There is so much poetry in dance,
in the way bodies sidle up to one another
and barely touch and then move away,
only to come back around and move together
suggestively, still holding back, still mostly
eyes, still only hints at what could happen
if both bodies fully engaged. There is love
and loss and poise and danger. There is heart
on sleeve, and stomping mad, there is
“I am woman, hear me roar”
and so much more.
There is crawling across the stage on all fours.
There is leaping in the air. There is falling
to the floor
in a heap and a mess of angles and elbows.
There is rising up again through tears,
through ashes, through death and dying,
through rebirth and head held high,
arms streaming out behind like
there is a gale force wind.
There are stories only bodies can tell.
There are poems told
in the swing of hips,
on the points of toes.
*****************************
These are two of my favorite music / dance videos at the moment. The boys and I listen to music in the car while we are waiting for the bus, and we watch So You Think You Can Dance in summertime. We get into the musicality, and the storytelling. I cry over the poetry.
It is National Poetry Month, and so I say, let’s appreciate the poetry all around us, and be mindful of how much poetry is in movement, music, the hugs of our children, the kiss of love!