So a couple of notes to transition to the next focus for this space.
June Performance- These 2 performances went well in the Durham School of the Arts spaces. Nice turnout, good audience, and it felt like a good ending to the rehearsals. I was sad I wasn't going to be working with the dancers again- it had been a really positive creative exercise and personally, it had just been nice sharing space with them. (it had been kind of a tough spring.) Very nicely they asked me to serve as their outside choreographer in the spring of '08, using Love and War as the starting point. I'm excited.
As a writer, I really enjoyed the collaborative nature of the effort and watching text and movement translate back and forth. That translation was probably the most interesting thing overall, the fluidity between the two languages wasn't something I had expected and I'm excited to see how else that type of translation can be pushed. I like to do translation exercises (poem in a language other than English, poem in an alphabet like Cyrillic, a series of photos, a train schedule, etc.) for writing classes but seldom use them in my own writing. I loved that this wasn't just a one-way exchange but continued back and forth between the 2 languages. I'm also going to work on a project helping a dancer write a poem, a kind of mirror image of them helping me choreograph a dance.
So as part of both of those projects, I'm going to start keeping this blog again, first to catch up on some parts of the process, then to note what's happening as it does. Being able to look back on this has been helpful, so I'll try it for a bit more.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
Final Rehersals
so tonight is the final rehearsal before this weekend's performances. choreographing has been a very interesting experience and i haven't really been writing about it, partially because i'm not sure i have the vocabulary and partially because it just seems to be happening.
we started with one member of the collective suggesting an overall feel for the dance. there are 4 sections of the poem, so she suggested the 4 corners of the stage, with a consistent theme of a dancer lying down. i knew i wanted a fairly full stage and i wanted one central dancer that would move between all 4 sections. from there, we just talked about what the feel for each section should be, highlighted maybe some main words for the dancers to focus on, and thought about the beginning and ending shapes.
next, it was a matter of highlighting movements that felt "right." one thing i saw was that dance could fill in some parts that the poem couldn't. for instance, in the second section, i think the movement in that area is between the character finding a sense of closeness in the military, but that closeness carrying a sense of responsibility he couldn't carry. the poem talks about the weight he felt because of the love he felt,but it didn't talk about the closeness there and i think the dance can illustrate that perfectly.
after that, we tried to think about the timing of the reading and the transitions between the sections at the stage. we still need to nail down a couple of parts of the dance- the transition between the 1st and 2nd stages was way too much we found and the movement between the first and second parts of the third section was clunky- but hopefully that will go smoothly.
it's been really touching the way several of the dancers really get the poem and are able to translate that into movement. it's been such a positive, creative experience, i'm really going to miss it when it is done.
we started with one member of the collective suggesting an overall feel for the dance. there are 4 sections of the poem, so she suggested the 4 corners of the stage, with a consistent theme of a dancer lying down. i knew i wanted a fairly full stage and i wanted one central dancer that would move between all 4 sections. from there, we just talked about what the feel for each section should be, highlighted maybe some main words for the dancers to focus on, and thought about the beginning and ending shapes.
next, it was a matter of highlighting movements that felt "right." one thing i saw was that dance could fill in some parts that the poem couldn't. for instance, in the second section, i think the movement in that area is between the character finding a sense of closeness in the military, but that closeness carrying a sense of responsibility he couldn't carry. the poem talks about the weight he felt because of the love he felt,but it didn't talk about the closeness there and i think the dance can illustrate that perfectly.
after that, we tried to think about the timing of the reading and the transitions between the sections at the stage. we still need to nail down a couple of parts of the dance- the transition between the 1st and 2nd stages was way too much we found and the movement between the first and second parts of the third section was clunky- but hopefully that will go smoothly.
it's been really touching the way several of the dancers really get the poem and are able to translate that into movement. it's been such a positive, creative experience, i'm really going to miss it when it is done.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
As The Poem Exists Now, Middle
Our big rehearsal is Saturday and we'll try to complete choreography that day. So I've reached a workable version of the poem, one that i think is alright and will work well in juxtaposition to the movement.
My biggest concerns were getting too caught up with the narrative, so i have decided to put a short version of the story in the program. I know everyone won't read it, but I think it takes the pressure off of the making the poem coherent as a story, poetic, and movable. As the poem exists now- (note the title change and the shift in emphasis in the middle.
