 Pose the dance question: ‘How can show that we are getting on the bike?”

Enjoy the ride! (lift your knees one by one and push them back to the floor)
If you wish to add some variation in the pace you can give the following suggestions:
 Cycling in the sunshine
 Cycling in the pouring rain. You want to get home quickly!
 A tough wind is blowing and you have to paddle extra hard to move forward
 Yeah! We are driving down a hill….
 The traffic light is red

The traffic light is green
If you wish to add variation to the use of space
 Straight streets
 Curvy streets with small or large bends
 Wide streets or very narrow streets
 Drive circles on a roundabout
 Don’t forget to indicate the direction you’re going in!
Together with others
 Cycle your own path
 Cycle next to each other
 Cycle behind one another or chase each other (does that change the pace?)
 Cycle throughout the entire space and cross each other. Be careful not to bump!
Floating
Music suggestion: track 2 of the CD
All children take a place in space. Have the children carefully rock back and fourth to the music. Add arm
movement and explain to them their arms are as light as a feather. They ‘float’ in air so to speak.
If this works, let the children sit down and ask them if they can also make their legs as light as a feather and
move them to the rhythm of the music.
Ask the children to stand up again and dance throughout space as if their bodies were as light as a feather.
Sit in a circle and show the little feather that you brought along. Demonstrate how it can stay floating in air if
you blow it. How it whirls down and falls to the floor without making a sound. Let the children resume their
position in space and let them float and whirl down.
Perhaps a gust of wind blows all ‘feathers’ into the same direction before the fall in the ground?
Flying
Music suggestion: track 8 of the CD
Let all children start by squatting down somewhere in the space. Now let them choose whether they want to
dance as a big bird or a small bird. A small bird with tiny fluttering wings and quick movements, or perhaps a
bird of prey with calm, easy wing-beats spread wide in the sky.
Birds can be high up in the sky…or just above the ground. They can take a dive to the ground or do
somersaults high up in the air. The agility with which a sparrow changes direction or the bow a large bird
takes before descending.
Large birds take steps with their claws, whereas tiny birds hop, looking for food.
When the music stops all birds silently sit on a branch (squatted in a different spot). Once the music starts,
they can choose a different bird. Encourage children to change bird specie and have them experience
different ways of flying.
Multiple-choice questions with photos and sounds
Flying Cow is a reworking of the successful show ‘Speelvogels’ , a Southern Dutch slang word for children
that play. However, it is not just the children that play a part in the show, but also birds. References can be
found in props such as the eggs and the bird cages.
Below are a number of multiple-choice questions which relate to pictures of animals and animal sounds,
which you can find on the CD.
What animal is in this picture?
A.
B.
C.
D.
What animal is in this picture?
cow
horse
bird
Sheep
Which bird is in this picture?
A.
B.
C.
D.
A. dog
B. frog
C. bear
D. tiger
Which bird is in this picture?
parrot
blackbird
sparrow
chicken
A. guinea fowl
B. cockerel
C. jackdaw
D. cuckoo
Which bird is in this picture?
A.
B.
C.
chicken
cockerel
chick
CD with sounds
What animal belongs to this sound?
Pick a sound from the CD and let the children guess which animal makes this sound. Can they also tell what
the animal looks like and how it moves?
Which animal can fly?
A.
B.
C.
D.
sheep
cat
bird
dog
CD suggestion: play track 17, 24, 28 to hear the sounds of different bird species.
Which animal barks?
A.
B.
C.
D.
duck
giraffe
dog
donkey
CD suggestion: play track 21 to hear barking
Which animal crows?
A.
B.
C.
D.
cockerel
chicken
cat
swan
CD suggestion: play track 19 and 20
More sounds
There are more tracks on the CD with sounds. Let children listen to some other examples and ask them who
or what makes this sound. Can they also answer in ‘movement’? So without words, showcase the sound
they just heard.
Making sounds
Ask the children:
What sounds does a donkey make?
(brays)
A pig ________________ (grunts)
A bird _______________ (sings)
A sheep ______________ (bleats)
A horse ______________ (neighs)
A dog ________________ (barks)
Ask a child to make one of the sounds.
Would the animal sound different if it is hungry, wants to play, is tired or angry? Whom can make such a
sound?