Lyrics
(Folk song from Trinidad and Tobago, adapted by Beth Thompson)
Dancer* in the moonlight
Dancer in the dew,
Dancer never come back
Until the clock strikes two.
Walk in dancer walk in,
Walk right in I say
Walk into my parlor
To hear my banjo play
I don’t hate nobody
And nobody hates me
All I want is _____________
To come and dance with me
Tra la la la la la
Tra la la la la
Tra la la la la la
Tra la la la la la
*Original title: Gypsy in the Moonlight
Circle Game
Formation – Students stand in a circle.
Verse 1 – Students hold hands and circle right. One student (“It”) walks around the outside of the circle.
Verse 2 – “It” comes into the circle and dances or does another motion.
Verse 3 – “It” chooses a student from the circle to come into the middle. “It” either sings the whole verse or just the name of the student.
Verse 4 – “It” and the second student dance in the middle of the circle.
At the end, “It” joins the circle, and the second student becomes “It.”
See also
- Country: Trinidad and Tobago
- Subjects: names / moon
- Activities: circle singing games
- Melody: tonic triad
- Meter: 4
- Rhythm:
/ 
(instrument part) - Scale: hexachord
- Tones: drmfsl
- Source: Songs from Trinidad,Edric Connor, Oxford University Press, 1958
YouTube
- Printable & Digital Visuals
- Song with chords, Lesson ideas for Rhythm (half notes, dotted quarter/eighth note patterns), Orff arrangement (PDF)
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