Love and War Return Home, Hand in Hand
I know that the traveler must dissolve nostalgic threads
of personal history and go ahead with no baggage,
no determined route; that the so-called hero
is one who has mastered her own dissolution;
that she’s not a conqueror but a surrenderer, . . .
-Gretel Ehrlich, a match to the heart
I. Rich Square, North Carolina Juche 47 (1958)
He leans only his head through the door jamb.
Boy, don’t even think about school today.
There’s tobacco to be topped,
and the south field needs worming.
Announcements often worked
as Daddy’s version of Good Morning.
That afternoon in the fields,
he caught me staring at beyond.
Don’t Ever Leave
came out Keep worming son.
Nothing’s over there you can’t find here,
except women, trouble, and strife.
Later, I was taking the hornworms
to feed the turkeys when I found him half in,
half out of the barn. It took death
to make him indecisive, but at that moment
I knew I was done with eighth grade.
Then, I figured Rich Square
for the loneliest place in the world,
so I aimed to join the Army
and find something to do
and some folks to do it with.
There’s not much to a decision though
when you look around and all you see
is alone and alone and alone.
II. DMZ, South Korea Juche 54 (1965)
Every time I went to sleep,
all I dreamt about was me
getting one of those boys killed.
One night, I led them a step too far
and McFrances, with the sick daddy,
set off a landmine. The next night,
my mind wandered on watch
and it was an enemy’s knife
at Parham’s throat. While I was writing
his dream mother, explaining everything
I’d done to make her boy dead,
the CO shook me awake. Good morning
merry sunshine. Just heard ya’ll
are next off to Vietnam.
What I thought I was walking to
I can’t say, but just so you know,
the line you step over
to get to the other side
isn’t a real line at all.
You would think they might make it one
so you could stop
and consider what crossing it means.
III. Pyongyang, North Korea Juche 69 (1980)
Imagine my surprise to find I wasn’t alone.
Those three were a comfort to me at first.
We were all just boys,
and it was like a sleepaway camp
and when the fun was over,
our daddies would come gather us home.
One of us would distract the minder
while the others snuck out,
Abshier made a pretty fair version
of macaroni and cheese, and when
the North Koreans made a movie,
we got to play the evil Americans.
But eventually, we were four men
against a general, a country, and a whole philosophy.
By the time a bodyguard whispered
Americans have landed on the moon,
none of us believed it,
thought they must want us to imagine
a country that could send a man
to a place so far,
a land so desolate,
but wouldn’t come to reclaim us.
Alone and alone and alone and then,
Hitomi, kidnapped to teach Japanese
to spies. She is your project they said.
You must teach her Korean
just as we taught you.
You will do it for the Dear Leader,
who takes care of you,
who takes care of us all.
And I started to, I tried,
but one night she pulled me close
and said We must remind each other
of where we are from. Together,
we can remember.
So each night in Japanese I whispered
Oyasuminasai. Goodnight, my love
she would croon in return.
IV.Camp Zama Penitentiary, Japan Juche 93 (2004)
Thirty days is a long time for something
a boy did forty years ago. And they are right.
If they let me go, it’s only more
of you boys will try to leave. But son,
how you made it four days in the desert
carrying nothing is beyond me.
I won’t speak for you, but this is where I was always walking.
I didn’t quit a war. I gave myself over,
chose in a backwards way, and tomorrow,
when I am freed, I will not only put my back
to the Army, to America,
but I will also walk directly to Hitomi.
If she will have me, I will tell her Good morning.
Ohayoogozaimasu I believe she will tell me
and we will turn to leave together,
departing towards a home,
surrendered, hand in hand.
I've also written a Googlism poem about the idea of "middle" for the middle part of the program. (Yes, there is a beginning and end too.) It is below.
Middle; A Googlism Poem
I am one of the middle-hearted.
Middle of Bagdhad, middle of the night.
Middle is the subject through which the end influences the beginning.
Middle is on the left.
Middle is what I have become.
My biggest concerns were getting too caught up with the narrative, so i have decided to put a short version of the story in the program. I know everyone won't read it, but I think it takes the pressure off of the making the poem coherent as a story, poetic, and movable. As the poem exists now- (note the title change and the shift in emphasis in the middle.
