Leah Hopkins

The Swan Drama... Leah Hopkins

The Swan Drama was created to be used while listening to the music of Peter Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. However, the imaginative story line and pictures are also satisfying to children without the music. The story begins in the peaceful and tranquil surroundings of the swans playfully swimming in a warm and safe environment. As the music progresses with darker sounding chords, a conflict is revealed by the appearance of another bird. The bird appears and the swans become startled, the invading bird leaves and the swans regain their composure and continue to play. The invading bird again returns with a few other birds to battle the swans. The swans are beaten and discouraged, yet soon regain their strength and composure, and resume play. The story line is sequenced to the music of Swan Lake. This book promotes movement improvisation, listening, music appreciation, and imagination through the story line. In the classroom, the story is depicted with children using creative movement and scarves to represent the roles of the swans and the invading birds. By integrating music to the story and also using creative movement, children always have a resounding and delightful experience. The key to the success of the Swan Drama has been imagination. It is a book that children absolutely love! This book has been shared with children over and over and the response is: "can we do it again"? The book is illustrated and centers on sound themes that offer "joy" as an objective goal to accomplish beyond the conflict.