The Music of Elizabeth Alexander

If You Can Walk You Can Dance

A contagiously joyful Latin dance song

Music: Elizabeth Alexander

Words: Zimbabwean proverb

An optimistic Zimbabwean proverb sets the stage for this contagiously joyful Latin dance song. This best-selling piece is full of surprises, including a brief a cappella interlude, some finger snapping, and a five second “break” during which the chorus members all talk!

Details and Ordering Information

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Composer Notes

Composer Notes

Many conductors have contacted me to ask exactly how I’d like the talking to begin or end, how long the repeated chorus should go on, or how much choreography I think is appropriate. My answer to this is: “Heck, yes!”

“If You Can Walk You Can Dance” has inspired extended instrumental solos, a great deal of choreography, and some very imaginative personal touches. The Male Ensemble Willamette even incorporated a jaw-dropping “Men Without Hats” moment! I’ve come to believe that as long as the performers believe in the message of this song, there’s no “wrong way” to sing it.

Text

Zimbabwean proverb

If you can walk you can dance,
If you can talk you can sing.

Performers

Performers

SAB
Premiere: Farmington District Middle School Choirs / Scott Campbell (Farmington, CT)
American Embassy School of New Dehli / Joseph Curtis. Association for Music in International Schools Music Festival (The Hague, NETHERLANDS)
AMIS (Assoc. of Music in International Schools) Festival Middle School Honor Choir / Darlene P. Elkins (Munich, GERMANY)
Blake School Choir and Chamber Singers / Dan LeJeune. Organization of American Kodaly Educators’ National Conference (Minneapolis, MN)
Canfield Village Middle School Choir / Tom Scurich (Canfield, OH)
Capital Pride Singers / Joseph Eppink (Schenectady, NY)
Capital Pride Singers / Joseph Eppink (Albany, NY)
Chicago All-City Elementary Youth Chorus / Barry Elmore (Chicago, IL)
Choir of Community Church of Chapel Hill / Glenn Mehrbach (Chapel Hill, NC)
Choir of Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church / Dixon Redditt (Camp Spring, MD)
Choir of First Unitarian Church of San Jose (San Jose, CA)
Choir of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville / Jason Shelton (Nashville, TN)
Choir of Unitarian Universalist Community of El Paso / Stanley Ross (El Paso, TX)
Choir of Waunakee Elementary School / Kathy Bartling (Waunakee, WI)
Choir of West Hills Unitarian Fellowship / Allison Wilski (Portland, OR)
Choirs of Lunenberg Middle School / Kyla Silver (Dodwell, VA)
Common Chords Chorus / Elizabeth Alexander (Ithaca, NY)
Connecticut Middle School Honors Choir / Sal Cicciarella (East Hartford, CT)
Coro Infantile del Conservatorio de Mieres / Duarte Reyes. Gala Coraldanza (Red Cross Benefit Concert) (Mieres, SPAIN)
Durham All‑County High School Chorus / Rodney Wynkoop (Durham, NC)
Euphonia! / Brenda Kayne (Overland Park, KS)
Indiana All-State Choir / Paul Rardin (Indianapolis, IN)
Memorial Junior High School Choir / Carol Schaap (Lansing, IL)
Minnetonka Middle School West choir / Jennifer Evenson (Minnetonka, MN)
NE Iowa Choral Directors Association 7th & 8th Grade Honors Choir (Oelwein, IA)
Oak Creek East Middle School Choir / Tanya Anderson (Oak Creek, WI)
Pzazz! of Moriarty Middle School / Denise Baccadutre (Moriarty, NM)
Rhode Island Senior Division All-State Choir / Paul Rardin (Providence, RI)
Seton Hill College Choir / Marvin Huls (Greensburg, PA)
Special Interest Session: ACDA National Conference / Magan Solomon & Eliza Rubenstein (Salt Lake City, UT)
Special Interest Session: ACDA National Conference / Eliza Rubenstein & Magan Soloman (Salt Lake City, UT)
Tacoma Youth Chorus (Tacoma, WA)
TransVoices / Dorothy Williams (Minneapolis, MN)
University of Massachusetts-Amherst “University Chorale” / Wayne Abercrombie (Amherst, MA)
Waunakee Elementary School Choir / Kathy Bartling (Waunakee, WI)
Western Wayne Middle School Choir (Wayne, PA)