Love and War Return Home, Hand in Hand
I know that the traveler must dissolve nostalgic threads
of personal history and go ahead with no baggage,
no determined route; that the so-called hero
is one who has mastered her own dissolution;
that she’s not a conqueror but a surrenderer, . . .
-Gretel Ehrlich, a match to the heart
I. Rich Square, North Carolina Juche 47 (1958)
He leans only his head through the door jamb.
Boy, don’t even think about school today.
There’s tobacco to be topped,
and the south field needs worming.
Announcements often worked
as Daddy’s version of Good Morning.
That afternoon in the fields,
he caught me staring at beyond.
Don’t Ever Leave
came out Keep worming son.
Nothing’s over there you can’t find here,
except women, trouble, and strife.
Later, I was taking the hornworms
to feed the turkeys when I found him half in,
half out of the barn. It took death
to make him indecisive, but at that moment
I knew I was done with eighth grade.
Then, I figured Rich Square
for the loneliest place in the world,
so I aimed to join the Army
and find something to do
and some folks to do it with.
There’s not much to a decision though
when you look around and all you see
is alone and alone and alone.
II. DMZ, South Korea Juche 54 (1965)
Every time I went to sleep,
all I dreamt about was me
getting one of those boys killed.
One night, I led them a step too far
and McFrances, with the sick daddy,
set off a landmine. The next night,
my mind wandered on watch
and it was an enemy’s knife
at Parham’s throat. While I was writing
his dream mother, explaining everything
I’d done to make her boy dead,
the CO shook me awake. Good morning
merry sunshine. Just heard ya’ll
are next off to Vietnam.
What I thought I was walking to
I can’t say, but just so you know,
the line you step over
to get to the other side
isn’t a real line at all.
You would think they might make it one
so you could stop
and consider what crossing it means.
III. Pyongyang, North Korea Juche 69 (1980)
Imagine my surprise to find I wasn’t alone.
Those three were a comfort to me at first.
We were all just boys,
and it was like a sleepaway camp
and when the fun was over,
our daddies would come gather us home.
One of us would distract the minder
while the others snuck out,
Abshier made a pretty fair version
of macaroni and cheese, and when
the North Koreans made a movie,
we got to play the evil Americans.
But eventually, we were four men
against a general, a country, and a whole philosophy.
By the time a bodyguard whispered
Americans have landed on the moon,
none of us believed it,
thought they must want us to imagine
a country that could send a man
to a place so far,
a land so desolate,
but wouldn’t come to reclaim us.
Alone and alone and alone and then,
Hitomi, kidnapped to teach Japanese
to spies. She is your project they said.
You must teach her Korean
just as we taught you.
You will do it for the Dear Leader,
who takes care of you,
who takes care of us all.
And I started to, I tried,
but one night she pulled me close
and said We must remind each other
of where we are from. Together,
we can remember.
So each night in Japanese I whispered
Oyasuminasai. Goodnight, my love
she would croon in return.
IV.Camp Zama Penitentiary, Japan Juche 93 (2004)
Thirty days is a long time for something
a boy did forty years ago. And they are right.
If they let me go, it’s only more
of you boys will try to leave. But son,
how you made it four days in the desert
carrying nothing is beyond me.
I won’t speak for you, but this is where I was always walking.
I didn’t quit a war. I gave myself over,
chose in a backwards way, and tomorrow,
when I am freed, I will not only put my back
to the Army, to America,
but I will also walk directly to Hitomi.
If she will have me, I will tell her Good morning.
Ohayoogozaimasu I believe she will tell me
and we will turn to leave together,
departing towards a home,
surrendered, hand in hand.
I've also written a Googlism poem about the idea of "middle" for the middle part of the program. (Yes, there is a beginning and end too.) It is below.
Middle; A Googlism Poem
I am one of the middle-hearted.
Middle of Bagdhad, middle of the night.
Middle is the subject through which the end influences the beginning.
Middle is on the left.
