Wham! It's a Poetry Jam: Discovering Performance Poetry

Wham! It's a Poetry Jam: Discovering Performance Poetry — page 9
Call and Response a Class Act When one person calls out a phrase and a group of people responds in unison that is known as call and response Poets and storytellers from Africa have used the call and response method of performance for so long that no one can even remember when it started Way before there were newscasts and talk shows before television radio or books the poets and storytellers of Africa told the news of great hunts wars births and deaths by performing poetry And since these poets had no computers or even pens and paper they memorized all their work The best thing about a call and response performance is that it gives everyone in the audience a chance to be part of the performance And no one even has to leave his or her seat The poem All My Fault on the next page will help you learn two important skills for performance 1 the power of group response 2 the power of memorizing OK I know what you're thinking MEMORIZE Is she kidding Here's the scoop about memorization If you take the time to memorize a poem you own it You'll be able to express it better andyou’ll give a better performance Why People can see your face and youwill be able to move more freely on stage Hey it's not so hard You know Mary Had a Little Lamb don’t