Stage Combat

We watched a bunch of Stage Combat videos and got really interested in this almost-dance-like art form. (I remember it being a big hit [HA HA] last time too!) 

I got my mom to save us some newspapers so we could make swords while we were learning about fight choreography. It's pretty cool to learn even some basics of how people make fighting look more real on stage and on film. I split the kids up into groups of two and had them choreograph their own fight scenes.

These two just liked whacking their swords together and laughing about it

Goldie and Teddy worked Clementine and Gus and Zig into their little scene and it was almost like a mini-play. Super cute.

Daisy and Junie's fight scene was amazing! They did Romeo and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. They fought with swords, fists, and feet, and were practicing all morning to get it exactly right! It was like a complicated dance, and they did it SO well…I thought several times, "Oh no, they really hit each other!"

(This would be a good place to remember little Daisy getting super into fight scenes as a 5-year-old and saying "I die, I die!" So this flair for the dramatic is not new. 😄)

There was even one part where Daisy slashed at Junie's arm, and she clapped her hand over the wound, then lifted it away and looked at it covered with blood. She had colored with red marker on her hand and arm in that spot, to reveal it at that precise moment, and it was actually SO realistic and somewhat terrifying!

Here is one of their takes of the finished fight

And here is my favorite fight scene ever, by Gus and Clementine.

Newspaper swords

If one is going to sword fight properly, one needs a proper sword—not just a yardstick! I was really happy to find this tutorial for how to make the easiest newspaper swords ever! We didn't even paint ours. We just drew with markers on the hilts. And the children loved them! They're easy enough to make that when they (inevitably) get whacked to death, you can make new ones without too much trouble.

Junie is none-too-sure about this dueling business. But she did insist on having her own sword!

Have at thee, villain!

Sword Fighting and Stage Combat

There's a ton to learn about Stage Combat, and, not being a Theater Person, I knew nothing about any of it, but we watched some interesting videos and read about how actors train and choreograph their fight scenes. The children really liked the idea of staged fights that looked real, and they were fascinated when I told them about fake blood and other special effects actors use. After we learned about it, I gave them yardsticks and told them to choreograph some swordfight scenes. And did they ever! It was pretty hilarious to watch what they came up with.

Abe also tried his hand at juggling. With little success. :) It's hard!

Malachi and Daisy trade insults. Honor demands they fight a duel!

Daisy falls dramatically, wounded.

And dies. What a sad, sad end!