Middle is what I have become.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Tanya's Blog Of Complaining About Her Poem
is what this feels like it's turning into. So rehearsal was last night and we spent maybe 45 minutes or so working on the beginning shape of the dance for the poem. This involved me talking about what I envisioned the performance looking like (I would be on stage and reading live, the dance would run longer than each section read, there would be one central dancer and other dancers on stage for some of the sections, etc.) and then reading the poem aloud to the dancers there, one of whom immediately suggested the shape and a light structure for the dance.
This involved a square shape, using the four corners of the stage and having the consistent theme of one dancer lying down, static. The "down" dancer would change in each corner and all 4 dancers would move from section to section in a clockwise manner, ending at the front of the stage on the right. We discussed what was going on at the heart of each section and they generated a word or idea for each section to guide their movements. The cue to move to the next section would be the "down" dancer standing up and moving.
So reading the poem, (here's where the complaining starts) i discovered the voice is all wrong. i wanted it to sound like jenkins since he has a very distinct dialect- very nc country mixed with an almost esl (english as a second language) feel to it- and while i think it kind of works on paper, it is not working at all when read aloud. That' s a blessing and a curse. The voice as it was is a hard one to talk about anything "bigger" with- it's not a philosophical or reflective voice, so it's hard to move beyond narrative. I think I do in the "line isn't marked" section and I think that sounds natural, but it isn't happening elsewhere.
I also realized that the poem is way too bogged down in narrative. I have to work on that balance and i think changing the voice will help move away from that for the above reasons. But mostly i realized this poem is still at least 2-3 drafts away from working. I think spoken word pieces (although this poem will also exist on the page as we are producing a chapbook for the performance) need big endings, and moments bigger than themselves, as well as some narrative cohesion to work. right now, this poem isn't either an on the page poem or a spoken word piece. it is neither fish, fowl, nor good red meat and i need to commit it to one side or the other.
i also learned from watching the dancers that this poem is about loneliness and alienation and what it means to move beyond that. i need to center that at the heart of the poem as well. which probably means it also needs a different title.
This involved a square shape, using the four corners of the stage and having the consistent theme of one dancer lying down, static. The "down" dancer would change in each corner and all 4 dancers would move from section to section in a clockwise manner, ending at the front of the stage on the right. We discussed what was going on at the heart of each section and they generated a word or idea for each section to guide their movements. The cue to move to the next section would be the "down" dancer standing up and moving.
So reading the poem, (here's where the complaining starts) i discovered the voice is all wrong. i wanted it to sound like jenkins since he has a very distinct dialect- very nc country mixed with an almost esl (english as a second language) feel to it- and while i think it kind of works on paper, it is not working at all when read aloud. That' s a blessing and a curse. The voice as it was is a hard one to talk about anything "bigger" with- it's not a philosophical or reflective voice, so it's hard to move beyond narrative. I think I do in the "line isn't marked" section and I think that sounds natural, but it isn't happening elsewhere.
I also realized that the poem is way too bogged down in narrative. I have to work on that balance and i think changing the voice will help move away from that for the above reasons. But mostly i realized this poem is still at least 2-3 drafts away from working. I think spoken word pieces (although this poem will also exist on the page as we are producing a chapbook for the performance) need big endings, and moments bigger than themselves, as well as some narrative cohesion to work. right now, this poem isn't either an on the page poem or a spoken word piece. it is neither fish, fowl, nor good red meat and i need to commit it to one side or the other.
i also learned from watching the dancers that this poem is about loneliness and alienation and what it means to move beyond that. i need to center that at the heart of the poem as well. which probably means it also needs a different title.
Monday, May 7, 2007
In My Head, On The Page
I haven't written in a bit, but I have been working on the poem, really spinning and revising more than I usually do with a poem. I think that is partially because it is an occasion poem. I can't write it as it comes to me. I have to grind it out to hit a deadline. That's different from my usual writing method. With work and other things, I usually do a lot of writing and planning in my head before I put pen to paper and then fingers to keyboard.
For this piece though, I am writing and throwing away and revising, all with a sense of not liking the work until it gets several drafts in. Below is what I like enough to post now, but it still feels several drafts away from working. I am thinking of trying this working method for my 6 week break though. Sitting at the desk and grinding something out, whether I have anything formed or not. I'll let you know.
The poem as she exists now. The pyongyang section stopped there, but there will be more.
