Freeze dance with classical music: pieces and rules

Freeze dance has one rule. Dance while the music plays, and freeze when it stops. Classical music gives the game fast dances, steady marches, and pieces with stops built in. This page has the rules, eight twists, and twelve pieces to play.

The rules

1. One person runs the music and faces away from the dancers.
2. The music plays, and everyone dances.
3. The music stops, and everyone freezes at once.
4. A dancer who moves is out.
5. The last dancer left wins.

With children under five, play with no one out and no winner. A dancer who moves does five star jumps and carries on.

In Britain, the game is called musical statues.

Eight twists

1. Statue themes. Before each round, call a theme: animals, sports, or instruments. Each dancer freezes as a statue of that thing.

2. Match the music. The dancers move the way the music sounds: fast or slow, heavy or light. Hungarian Dance No. 5 keeps changing speed, so the dancers have to change with it.

3. Levels. The leader calls “high,” “middle,” or “low” during the dance. The dancers freeze at that level when the music stops.

4. Melt. When the music stops, the dancers freeze for a count of three. Then they melt to the floor in slow motion.

5. Mirrors. The dancers work in pairs. When the music stops, one freezes, and the partner copies the pose.

6. Freeze and name. While frozen, each dancer names one thing from the music: an instrument, or a word such as loud, soft, fast, or slow.

7. Backward freeze. The dancers stand still while the music plays and dance in the silence.

8. No pause button. Choose a piece that stops by itself. The dancers freeze at each gap in the music.

Pieces with stops built in

• “Kangaroos” from The Carnival of the Animals, by Saint-Saëns. Two pianos play short notes with gaps between them. Jump on the notes and freeze in the gaps.
• Hungarian Dance No. 5, by Brahms. The music charges ahead, pulls back, stops, and charges again.
• String Quartet “The Joke,” last movement, by Haydn. Near the end, Haydn adds long pauses, and the piece seems to finish several times.
• “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, by Grieg. Short silences break up the last chords.
• Surprise Symphony, second movement, by Haydn. Turn the game around. Tiptoe through the soft tune, and freeze on the loud bang.

Twelve pieces to play

Piece	Composer	How to move
“Russian Dance” from The Nutcracker	Tchaikovsky	Jumps on the strong beats
The Can-Can	Offenbach	Kicks
Hungarian Dance No. 5	Brahms	Fast, then slow, then fast again
“In the Hall of the Mountain King”	Grieg	A tiptoe that grows into a run
The gallop from the William Tell Overture	Rossini	A gallop
“Flight of the Bumblebee”	Rimsky-Korsakov	Darting and buzzing
Radetzky March	Johann Strauss Sr.	A march
Sabre Dance	Khachaturian	As fast as the feet can go
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka	Johann Strauss II	Quick, light steps
Rondo alla Turca	Mozart	A march with a spin at each turn of the tune
“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker	Tchaikovsky	A tiptoe, for a calm round
“The Swan” from The Carnival of the Animals	Saint-Saëns	Slow motion, for the last round

A ten-minute plan

1. Warm up. March and freeze to the Radetzky March.
2. Speed up. Jump and freeze to the “Russian Dance.”
3. Listen. Match the speed of Hungarian Dance No. 5.
4. Build. Start low and small for “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” and grow with the music.
5. Cool down. Move in slow motion to “The Swan,” and melt to the floor at the end.

Tips

• Clear the floor. Move chairs and toys to the walls.
• Check the feet. Socks slip on a smooth floor. Bare feet or shoes grip better.
• Vary the gaps. Stop the music after five seconds one time and after thirty the next.
• Keep the freeze short. Three to five seconds is long enough for a young child.
• Name a statue. Point out one clever statue after each round.

What the game asks of a child

The game asks a child to listen and to stop the body on a signal. The twists add more. Matching the music calls for hearing fast and slow, and loud and soft. Read tempo words in music and dynamics in music.

Print and play

Print the tempo and dynamics word cards. Draw a card before each round, and dance that way. Try the tempo word game. For more music to move to, read classical music for kids to dance to and fast classical music for kids. For more party games, read musical party games for kids.