It's All in the Concept
July 15, 2011
I love poetry. I used write poetry. Was not very good at it. Passable, I guess.
To me, poetry embodies the power of words to move people emotionally. Poetry is storytelling with a twist. The twist is in the way the words fall on the page, the way they trip off the tongue, the way they don't mean what you might think they mean. There is a world of interpretation in reading poetry and in looking at the way it flows on a page - as if it has life and movement of its own. If you allow poetry to speak to you, it whispers to your inner soul and speaks in words you don't recognize but you understand.
As a child, I would curl up in a large stuffed chair and read poetry that was easy to consume. It rhymed, it had a musical cadence, and the story it told was easy to embrace. Love, hope, despair, childhood, pets, and a few classic poets thrown in for good measure. I struggled with the classics, well into adulthood.
Today, I find myself drawn to art for art's sake. I look at paintings differently. I look at movies differently. I love musicals but wonder what meaning lies in-between the notes and the scenes. There is a mystery of untold experiences in the glances between characters of live plays, especially musicals.
As I open my heart and my eyes to accepting art (poetry, dance, music, paintings, books) as a way to understand the human condition - I find myself mesmerized by its originality. The innovation in thought and appearance, the excitement in movement and touch, the cadence and sound of words and music that echo off of walls, trees, human limbs, and even the floor, make me wonder if I've been asleep for most of my life and only now am I slowly being awakened to the beauty that is being alive.
My senses were stimulated last summer at the Art as Action performance I attended in August. I am being further challenged this year by working with Sarah and Chloe and the whole troup. To say the performers create poetry in motion is to insult them in their craft. The movements, the stories, the sounds, the imagination each person brings to the stage is more than poetry - more than mere creativity; what this group shares is a collective sense of unity - done with subtle but unique individuality. It's so hard to describe.
I hope you have something like this where you life. If you are in the Denver area - I hope you will join us and be part of Art as Action. Their next performance, scheduled for November is titled - "beautiful mistake."
Think back..a bit...and remember, the last time YOU made a beautiful mistake. Then, think about sharing it here. My beautiful mistake was... well, let me think... maybe I'll share in a future blog post.
And, please help our Kickstarter campaign - each little bit brings us closer to our goal of only $2000. Thank you!
Yvonne
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