Those That Don’t
I. Rich Square, North Carolina Juche 47 (1958)
Boy, I best not catch you up at that school today.
There’s tobacco to be topped and the south field needs wormed.
Announcements were Daddy’s version of Good Morning.
In the field, when he caught me
staring at beyond, You Are My Life
was Son, there’s those that do
and those that don’t.
Which you gonna be?
I was carrying hornworms to the turkeys
when I found him laying half in,
half out of the barn, and I knew
I was done being in the eighth grade.
Then, I believed Rich Square
to be the loneliest place in the world,
so I figured to join the Army
and find me something to do
and some folks to do it with.
All I could see from North Carolina
was alone and alone and alone.
II. DMZ, South Korea Juche 54 (1965)
The worst thing I could imagine
was getting one of those boys killed
on night patrol. One step too far-
it’s landmines. Let your mind wander
for a moment and it’s the enemies’ knife
at your throat.
Then, I heard it. We was the next group to Vietnam.
Son the CO said If you won’t stand
in front of the communists and keep them
from your girl back home, who will?
But I had no girl or anyone else waiting for me.
My last night in the US Army, it was Hughes
in my tent with a can of beer and a picture.
Sarge, I know she’s stepping out.
What do you think I should do?
But the Army don’t allow you to say
Hellfire if I know. I ain’t kissed a girl
and I’m afraid I’m gonna die before I do.
So I told him to write her a real sweet letter
and then I wrote a note of my own.
I’m sorry for what I done it said.
Send my boys back home, especially Hughes.
We’ve all got troubles. Goodbye.
And I set to walking.
III. Pyongyang, North Korea Juche 69 (1980)
Just so you know, the line you step over
to get to the other side
ain’t no real line. If it was,
I might have stopped, but I never knew
where I was until I got there.
The poem has a diffrent voice now. Fatherhood and masculinity seems to be a part of it now, which should be very interesting since the dance troop is all female. I'm interested to see how the end will work, if it can tie together some things. Tomorrow night is rehersal and the beginning of choreographing for me.
tanya
For this piece though, I am writing and throwing away and revising, all with a sense of not liking the work until it gets several drafts in. Below is what I like enough to post now, but it still feels several drafts away from working. I am thinking of trying this working method for my 6 week break though. Sitting at the desk and grinding something out, whether I have anything formed or not. I'll let you know.
The poem as she exists now. The pyongyang section stopped there, but there will be more.
Those That Don’t
I. Rich Square, North Carolina Juche 47 (1958)
Boy, I best not catch you up at that school today.
There’s tobacco to be topped and the south field needs wormed.
Announcements were Daddy’s version of Good Morning.
In the field, when he caught me
staring at beyond, You Are My Life
was Son, there’s those that do
and those that don’t.
Which you gonna be?
I was carrying hornworms to the turkeys
when I found him laying half in,
half out of the barn, and I knew
I was done being in the eighth grade.
Then, I believed Rich Square
to be the loneliest place in the world,
so I figured to join the Army
and find me something to do
and some folks to do it with.
All I could see from North Carolina
was alone and alone and alone.
II. DMZ, South Korea Juche 54 (1965)
The worst thing I could imagine
was getting one of those boys killed
on night patrol. One step too far-
it’s landmines. Let your mind wander
for a moment and it’s the enemies’ knife
at your throat.
Then, I heard it. We was the next group to Vietnam.
Son the CO said If you won’t stand
in front of the communists and keep them
from your girl back home, who will?
But I had no girl or anyone else waiting for me.
My last night in the US Army, it was Hughes
in my tent with a can of beer and a picture.
Sarge, I know she’s stepping out.
What do you think I should do?
But the Army don’t allow you to say
Hellfire if I know. I ain’t kissed a girl
and I’m afraid I’m gonna die before I do.
So I told him to write her a real sweet letter
and then I wrote a note of my own.
I’m sorry for what I done it said.
Send my boys back home, especially Hughes.
We’ve all got troubles. Goodbye.
And I set to walking.
III. Pyongyang, North Korea Juche 69 (1980)
Just so you know, the line you step over
to get to the other side
ain’t no real line. If it was,
I might have stopped, but I never knew
where I was until I got there.