SATB
Premiere: Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford / Joel Ross (Rockford, IL)
Acton Community Chorus (Acton, MA)
Boychoir of Ann Arbor / Thomas Strode (Ann Arbor, MI)
Cantabile Chamber Chorale / Rebecca Scott (Piscataway, NJ)
Chancel Choir and Bethlehem Children’s Choir / Patricia Hughes Mangis (Western Springs, IL)
Choir of Community Church of Chapel Hill / Glenn Mehrbach (Chapel Hill, NC)
Choir of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Rochester, MN / Joe Mish (Rochester, MN)
Choir of Kaohsiung Medical University. / Mary Kay Geston (Kaohsiung, AUSTRIA)
Choir of National Taiwan University / Mary Kay Geston (Taipai, TAIWAN)
Choir of Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn / Frances Fitch (Swampscott, MA)
Choir of Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua / Jed Holland (Nashua, NH)
Choir of UU Community Church of Washington County / Susan Peck (Hillsboro, OR)
Greater Johnstown Community Chorus / Christopher McAllister (Johnstown, PA)
Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford / Joel Ross (Rio de Janeiro, Parati and Petropolis, BRAZIL)
Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford / Joel Ross (Springfield, IL; Saint Louis and Kansas City, MO)
Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford with Fond du Lac Children’s Chorus / Joel Ross. (Fond du Lac, WI)
Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford with Heartland Youth Choir / Joel Ross (Des Moines, IA)
Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford with Kansas City Boys Choir / Joel Ross (Kansas City, MO)
Midcoast Community Chorus / Mimi Bornstein (Rockport, ME)
Orange Coast College Chorale / Eliza Rubenstein (Newport Beach, CA)
Princeton Pro Musica / Frances Slade. ACDA Eastern Division Conference (Philadelphia, PA )
Rhode Island Senior Division All-State Choir / Paul Rardin (Providence, RI)
Saline High School Concert Choir (Saline, MI)

SSA
Premiere: Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen / Elisabeth Ziegler (Vienna, AUSTRIA)
Amadeus Chorale / Darla Bair (Rochester, NY)\
Angelica Cantanti Alumnae Choir (Bloomington, MN)
ASTER Women’s Chamber Choir / Christina Lynn-Craig (Boulder, CO)
Bach Children’s Chorus / Linda Beaupré (Toronto, ON CANADA)
Bella Voce Singers / Jessica Corbin (Brooklyn, NY)
Champlin Park High School Treble Choir / Margaret Sabin (Champlin, MN)
Common Woman Chorus / Cynthia Bizzell. 30th Anniversary Concert (Durham, NC)
Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen / Elisabeth Ziegler (Vienna, AUSTRIA)
Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen / Elisabeth Ziegler. Osterreich Singt Music Fesitival (Mattersburg, AUSTRIA)
La Guardia Arts High School Choir / Jana Ballard (New York, NY)
North Central Junior High School Chorus / Linda Thayer (Iowa City, IA)
Ohio University Singers / Peter Jarjisian. Ohio University Honors Band, Instrumental and Choral Festival (Athens, OH)
Rainier Youth Choirs / Leora Schwitters (Kent, WA)
Saint Catherine University Women’s Choir / Patricia Connors. WomanVoice Consortium Concert (Minneapolis, MN)
Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir / Nancy Menk (Notre Dame, IN)
Sixth Grade Statewide Honor Choir / Christopher Fields. Georgia Music Educators Association Conference (Athens, GA)
Spivey Hall Treble Honors Choir / Nancy Menk (Morrow, GA)
Spokane Area Youth Choirs / Sarah Hopkins (Spokane, WA)
Syracuse University Women’s Choir / Barbara Tagg. Syracuse University Women’s Choir Festival (Syracuse, NY)
Twin Cities Women’s Choir / Mary Bussman (St. Paul, MN)
Voices Rising / Leora Zimmer (Boston and Cambridge, MA)
Woman Voices / Patty Connors (St. Paul, MN)
Women in Harmony / Catherine Beller-McKenna (Portland, ME)
Women in Song Festival Chorus / Eliza Rubenstein (Elizabethtown, TN)

TBB
Premiere: Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus / Ian Riddell (Madison, WI)
Chesapeake Bay Choral Workshop Choir / Fern Jennings. Chesapeake Bay Choral Workshop (Alexandria, VA)
Crane School of Music Men’s Ensemble / Peter Durow (Potsdam, NY)
De Profundis / David Poole (Albuquerque, NM)
Florida Music Educators Association Conference / Keven Fenton (Tampa, FL)
Haystack Choral Workshop / Rodney Eichenberger – Haystack Choral Workshop (Portland, OR)
Indiana All-State Men’s Chorus
Kantorei, The Singing Boys of Rockford / Joel Ross – Organization of American Kodaly Educators’ National Conference (Chicago, IL)
Male Ensemble Willamette / Paul Klemme (Salem, OR)
OMA, The Men’s Ensemble of State College Area High School / Robert W. Drafall (State College, PA)
Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus / Ian Riddell (Madison, WI)
Stetson Chorale and Men’s Chorale / Andrew Larson (Deland, FL)
Titan Men’s Chorus of California State / Christopher Peterson (Fullerton, CA)
University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club / Paul Rardin (Toledo, Medina Del Rioseco, Granada, Atarfe, Cordoba and Madrid, SPAIN)