About This Lesson
A contemporary folk tale, The Boy Who Wanted to Talk to Whales, is about a boy who is compelled by a powerful dream to talk to the great whales. His adventures focus on the relationship between humans and creatures of the natural world and his interest in the soundscape relating to the sea. The ethereal sound of a bow playing across a musical saw brings the voice of the whale to life. Lessons feature a discovery of sounds, a sound scavenger hunt, and ways to communicate both verbally and non-verbally. Transformation and the Power of Nature are the dominant themes throughout.
I saw this story, The Boy Who Wanted to Talk to Whales, as a stage performance in the early 1990s. It was WONDERFUL! The variety of found instruments stirred my academic juices and the haunting beauty of the musicphone, combined with the story about communicating with whales, has stuck with me for 25 years. I do not know how this lesson plan works or whether it must be used with a performance by Robert Minden's group, but I highly recommend it.
SGlassco