The poem has a diffrent voice now. Fatherhood and masculinity seems to be a part of it now, which should be very interesting since the dance troop is all female. I'm interested to see how the end will work, if it can tie together some things. Tomorrow night is rehersal and the beginning of choreographing for me.
tanya
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Revision, Revision, and Ezra Pound
I was talking to another writer the other night and he was saying how important the reading, gathering information, research section of writing was for him. I feel the exact same way- i compared it to the way they make astronaut food on cartoons. They jam a ham and a turkey and a bunch of vegetables and a dessert into a machine and out pops a little food cube. the product seems much smaller than the sum of what went into it, but as homer noted, "i only eat food in bar form. when you concentrate food, you unleash its awesome power, i'm told." (of course then he finds out that the powersauce bars he's been eating are made of old chinese newspapers instead of apples. maybe this cultural reference falls apart here.) (of course, he then also learns from his powersauce bar that deng xiaoping died, so maybe it works after all.)
i've talked about this research as part of my process before, but i'm really thinking about it for this poem because ezra pound keeps appearing in my life. (not in a ghostly way- in a referential way.) this jenkins piece has a definite political undertone for me and i keep weighing how much to foreground that and how much to swallow it inside the poem. part of the tension is because this is a performance piece- read aloud with no written text for the audience to refer to, there's room for only so much subtlety- and i also want it to work as a poem on a page as well. so the balance is hard with those 2 requirements.
but i also wonder about the political requirements of a poet. i'm not a march around on the streets activist. i'm a writer and i see part of being a writer is uncovering or revealing, helping folks unpack a situation, telling stories that otherwise get lost. and i also believe this is very important political work. so for me, this piece is also a commentary on the iraq and afghanistan wars. to me, that is also a crucial part of resistence and the way i choose to participate.
Pennsound just made available their collection of pound's stuff http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Pound.html. a lot of it's very poor quality and hard to understand and apparently mary derachewiltz, pound's daughter, is unhappy about that. she makes the argument that the middle of a war might be the most important time for folks to hear an anti-war poet loudly and clearly. i also read the interview with ferlinghetti in poets and writers in which he argues for pound as a poet persecuted for speaking out against war. http://www.pw.org/mag/features.htm
i'm fascinated by this new take on pound ( i also learned last night while watching a new orleans documentary that pound was in new orleans for awhile. didn't know it and that was my 3rd pound exposure in one day. a little strange.) and it made me wonder why we don't have any poets dangerous enough to be detained. are there no speeches, poems, or other activities we could take dangerous enough to worry the powers that be? it made me scribble a couple of notes in my notebook about st. elizabeth's and the guantonamanian cantos and makes me thinking about how to gracefully foreground the current war connection with the jenkins piece.
i've talked about this research as part of my process before, but i'm really thinking about it for this poem because ezra pound keeps appearing in my life. (not in a ghostly way- in a referential way.) this jenkins piece has a definite political undertone for me and i keep weighing how much to foreground that and how much to swallow it inside the poem. part of the tension is because this is a performance piece- read aloud with no written text for the audience to refer to, there's room for only so much subtlety- and i also want it to work as a poem on a page as well. so the balance is hard with those 2 requirements.
but i also wonder about the political requirements of a poet. i'm not a march around on the streets activist. i'm a writer and i see part of being a writer is uncovering or revealing, helping folks unpack a situation, telling stories that otherwise get lost. and i also believe this is very important political work. so for me, this piece is also a commentary on the iraq and afghanistan wars. to me, that is also a crucial part of resistence and the way i choose to participate.
Pennsound just made available their collection of pound's stuff http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Pound.html. a lot of it's very poor quality and hard to understand and apparently mary derachewiltz, pound's daughter, is unhappy about that. she makes the argument that the middle of a war might be the most important time for folks to hear an anti-war poet loudly and clearly. i also read the interview with ferlinghetti in poets and writers in which he argues for pound as a poet persecuted for speaking out against war. http://www.pw.org/mag/features.htm
i'm fascinated by this new take on pound ( i also learned last night while watching a new orleans documentary that pound was in new orleans for awhile. didn't know it and that was my 3rd pound exposure in one day. a little strange.) and it made me wonder why we don't have any poets dangerous enough to be detained. are there no speeches, poems, or other activities we could take dangerous enough to worry the powers that be? it made me scribble a couple of notes in my notebook about st. elizabeth's and the guantonamanian cantos and makes me thinking about how to gracefully foreground the current war connection with the jenkins piece.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
After Rehearsal
I met with the Choreo dancers last night for a little over an hour. I brought in the poem I posted yesterday to rehearsal. I talked a little about what I saw as the consistent ideas in the poem and how their movement to the idea helped bring me to this stage. I read the first section and talked about what I saw as the center action for the other three sections and just talked about Jenkins's story in general.
