Mar 11, 2012

DANCE POEMS

HORA
Ohad Naharin

 
Photo: Gadi Dagon

Fluorescent                         line
            silhouette                        progress
feather                                    shoulder

           
                                    monkey part
                                    splayed
                                                            quiet

            bug dream
            a human letter




                                    slide put




                                    push






Feral
            assemblage

approaching
                        outlier


snap pivot






                        stunning scatter
                        wing
                                    for


hammer swivel
                        rusher


                        took

            hop offering


coupling


                                    ear
                                        bender
                                    slither


            scout
                        meet


dappled
            ganger
                                                spasm





remainder
                        smoke entity
                                                aubade


            archer


                        curtain coming


dropsy
                        mantis
                                                            paw
heartsick

                        warp chair


weave chair



                        reactor



            shuffle


                        pile broken




wrong walk                                                ill
                                                            I’ll


                        anger pods popping churns


                        rainer
                                    raining



                        earthworm
                                    wants
                                    so
                        frottage


                                                low

                        open swayers


traps
                                                            time
                                                            among



                        Golly

                                                            fall
                                                battle
                                    chorus

            Alas
                                                rocker
                                                            birds






                                                en face



                                    collision




                        salt
                        summer
                        shadows

tone rain

                                                                        hip
                                                                        jaunt


                                    salvo


            mantis fade
                                                            patter
                                                                        pit


squatter
                                                            giant steps

                        steer




                        stuck
                                    stumped


                                                            in air


            a slow-moving concordance

walking out into
                        green fire

                                                she’s            left

                        folded

                                    framed
windmill




                                    watcher




inchworm                                    archer

            aborting mass

            writher

            ibis
                                    leg clock



the woman casualty
                                    knee-deep
                                    keen depth


            Charge

tripod                        body
                                    as furniture



            fast up

                                    playground

            logic

                                    oops

            glower

spanning an arc



                        blown back
                                                & again


& again

                                                again


again

                                                against

                                                upend

            swivel
                                    of course
                                    abreast


                        in air

                        2 by 2

                        in trouble

lean on
            magician

                                                            clash course


            hazard

                                    clockwork

           
                                    grave








                                    withstand





jump bend
           
                                    chamber nine










                                    arch                         pinwheel

                        approach

                                                snappy






            mantis

                        red





            plight




                                                Gaga vocabulary



            grist



                        edge                        drama




about





Mar 4, 2012

DANCE POEMS

I usually refrain from doing poems to pieces that involve vocal parts to any great extent, because it is my fear that my own linguistic response will be cross-pollinated by the words occurring in the music--which could make for interesting interplay, but not something I'm looking for with the work at this juncture.  However, in the case of the piece below, the "intruding" words are in German so, to a more-or-less non-German speaker, amount to just sounds.  In an attempt to adumbrate the experience of hearing the German libretto and, having a little German (cue German midget a la "Top Secret), recognizing some words, I have translated those words I recognized into English in the body of the embedded libretto (which occurs in the piece at the point at which the vocal part begins relative to the rest of the choreography).


A CHORAL FANTASY
Mark Morris

                                      Photo: Julia Cervantes
 
Firmament                         gloam
                                                margin

                        gyro                        frog


            shuffle



                        prow
                                                droit


            canal

wedge                        shift

                                                disperse

            boomerang

topple
                       
                                                jackstep





jackstep

                        halt



blitz

                        fanfare
                       
                                                encloud
                                                jig
                        game
spar
                                                logjam
sally
            stupa

                                                quadrant
screw
            fulcrum
                        hip
                                                            akimbo


breaker


                                    whither




                                    succumb
in tow
            crane
                        in two


                        prone
                                    montage run

circle triangle cog
                       
                        delta
                        with
pair
            ballast rhythm


                                    quark
                                                go


gauche

            churn ripple
                                    set to walk
                        assembly

freeze
        goes
               behold
                       held
                            above
                                   an hour
                                           hand


intrude
                                    angle            trawl

                                    at the behest
                                    sprechen

puppet                                                                        Schmeichelnd hold & lieblich klingen
                        unseres Lebens harmony,             smack
                                                                        & the Schönheitssinn entschwingen
                                                                        Blumen sich, the ewig blühn.
                                                                        Fried & Freude gleiten friendly
                                                                        wie the Wellen Wechselspiel.
                                    pan drop skitter
                                                Was sich drängte rauh & threatening,
                                                                        ordnet sich zu Hochgefühl.

When the music Zauber walten

                        rainbow                                    & the Wortes Weihe speak,
                                                                        muss sich Herrliches bodies,
                                                                        night & storm werden light.
Äuss're Ruhe, inn're Wonne                                                            massing
                        herrschen for the           
                                                            hairy line                        Glücklichen.

Doch the art Frühlingssonne                                    hull
                                                                        spatter                         lässt aus beiden light entstehn.


twist                                                            Greater, das ins Herz gedrungen,
                                    carry                                                 blüht then new & beautiful empor.
                                                dipper                                     Hat a spirit that aufgeschwungen,
                                                                                    hallt ihm stets a ghostmusic.
                                                                                    Nehmt denn hin, ihr schönen Seelen,
                                                                                    for the Gaben beautiful art
                                                                        Wenn sich Lieb & craft vermählen,

                                    plant                                    lohnt then mankind god’s grace.
                                                plaint