help - dance number for kids

I need some ideas; i have to choreograph a really good cute number for 8 middle school age kids for a recital..... i've been teaching forever, but am running dry of ideas. i need good suggestions - it's a classic recital, but heavy on the broadway theme. thanks!!!

Something from The Music Man would work. But I'm not sure about anything else though...I'm not an expert on dance numbers.

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I did a number to Step in Time a couple years ago at a summer program. We had "chimney sweeps" (wooden dowels painted black with black pipe cleaners - I still have it in my room for some reason), and did a lot of acrobatics, and a nice little turn section (if you have strong dancers who can, say, fouette while holding a stick).

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I did a similar thing with 7 year olds, and we did VERY challenging material, and songs from shows such as SWEET CHARITY, INTO THE WOODS, SPAMALOT, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, NINE, OLIVER, etc.

All of that material is extremely difficult for 7 year olds- none of which could read the music, and some of them couldn't evevn read yet. We believed in them and pushed them - and in 3 weeks, they had every difficult, fast paced word to "You Can't Stop the Beat" down and amazed us and their parents. If you teach them right and show them that you believe in them (although that;s easier with middle schoolers,) children are capable of anything.

My kids always LOVED singing and dancing to:

"It's the Hard Knock Life: from ANNIE
"Be Back Soon" (in a round) from OLIVER!
"Welcome to the 60's" and "YCSTB" from HAIRSPRAY

and after 5 years of teaching little kids, their all time favorite song to sing and dance to was "Hair" from, obviously, HAIR. They were fantastic. Challenge them!

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