The only section I didn't "see" yet was section 2, so they did some movement in response to that section, simultaneously, but separately. I was amazed again at how much it helped. Section 2 is about his crossing over to North Korea and 2 of their movements really struck me. One was a dancer lying on her back on the floor, but doing occasional 180 degree spins by crossing her left leg over her right and pulling herself in a slow half-circle. The other was a sort of dis/un- jointed movement with the left arm while the dancer was standing. The first movement helped me think about crossing boundaries, the importance we place on this type of change (or not), while the second helped me focus on the process that boundary crossing requires, whether enforced by an outside agency or by the self, the steps we take in decision making.
Thinking about these aspects for the second section helped me also see how they re-emerge differently in the 4th section and I feel much more hopeful about the whole poem now, both finishing it and making it good. I also started thinking about the poem less as a poem that lives on the page and more as a part of a performance. Not a spoken word piece exactly, but as a section of a performance. That seemed to free me as a writer a little as well.
We ended by talking about how we would move from this to performance in June. The dancers recreated one movement from the earlier exercise alone on stage and then paired themselves according to those movements. They then did those movements again with the other person/people on stage, which brought out entirely different aspects. These group movements were filmed.
We also talked about how we envisioned the piece, whether there would be a reader, would the reading and the movement happen simultaneously or separately, how many dancers would be on the stage at one time, would they all be moving, would they move together or separately, etc.
The thing that shocked me the most was how many opinions I had about the choreography and what the final performance should look like. This is exactly the kind of work that Choreo does and they are very good at it, helping people who aren't dancers see and work with the dance that is already present in their own life. They jokingly suggested that they could offer a writer's block service, but it's actually very true. Not only does it help you "see" the poem's possibilities, but it also helps you "see" movement on the page and off and how that shapes the poem.
It was really tremendous and my job now is to work on the poem, get it to a draft stage.
The only section I didn't "see" yet was section 2, so they did some movement in response to that section, simultaneously, but separately. I was amazed again at how much it helped. Section 2 is about his crossing over to North Korea and 2 of their movements really struck me. One was a dancer lying on her back on the floor, but doing occasional 180 degree spins by crossing her left leg over her right and pulling herself in a slow half-circle. The other was a sort of dis/un- jointed movement with the left arm while the dancer was standing. The first movement helped me think about crossing boundaries, the importance we place on this type of change (or not), while the second helped me focus on the process that boundary crossing requires, whether enforced by an outside agency or by the self, the steps we take in decision making.
Thinking about these aspects for the second section helped me also see how they re-emerge differently in the 4th section and I feel much more hopeful about the whole poem now, both finishing it and making it good. I also started thinking about the poem less as a poem that lives on the page and more as a part of a performance. Not a spoken word piece exactly, but as a section of a performance. That seemed to free me as a writer a little as well.
We ended by talking about how we would move from this to performance in June. The dancers recreated one movement from the earlier exercise alone on stage and then paired themselves according to those movements. They then did those movements again with the other person/people on stage, which brought out entirely different aspects. These group movements were filmed.
We also talked about how we envisioned the piece, whether there would be a reader, would the reading and the movement happen simultaneously or separately, how many dancers would be on the stage at one time, would they all be moving, would they move together or separately, etc.
The thing that shocked me the most was how many opinions I had about the choreography and what the final performance should look like. This is exactly the kind of work that Choreo does and they are very good at it, helping people who aren't dancers see and work with the dance that is already present in their own life. They jokingly suggested that they could offer a writer's block service, but it's actually very true. Not only does it help you "see" the poem's possibilities, but it also helps you "see" movement on the page and off and how that shapes the poem.
It was really tremendous and my job now is to work on the poem, get it to a draft stage.
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