World Music Performance Pieces: elementary middle grades

I've been doing a school-wide International Music Festival, where every grade level performs music and dance from a different country, for a few years now, and it is probably my favorite performance event I've ever done but it is a lot to put together! Although for the most part each grade studies the same culture each year to fit in with the skills and concepts they are learning in general music, each year I change at least some of the pieces so it's never the exact same program. Here are the performance pieces I have used over the years with my middle elementary grades- each of these would work well as part of any concert, informance, or program on their own, or you can use this list to put together your own International Music Festival!

I'm listing the pieces by culture/ country below, with the grade level I used them with in parentheses. Obviously many of these could be done with different grades as well, not just the ones I use them with!

Maori New Zealand (2nd grade)

• E Papa Waiari (students sit in rows facing a partner and do a different tititorea stick pattern with each verse, stopping to sing the last repeated line with the recording before changing patterns)
• Hine E Hine (students stand spread out, each holding one poi rope, and do some basic repeated moves with the poi with the recording, singing along with the repeated A section)
• Tutira Mai (students stand in rows and sing while doing the motions as shown in the linked video)

India (2nd grade)

• Kochu Poocha (students stand and sing while doing the motions as shown in the linked video. I've also had them sing while doing a clapping pattern facing a partner)
• Chakkardi Bhammardi (students stand in a circle each holding 2 sticks and do the stick game as shown in the video)

Philippines (3rd grade)

• Tinikling (students stand in rows between jump bands and do the basic tinikling step with the music as shown in the video, with one student holds the bands on each end of each pair of bands, sitting on the floor as shown with the poles)
• Bahay Kubo (half of the students sing the chorus while the other half plays a harmony line on recorder, then they swap parts)
• Magtanim Ay Di Biro (students sing the song while doing motions to show the lyrics, similar to the linked video, in the A section, then face a partner and do a simple clapping pattern with the beat for the B section)

If you have other songs or musical performances you've done representing these cultures, or other ways you've used these songs, I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below! I've split up my lists of performance pieces I use in my K-6 International Music Festival into grade spans- here are the pieces I use with K-1/ early childhood, and check back for the pieces I use with upper elementary/ middle school. And if you are thinking about putting together a similar program, you can find all the information on what I do and how I do it, from logistics to teaching to stage setup, in this post: