Gold Shoes, Fanny Packs, & Pumped Up Jams.
Learning student engagement strategies from the dance-a-long comedy show Koo Koo Kanga Roo.
It was relatively quiet, although it wouldn’t be for long. The excitement in the stale stadium air was palpable. My children were the first ones past the velvet rope — and with reckless abandon, they raced their way down the stairs of the Xcel Energy Center.
As I scrambled my way down after them, I could feel the sandpaper scratching against the bottom of my sneakers. The other concert-goers seemed oblivious, but to Griffin and Norah it was clear. It was an all out race to the bottom and we definitely won. Our highly coveted prize was a cluster of seats in the front row to see Koo Koo Kanga Roo as part of the Minnesota Wild Kids Event Series. For the next 40 minutes, Norah and Griffin waited in restless anticipation for what was sure to be the defining moment of their young lives.
After a trip to the merch table for a ‘Koo’ T-shirt to appease my miniature super fans, Neil and Bryan emerged on stage wearing their signature golden footwear and fanny pack combo. Griffin and Norah froze. I’m sure the moment felt surreal, and their five year old brains were operating on stimulus overload. They had never seen anyone famous before let alone been close enough to catch them during a stage jump (and knowing Koo Koo Kanga Roo, this was a very real possibility).
Over the past few months, no one has been more famous in our home than Neil and Bryan. Their catalog of hits has become the soundtrack to our lives. We dance to “Get Yo Body Moving” in our living room, jam to “Rolling in Our Minivan” while in Mom’s minivan, and sing “Everybody Poops” at the top of our lungs (much to their grandmother’s chagrin).
Koo Koo Kanga Roo is the dance-a-long comedy show from two friends who set out to experiment with live music and make it more fun. Armed with nothing more than an iPod, two mics, one giant rainbow and some gold sneakers, Koo Koo Kanga Roo puts on an all-ages dance party that invites everyone to join in. If you’re new to my writing, you’ll soon find out that admiring a couple thirty year old buddies dancing their hearts out to lyrics about pizza is very on brand.
Something More to Koo Koo Kanga Roo?
When I am not busy being a groupie to Griffin and Norah’s Koo Koo Kanga Roo cover band, I spend my day partnering with teachers at White Bear Lake Area Schools to innovate how we teach and learn. While getting swept up my first Koo Koo Kanga Roo show, I had a mindblowing revelation: Griffin and Norah were laser focused on Koo Koo Kanga Roo.
In this moment of clarity, I started noticing intentional engagement strategies that Neil and Bryan were incorporating into their performance. These two goofballs are low key brilliant at engaging the audience. Their strategies were working like a finely tuned Swiss watch. How did they do it? Was it all gold fanny packs and pumped up beats or was there something more?
It’s very apparent that at a Koo Koo Kanga Roo concert audience engagement is paramount. They design their entire performance around connecting with their audience, but their execution wasn’t always the gold standard that it is today.
Neil and Bryan didn’t start out as the hype band equivalent of Mr. Miyagi. Their first concert as Koo Koo Kanga Roo was a college battle of the band and they placed last. During the early days of their run as Koo Koo Kanga Roo, Bryan shared that their mentor called them a “one trick pony” — being skeptical that their laser focus on audience engagement was a viable pathway to success.
Neil & Bryan were unfazed and doubled down on their audience engagement bet by incorporating cha cha lines and circle pits into their shows. Remaining a one trick pony is worn like a badge of honor to this day. Fast forward a few years, and they’ve grown a lot playing on Warped Tour, infiltrating classrooms everywhere via Go Noodle, and traveling the world on international tours.
What Does This Mean For Education?
Just like performing on stage, teaching and learning is dependent on audience engagement. When I asked Bryan about how they created such an engaging experience for the audience, he described their strategy as ever evolving. While a vibrant wardrobe change and incorporating some pump up tracks may not be your solution, there is wealth of insight from the short clips I pulled from an extended interview with Bryan.
Relationships: “I like to go out in the crowd and say ‘whats up?’ We used to stretch on the ground in front of everybody. I like to go chit-chat with people. Small talk to get to the big talk.”
Relationships are the heart of education, but when there is a stack of papers to grade or a lesson to plan, they become easier to neglect. Nudge yourself into more student contact by working at student desks, meeting students in the hallway as they walk in, or starting an extra-curricular club after school. Investing in a relationship before the performance will help draw your audience in.
Personalization: “Even with a bigger show — it’s trying to make it feel small. Try to make an arena show feel like a club show with energy and engagement.”
In the classroom personalization makes the learning feel like it’s designed for the individual. This could be done with a tech tool like Pear Deck, providing differentiated levels of close reading texts, giving rich feedback at the just right time, or allowing your students to progress through learning at the rate of mastery.
Making a student feel like the learning is designed with them in mind will forge a stronger connection to the experience.
Scaffolding: “When people didn’t know Koo Koo Kanga Roo the set list was really intentional. We really wanted our audience to get into us the first time. We used cue cards with sing-a-longs, simple dance moves, and repeatable lyrics.”
‘Scaffolding the desired behavior’ is hardly a new concept in education. As educators, it’s a strategy that we rely on everyday. Our learners will benefit when we thoughtfully design the learning experience to build an engagement progression and supports.
Modeling: “When there is a lack of energy — we go harder. We dance harder… If we are the weirdest people in the room dancing as Koo Koo — it’s going to make (the audience) not feel as weird to dance.”
Teachers have the opportunity to cultivate the culture in their classroom. Being excited about school is a learned behavior. Try being the most enthusiastic person in your classroom for an entire day. Bonus points if you do it while wearing a gold fanny pack.
Student engagement is a solid foundation for effective teaching and learning. My experience dancing along to Wobbly Man has left me inspired to reflect on how I engage my audience. While I may stop short of sporting a fanny pack to my seventh grade health class, one thing is certain: audience engagement starts with a committed performer. Teaching, and performing, demands a lot and if you are reading this article, then you need to know one thing.
Feeling inspired? Let Koo Koo Kanga Roo know and keep the conversation going on social media by using the #Innovate624
Want more Koo Koo Kanga Roo? Find upcoming shows, buy merch, and listen to their catalog of hits at their website: kookookangaroo.com
