Peter and the Wolf Study Guide and Teacher Resources
Makaroff Youth Ballet and Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra
SUGGESTED PRE-PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES
Basic Activities:
· Read aloud or have the students read the story of Peter and the Wolf.
· Listen to excerpts from the score and notice the ways the music changes with each different character in the story.
· Discuss behavioral expectations of students when attending a ballet, concert or play. (See the “What Students Can Expect” section below.)
· Explore any of the pre-performance discussion topics listed below.
THE STORY Peter and the Wolf A Synopsis of the Story
Subtitled a “symphonic fairy tale” by the composer Sergei Prokofiev, Peter and The Wolf was written in 1936. Performed with a narrator, the musical work is as an introduction to the instruments of the orchestra, and a delightful ballet. Each character in the story is personified by its own instruments and melody.
The story is set in the European countryside in the 1900’s. The main character is a young boy named Peter (about 8 years old) who lives with his Grandfather in a small country house surrounded by meadows, a pond, and woods. Peter’s three best friends are a little Bird who has a nest near Peter’s home, a Duck who likes to splash in the nearby pond at the edge of the woods, and a playful Cat who is forever chasing his own tail!
Peter is a young boy who lives with his grandfather in the Russian countryside. He is a bit rambunctious and certainly doesn’t listen to his grandfather’s advice – to lock the gate and stay inside! Well, that’s no fun!
One day, while playing in the meadow, Peter leaves the gate open to let a duck loose for a swim in the pond. While Peter chats and argues with a little bird, his cat sneaks out and is on the prowl. Luckily, Peter sees this, warns the bird, and both the duck and the bird are safe.
Grandfather is not happy about this. What if a wolf were to find them? Peter is told to go inside and to lock the gate. As if on cue, a wolf does appear! The agile cat escapes into a tree, but the duck isn’t so lucky. The wolf swallows him whole!
Peter is not going to give up so easily and let this wolf feast on his animal friends. He concocts a plan to catch the wolf and tie him to the tree with the help of the daring bird. Together, they capture the wolf and hang him up by his tail.
Some hunters, who have also had their eyes on the wolf, come by and prepare for their own attack; but Peter won’t hear of it! He announces that they will take him to the zoo, much to the hunters’ and his grandfather’s disappointment. All Grandfather can mutter to himself is, “What if Peter hadn’t caught the wolf? What then?”
On the way there, guess what they heard?! A quack, quack, quacking coming from the belly of that big, bad wolf.
THE COMPOSER Sergei Prokofiev 1891-1953
Sergei Prokofiev was born in the village of Sontsovka in the Donets region of Ukraine. He was a child prodigy on the order of Mozart, composing for piano at age five and writing an opera at nine. His first teacher was his mother, a talented pianist.
He attended the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1904 to 1914, winning the Anton Rubinstein prize for best student pianist when he graduated. He traveled widely, spending many years in London and Paris, and toured the United States five times.
In 1936, Prokofiev returned to settle permanently in the Soviet Union. One of his first compositions after his return was Peter and the Wolf, written in just two weeks in April 1936 for a children’s theater in Moscow. Prokofiev invented the story and wrote the narration himself, drawing on memories of his own childhood. He constructed the music as a child’s introduction to the orchestra, with each character in the story represented by a different instrument, or group of instruments: Peter by the strings, the bird by the flute, the duck by the oboe, the cat by the clarinet, the wolf by the horn section, and so on.
Peter and the Wolf was an immediate success and has been loved by children all over the world. The music is sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adults, even through repeated hearings. Its moral —you can’t be a hero if you don’t take risks — delights children as much as it must have cheered the composer.
What Students Can Expect at a Ballet Performance
Performers on the stage are aware of their audience and want very much to communicate their art to you, and feel your appreciation in turn. In fact, by the time you arrive at a theatre for a scheduled performance, many people (choreographers, composers, dancers, technicians, costume and lighting designers, etc.) have worked very hard to bring you their best efforts. In order to show respect for those efforts, every audience member must give the performance their full attention and avoid any behavior that interferes with anyone else doing the same. We have rules that help us accomplish this goal, and you should do your best to understand and follow them:
1. Always arrive at the theatre with plenty of time to find your seats and settle down into them. Late arrivals mean disruption for everyone else, including the performers.
2. No shoving or running in the lobby.
3. No cameras or video recorders. Flashes are dangerous for dancers and unapproved photos and videos violate copyright laws.
2. When the auditorium lights dim, please quiet down. The performance is about to begin.
4. No hooting, whistling or yelling during the performance. The performance has begun when anyone on stage starts dancing, or when the music starts playing. The best time to applaud is when the dancers have finished a series of moves and there is a pause in the music. However, feel free to applaud during the dance if you see the dancers do something really spectacular, such as a series of big jumps or multiple turns in a row. You are also welcome to laugh is someone on stage is being intentionally funny.
5. No talking or whispering during the performance. You will have plenty of time to discuss your impressions at intermission of after the show.
6. No gum, candy or food in the theatre (it makes noise and sticky messes).
7. Use the bathroom before the show begins or at intermission, not during the performance.
8. Always be respectful of the performers and the other members of the audience. Everyone is trying to watch the performance.
9. Enjoy the performance!
Did you know?
Ages of the dancers in The Nutcracker range from five to 18. All of the dancers attend schools in the Fox Cities and Central Wisconsin Areas. Some of them may even go to school with you!
