Anansi and the Hat Shaking Dance for reader, strings and percussion

Anansi and the Hat Shaking Dance is the sixth in a series of musical stories for children involving a small ensemble, reader, and soloists. The piece employs an adaptation of a West African folktale by Judy Constantinides, the composer’s wife and professional librarian. The story uses the Ashanti version of the folk tale, which explains why spiders are always bald and hide in tall grass. The work received its premiere and numerous repeat performances at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library System branches in summer 2006. Judy Constantinides was the reader and the musical part was performed by members of the Louisiana Sinfonietta under the direction of the composer.

The other pieces in the series are The Dancing Turtle (1999), The Singing Cucaracha (2000), Lazy Jack (2001), The Penguin Parade (2002), The Dancing Shoes (2003), The Cat that Walked by Himself (2007), How the Camel Got His Hump (2008), The Magic Pot (2009), The Frog Prince (2010), The Magic Snake (2011), The Peddler’s Dream (2012), Porridge (2014), Sody Sallyratus (2015), No Room! (2017), and Fair Is Fair! (2018).