OPERA WARM UP ACTIVITY: “LIBRETTO LOOP” (created by Todd Woodard)

• OBJECTIVE: To build a foundational knowledge of some basic Opera terms through physical and vocal engagement, while simultaneously building energy and ensemble.

• STARTING POSITION: A Standing Circle (or “Loop”)

• Sample TA Intro:

“What is Libretto? … Yes, Libretto might be the text of an opera, but those words are brought to life through music, movement, emotion and ENERGY. So in this game, we are going to use some Opera terms as our simple libretto, and share them by passing ENERGY through, across and within our LOOP, using music, movement, and emotion.”

• TERMS with ACTIONS: o RECITATIVE: • Pass LIBRETTO Energy to the person next to you by singing the word “Recitative” to a TA-set or individualized melody with a directional clap • This continues in same direction until someone changes it with a different term

o ARIA: “Hold onto the energy before you pass it by taking a solo moment in the spotlight” • Person sings “Aria! Aria! Aria!”, perhaps bending on a knee with arm outstretched, or striking another strong emotional pose • Then pass the energy with “Recitative” or with one of the terms below

o VIBRATO • Person with energy shakes hands out in the direction of previous person to induce a vibrato in the voice while singing an extended “Vi- brAAAAA-TOOOOOO”) • This bounces the energy back to the previous person and they continue with energy pass in the opposite direction

o MELODY • First person sings “Melody” to a melody of their choice as they pass it to another person across the circle using a “frisbee” gesture with hands • Receiver ‘catches the frisbee’ and resolves the first person’s melody singing the word “Melody” as well • Receiver of ‘Melody’ then continues the energy pass o DUET: • First person chooses someone across the circle, extending their hand to them and sings: “Du-du-du-du-ET” • Second person extends their hand back to them and repeats the same melody: “Du-du-du-du-ET” • They EXCHANGE PLACES by coming to the middle, using their hands or physicality in some way, and both sing the same melody for “Du-du- du-doooooo ….” as they switch and end together in their exchanged places on “…..-ET!” • The second person in the duet continues the energy pass o CHORUS: • Person extends arms and sings “Chor-us!” • Everyone else repeats, extending arms, singing “Chor-US!!!" together • Person who called “Chorus” continues with energy pass o ORCHESTRA! • Person plays role of ‘Conductor’ and calls “Orchestra! Tap Tap Tap” (tapping with imaginary ‘baton’) • Everyone else raises an imaginary instrument of choice • ‘Conductor’ conducts everyone in circle to play motif from Barber of Seville Overture, pantomiming with their instruments and singing: “Da da da DA da; da da da DA da; da da da DA da da DA da da DA da DAAAAA.” • Person who called “Orchestra” continues with energy pass o SCENE CHANGE! • Person rolls arms and sings out: “SCENE CHAAAANGE” • Everyone safely switches places and ends up in a different place across the circle, striking a pose of a possible opera character or piece of scenery • Person who called “Scene Change” continues with energy pass o CURTAIN CALL • Person opens arms like a curtain and sings “Curtain Call!” • All others respond with: “Brav-OOOh!” (‘Clap Clap Clap’) and take a bow • Person who called “Curtain Call” continues with energy pass