Blog Post #19 - Movin' Mondays & Fysical Fridays!

Haley and her group performing their physical warm-up project in April of 2019.

By Guest Blogger: Haley Murphy '21
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Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing your best to stay safe and healthy during this time off (It has been lots of hand-washing and sanitizing for me!). My name is Haley and I am a junior here at DHS. I’m so grateful to have been invited to be a guest blogger this week! I’m excited to tell you guys all about physical warm-ups.

Every day in chorus class Mr. Grover starts off with vocal warm-ups, but on Mondays and Fridays he follows up with a highly anticipated physical warm-up. In simple terms, a physical warm-up is a dance- choreographed by Mr. Grover himself- done to a song suggested by a student. They aren’t extremely intricate dances, as they are just designed to get everyone moving and awake (especially effective in Monday morning classes), so simple steps like clapping and stepping side to side are primarily what makes up a physical warm-up.

So, every Monday/Friday after vocal warm-ups, Mr. Grover will call out “Okay! Everyone find a spot for physical warm-up!”. Everyone will spread out in the chorus room, and then proceed to mirror Mr. Grover’s movements throughout the song until just after the bridge, when you can then freestyle until the end!

Personally, physical warm-ups are definitely one of my favorite parts of chorus class. I am very passionate about retaining a high quality of physical warm-ups throughout the year, and I do this by grading each one that we do in class (much to Mr. Grover’s dismay I think). So far this year the worst physical warm-up (just in my opinion, of course) was to the song Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift, and scored a 92/100. The best were Uptown Funk coming in at a 99/100, and Classic at 98/100. 

When I grade physical warm-ups, I use a very similar scale as is used on our physical warm-up projects. Yes, you heard that right, OUR physical warm-up projects! At the end of every year students get to create their own physical warm-ups and present them to class. This assignment is a fan favorite and many students are very enthusiastic about it. Get ready, it’s almost here! 

​If you get bored, or need a fun way to stay active over this break, try making your own physical warm-up. Have fun with it! Staying entertained and moving will keep you from going stir crazy. Again, I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy. I’ll see you all back at school!

Haley Murphy is a junior at Danvers High School and a member of the Mixed Chorus and Ingrid Sound.  She also serves on the Chorus Executive Committee and is Vice President of the Tri-M Music Honor Society.  In addition to her work in the music department, Haley can be found winning races for the Danvers High Track team!