DANCE POEMS

REARRAY
William Forsythe

Door into water

                        blink

                                    down right

                                    open

            blink

                        verge

                                    magnetic

                        blink

                                   

                                    piston

                                    feeler            stuck

                        dial

                        cog

                        jump

                        blink

zephyr

            pulled air climber

            slash

                        blink

coriolis            Atlas

                        scimitar dash

                        blink

            somatic canticle

            abridged

up            (laughter)

                                                prowed

            helmed

                        screw

            behind                        swivel

                                                dream

walk tumble

                        man

                                                pythian slide

skulker

            wraith

                                    blink

            glass            spun

                        top

circles & circles

                                    revolve

                                                            love

                                    back gait

puller prayers

                        withdrew

            in anger

                        absentia

            cannot touch

                                    blink

left lean

            push take

away crawl

            revolver

                        drill

                                                            wings

                                    shadow

propeller blade hum

                        wishbone

            curling wave

                        blink

                        converse

            descend

                        blend

            overarch

                        self                        turn

parallel waltz

                        lever

                                    slider            layer

                                                            bola people

plank

                                                            exit

The Smoky Rose of Dawn Above

The smoky rose of dawn above

            the second city of absence,

                                                quiet streets

                                                ERROR 404

                        in the shunned time,

the unseen

            visible in the lonely train—

builders, cleaners, only Jesus

            & McDonalds prowl the swirling eddies

of bright cold trash—WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE

            YOU in the pantomime of Athenian

                        democracy flattened amongst the parade

            of impossible placard women

who inhabit someone’s fabricated

            evening, who balk at this

            the hour of the misplaced—sheenless

                        among shitty diapers & Styrofoam peanuts.

                        What even the champion somnambulist

            will wake to—

                        work, age, the quotidian

            a bleeding limb inside the haute

knockoff jumper—trash collectors scouring

the curbs in search of some kind of relief,

            the answer is there

                        between metal teeth,

buried or flushed out to sea,

            clogging the world with its urgency.

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

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