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The Wiggles jiggle into Sovereign Center By Tracy Rasmussen Reading Eagle Correspondent 8th November 2003 Wiggles. It’s Australian for The Beatles. If you’re a parent with young children you already know that, but if you’re unfamiliar with this musical phenomenon that will bring thousands of children to the Sovereign Center for performances Friday and Saturday, here are the basics. The Wiggles Anthony Field, Greg Page, Murray Cook and Jeff Page have been the most popular children’s entertainment group in Australia for more than a decade. Field and Cook originally performed in a rock band called The Cockroaches while they were in college where they were studying Early Childhood Education. “We were at University together and decided to bring together our musical backgrounds with the things we had learned about children and their view of the world,” Field said. “We made a tape and took it to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Things started to grow slowly from there.” The group made its mark in America in 1999 with the release of videos “Yummy Yummy” and “Wiggle Time,” and since then the band has sold more than 9 million videos and albums in the United States and Canada, and their shows regularly sell out in a matter of minutes. A second performance date had to be added in Reading to handle the crowds of toddlers who wanted to see The Wiggles. Their philosophy is simple: combine catchy tunes (that parents don’t mind hearing over and over and over) with simple dance steps, bright colors (the sets on their Disney Channel television show have a very psychedelic ’60s feel to them) and a cast that includes a large brown dog, a feather-bearing pirate and a purple octopus named Henry, add toddlers and wait for the success to roll in. “Kids this age think that the world revolves around them,” Field said. “So we make sure we include them in everything. Everyone can participate, so we ask them to help us in the shows. That makes the children feel good about themselves.” That philosophy extends to the choreography that accompanies most of the songs. “We’re not professional dancers,” Page said. “We have a test if we can’t do it, the kids won’t be able to do it either.” In fact, it doesn’t really matter if children do the dance steps correctly because they have fun just moving around. In addition, it’s not really a problem that the words of the songs have Australian references or pronunciations. “They’re just learning about language anyway,” Cook said. “So they can handle the differences, especially in the age group we’re dealing with. They’re still learning what things are called. We say things differently, and they seem to accept that quite readily.” And, according to the Wiggles, they have as much fun at the shows as the kids do. “We began doing what we do because we enjoyed it, and that’s the reason why we’re able to sustain it,” Field said. “We’ve combined our musical background with our teaching background. (But) we never imagined the success. It has been the most fantastic adventure, one that we are very grateful for. One that we are enjoying and will continue to enjoy for years to come.” The Wiggles will be performing in Reading to support the release of their most recent video, “Space Dancing.” Toddlers can expect to hear most of The Wiggles hits during the show, as “Hot Potato,” “Point Your Finger” and “Monkey Dance” continue to be the band’s most requested songs. |
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