All of the dancers in The Nutcracker take ballet classes at the Makaroff School of Ballet. www.makaroffschoolofballet.com
PANTOMIME RETELL Pantomime (sometimes called just mime) is the art of using actions or gestures without words as a means of communication. It plays an important role in ballet, as it helps the audience better understand the story and what the characters are feeling. A dancer must use the arms, hands, fingers, head and eyes, as well as the feet and legs, to make a role “come alive.” Here are descriptions of some of the most familiar gestures used in ballet.
Panto gestures (resource) Anger Fist shaken Obey Strong point to floor with finger
Ask Hands in pleading Quiet Finger to lip gestures
Call Hands cupped around Remember Touch or point to mouth temple
Death Arms crossed at Warning Wag finger wrists, fists closed.
Fear Body leaning away, Scared Hands held over head palms out
Hear Hand cupping ear Full Rub belly
No/Never Hands palm down Open Swing arm open crossing back and forth over wrists
Topics and Themes in Peter and the Wolf
Animals: The animals in the story are: the cat, the bird, the duck and the wolf. Which of these animals are friendly? Which of these animals live in Wisconsin? Have the students ever seen these animals in real life? What are some other stories about these animals?
The Country: In the story, Peter lives in the country. What would it be like to live in the country? Have any of the students ever lived in the country?
Family: Peter lives with his grandfather. Ask the students to talk about their grandparents. What names do they call them? Do they live far away or nearby?
Nature: Hunting is common in nature. In the story, animals hunt. What are the different reasons they hunt (Cat — fun, wolf — food, hunters — the wolf is dangerous)? Have students create a food chain, collecting or drawing pictures.
Peter and the Wolf Ideas
Literacy ● Story told through dance and music ● Symbolism ● Analogy- wordless book to ballet has no words ● Ballet vocabulary and terminology ● Problem/Solution ● Retell ● Their interpretation written as a reader’s theater ● Folktale vs Fairytale ● Fiction vs nonfiction(animal study) ● Character comparison ● Inquiry ○ How did the characters change? ○ What will happen after? ○ What would you do? ○ What if…? ○ Why did the character…? ○ I wonder…?
Math ● Sequence cards put in order by number of character involvement in story ● Memory match instrument to character ● Tangram of characters ● Tally and graph when you hear the instrument
Musical Concepts (in addition to above) ● Instrument Timbre recognition and distinction ● Symbolism- characters/instruments ● Theme Recognition - compare/contrast, dissonance, etc.. ○ Character themes singled out: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuDmepj8uyhdOY-ehbhPL1UABHyVXfo-s ● Composer - Sergei Prokofiev (Russian) ● Introduction to the Symphony and Instrument Families - Recognition and distinction
Dance/Kinesthetic Elements ● Students would pantomime instruments during performance ● Prior to performance students would use creative movement to connect with characters and sounds using musical clips from each character
More Ideas Continued…..
● Read story - familiarize -plot line, setting, characters ○ Use Peter & The Wolf books, story telling, (For reading, one resource is Peter and the Wolf, Sergei Prokofiev translated Maria Carlson. Illustrated Charles Mikolaycak. With recording and narration, one resource is Peter and the Wolf Illustrated Peter Malone - Cincinnati Pops)
● Familiarize students with Prokofiev, Characters & Instruments - basic ○ https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KAlbBBfu6Ssc8hG5dku5f50YEYwygt WigUJidSDtcAs/edit?usp=sharing ○ Play sound clips - each character ○ https://youtu.be/MfM7Y9Pcdzw ○ More sound clips - each character with one visual of instruments ○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lLHJDQxbYI\
● Practice for Audience Participation: When each instrument, group or “Character” is sound, have students pantomime the instrument they hear with the correlating character. ○ Use modeling and student demonstration from discussion
● Have students act out/play the parts of the characters - possibly first with just a few seconds to act and then with a portion of the recording. (Maybe half of the class is one of the characters and half are the instruments that correspond to each.) ○ If possible, bring in ‘live’ instruments to see how actual instruments look and play and feel. ○ Audience Etiquette - familiarize. Discuss pantomime of instruments and how that is unique to this performance. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VaqDKb8ZDnMUXfgieDBFENov4rZg9WYoc m9jn5Ezq6Y/edit?usp=sharing
After the Show Ideas
● Art projects like masks or finger puppets to retell to other classes.
● Use colors from Instrument feeling lesson to create a color map describing dynamics
● Make a listening map on a large sheet of paper to visually describe the story, children can add to it by drawing pictures.
● Draw a favorite scene in the ballet
● Discussion/debates for older children looking at character traits
● Write a letter to cast describing favorite parts of the ballet
● Explore food chains
Resources
Story parts
Peter didn't listen to his Grandfather's and went into the meadow where he met a bird. Peter and the hunters brought the wolf to the zoo. A cat tried to eat the bird. Peter caught the wolf by tying him to a tree. Peter's Grandfather was angry at Peter for going into the meadow even after he told him not to. Peter and the bird met a duck.
The wolf came out of the woods and ate the duck
Media links
● Live performance by Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, narrated by conductor. Close up views of instruments and performers. https://youtu.be/MfM7Y9Pcdzw
● Live ballet performance (unattributed performance): https://youtu.be/84UGEqcg24E
● Advertisement/teaser video for Nashville ballet performance: https://youtu.be/op3eGT-Z_sI ○ Shows montage of dancers in costume on stage and in rehearsal with young children
● School tube introduces children to the idea of Peter and the Wolf. Describes the music and character concept. https://www.teachertube.com/video/peter-and-the-wolf-245162
● Series of video clips that have only one instrument at a time to identify. Visual shows pictures of the instruments represented. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lLHJDQxbYI
● Disney Shortened version https://www.teachertube.com/video/peter-and-the-wolf-245162