“Story telling is about connecting to other people and helping people to see what you see.” – Michael Margolis

Just before Christmas

I was lucky enough to take Esther and William

To Disney on Ice – Frozen

This wonderful story of two sisters

Loosely based on The Snow Queen

Is a firm favourite in our house

The fact that the introduction to the show

Also featured Pumba and Timone from The Lion King

Meant excitement levels in our house

Were at an all time high

My children are obsessed with The Lion King

And spend much of their free time

Acting out scenes from the films and the stage show

Perfecting their dance fighting

And acrobatic arts

Esther is always Simba

William Nala

And Bea is Kiara

Any visitors to our house

Are treated to snippets of varying length

As the three of them put on

Their now infamous

Lion King shows

While Esther and William love putting on shows

They are not really very good at it

As part of our home education journey

We have had a go at writing scripts

Based on The Lion King

I have realised though

That what they most need to learn

Is how to tell a story

Not read a story from a book

But to truly tell a story

With words and actions

Music and dance

Going to see Disney on Ice

Was a great inspiration

And a super starting point for this work

“Stories have power. They delight, enchant, touch, teach, recall, inspire, motivate, challenge. They help us understand. They imprint a picture on our minds. Consequently, stories often pack more punch than sermons. Want to make a point or raise an issue? Tell a story.” – Janet Litherland

Both children came home

Wanting to act out their own version of the show

Bea was quickly changed from Kiara to Anna

William assumed the role of Olaf

And Esther

Of course

Was Elsa

But though they know the story of Frozen well

They struggled to tell their own version

And we were soon back to The Lion King

I decided that I would interrupt their free play

And try to help them put on a show

That uses their beloved acro dance

To really tell a story

To show a snapshot of

Life on Pride Rock

To help with this

We used some fantastic Disney ‘Fit To Dance’ Resources

Education videos and print outs

Linked to Disney on Ice

Esther, William and Bea all watched the videos

They liked seeing how characters are created

How feelings can be expressed through movement

They liked seeing how a show

On stage or ice

Is put together

After watching the videos

They all raced off

To don costumes

And start rehearsing a show

A Lion King show

This time with costumes

Considered staging and choreography

I was impressed

Our next plan is to use the Fit To Dance print outs

To explore two characters in depth

Thinking of words to describe how they look, how they feel and how they move

Thinking of key movements for each character

We have already talked about Mustafa being the king

And how he would move slowly

Making big, strong shapes with his body

How his actions would speed up

If he were attacking or fighting

We have talked about how Simba and Nala

Play fight

How they are best friends

And would move together

We have had some wonderful conversations

Inspired by Disney’s Fit to Dance

That I think will lead to us creating character descriptions

Signature dance and acro movements for each character

Movements to show different feelings

Including happy, sad, angry and scared

We are going to make notes about the dance we want to create

And then try to rehearse and put on a short show

My plan is to film it

And to share it here on the blog

I hope that you will come and have a look at it

We will also show you how we use the Fit To Dance resources for schools

To structure our storytelling

And choreograph our show

This is a collaborative post. We were given tickets to Disney on Ice and travel expenses in exchange for our honest review.