From Blog Director Jill Randall:
Crazy times, cancelled classes, and home isolation call for new projects and new options through Life as a Modern Dancer!
Personally, I have always loved poetry. I love reading poems. Thank you W.S. Merwin and Mary Oliver. I also love writing short poems as movement springboards in my classes. (I currently teach an intermediate teen modern class twice a week in Berkeley, CA.) My Movement Poems are truly just meant for explorations, not fully crafted dance projects and performances.
Please join in! I hope you will enjoy these poems at home or use within a college or high school dance course.
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"Sequencing" is my first offering on the blog.
Sequencing
A movement poem for March 15, 2020 by Jill Randall
Palms up
Swirling
Space between.
Trailing,
Lingering,
Residual.
Softening
Yielding
Head dropping down.
Take a breath,
Fill,
Bones stacking up.
Please find the short audio recording on SoundCloud here.
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There are numerous options for play and exploration. Here are just a few to get you and your students started.
-Read the poem and make a short phrase (mini composition!) with one movement per line. Decide whether to move in silence or with music. I would like to suggest Michael Wall's composition "Artist's Studio" (which you can find on Spotify).
-Use the audio recording on SoundCloud and improvise with each line. (I recorded myself reciting the poem.) Then shape your phrase.
-Select 1, 2, or 3 words from the poem and improvise for about 5 minutes. Today I selected the word "swirling." I moved to Michael Wall's composition "Artist's Studio." The track is 6 minutes in length. I did a short swirling improv. I also cycled through channeling some of my favorite artists and inspiration for swirling: Molly Heller, Michelle Boulé, Randee Paufve, and Angie Hauser. Then I ended with how I most love to swirl.
Please leave a comment below to share how you explored this Movement Poem. Thank you! Be well.
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Related posts from Life as a Modern Dancer:
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