Sunday, March 31, 2013

Avant (forward)


THE CHALLENGE:

If you need a prompt I'm going to give you a challenging one. Listen to "Shadows" by Lindsey Stirling (don't watch the video) and answer the following questions:

Where is this happening?
What is happening in her piece?
What is the emotion?

And then write a poem about what's happening.

 

I have never heard this song and the intensity and intricacy of the violin seemed to conflict with the driving pulse of the beat which for me felt like internal conflict. The violin immediately brought to mind the image of a ballerina, the beat made me feel determined, driven.

This is what I came up with…



Sitting on the marley floor
she laces the ribbon securely
around the ankle of her outstretched leg.
Preparation nearly complete
she stands on pointed toes
extending every muscle.
She is warm, she is ready
and she leaps into the air
as if she is throwing herself forward.
With ferocity of movement
yet a precision that borders on
stillness personified, she begins.
Again and again and with 
a steely hardened resolve
she attacks the floor with the steady drive of a pulse.
Dessous, dessus, devant,
under, over, front
rapid fire movement, pounding out a beat.
Trial, failure, try and fail
she will keep this pace
until these twists and turns bear her name.
She will own this sweat, this blood these tears
she will own this screaming pain
but for now she is driven by the pounding in her ears.
First position once again
the crescendo of this act begins to build
and she is flying.
She has become the movement
she has become the music
she becomes all that she sought and she is found.
 
 
 


6 comments:

  1. I like the idea of becoming the music...all that she has sought, and she is found. Wonderful conclusion to a thoughtful poem!

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  2. This is wonderful, one feels the dancer's exhilaration as she becomes one with the dance, with the music.........

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  3. I felt drawn into this poem, and got some sense of what it might feel like to be a ballerina (which is some achievement for the poem given my actual physique...!).

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  4. i think you bring out the passion of the dancer very well. :)

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