DANCE POETRY and SPECIAL STATEMENTS

Share some poetry with us


"Show me how a community dances and I'll tell you if they are healthy or not"

Confucius


"If a dancer dances -which is different from having theories about dance, or wanting to dance, or trying to dance, or having within your body the memory of someone else’s dance-, ... if a dancer dances, everything is there."

Merce Cunningham





"I heard some when that dance is the first one of the arts. I’d say that from all arts, dance is the one that engages more the entirety of the being. The poet is not the poem, the sculptor is not the sculpture, the musician is not the music, the architect is not the architecture, the actor is partially the role s/he is playing, but the dancer IS THE DANCE. When the final product of art is the very same body of the artist, when all the research and creative efforts are solved in the own movements of the person who researches and creates, we feel in the presence of a full fusion of life and art, in the presence of the exquisite coincidence of the shape and the content."

William Ospina

Translated by Maria Naranjo (editor of contemporary-dance.org) from the original in Spanish.


“In fact, the choreographer would be the first researcher: getting out of the preexistent models, working on displacing the processes, giving oneself and others instructions that open to the unknown, to analysis, to the visit of operations and dispositions (like the Tuning Score of Lisa Nelson), trying new scores, exploring ways of improvising, observing what occurs and giving new frameworks to experience, isn’t this the very definition of a scientific act? Yet it is the very definition of a poetic act. Research in dance is first a research in art.” 

Laurence Louppe 

Extrait from the paper Notes pour une recherche en danse in Nouvelles de Danse no 26, 2003.

Translated by Maria Naranjo from the original in French, for contemporary-dance.org, the 13th March 2021.



"Talking about music is like dancing about architecture."

Steve Martin



Postmodern picture


Heart, gold, stone,

dance Salome,

dance,

decapitate my head, just dance,

with your divine hips

make me smile,

I can't translate my vision of the world,

your green eyes,

the clearest pearls of a murderer,

bring me closer to my death,

dance,

dance,

dance and be damn

by all gods,

just dance and

make my world

the best world ever


Robert Ravenšćak



"It has never been important for me to know exactly why I am doing it. The basic sensation is wanting to do what I do"


David Zambrano 
Talk about his dancing technique with SNDO, 2009.



"There’s two ways of working with the body. One is when mind informs the body; the mind is telling you what to do. That’s one way of working. The other is when the body itself informs the mind; your body impulses guide you and then you do these movements and suddenly they become your movement; its part of your creative process and you’re able, from that point of view, to have experiences that go beyond words; that go beyond your conscious thinking, but are part of you. That’s the thrill of working with movement."


Anna Halprin



"The word dance comes from Sanskrit and means ‘desire to live’"

B. Haselbach



When I dance


I dance for me,

Silent vibrations from within

Rhythm of the unseen,


I dance for me.

My steps follow their direction,

My heart-beat echoes their sound.


Some say I dance weird: they call me possessed.


If I dance raw, if I dance pure,

If I dance whirlwind, if I dance the spirits within,

No matter what they say,

I know I dance me.

I dance for me.


©2001 akachukwu chukwuemeka



“One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star”

F. Nietzsche





The dancer


Once upon a time, a dancer and her musicians came to the court of the Prince of Birkasha. She was admitted in the court, and she danced to the music of the flute, the lute, and the zither.

She danced the dance of flames and fire and the dance of swords and spears; she danced the dance of stars and the dance of space, and then she danced the dance of flowers in the wind.

When she had finished, she approached the prince and bowed her body before him. The prince asked her to come nearer, and said unto her: "Beautiful woman, daughter of grace and delight, whence comes your art? And how is it that you command all the elements in your rhythms and your rhymes?"

The dancer came near, bowed her body again and said: "Gracious majesty, I know not the answer to your questionings. Only this I know: the philosopher soul dwells within her head, the poet soul dwells within her heart, the singer soul dwells within her throat, but the soul of the dancer dwells in all her body.

Khalil Gibran




“Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but in your living room.”

M. Schmich



The Dance

The dance I feel at my heart-lubdub

The dance I feel in my throbbing brain

The dance I feel in my pulsating vein

The dance I perceive in every cell

seems to be a part of a dancing ocean

where electrons dance into death

and where electrons dance forth into life

Who dances? Who? Who?


Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya



“Dance like nobody’s watching.”

M. Twain



Dance! Dance! Dance!

An occasion to celebrate happiness

A movement to release pent up tensions

An impromptu display of rejoicing

An artistic portrayal of body movement


Dance –a rhythmic physical presentation

Danseuse’s display of delicate balancing

Diligence being the epitome of magnificence

Dance set to tunes surely mesmerizes the audience


Ingenious ways of sculpting dance movements

Incredible, the efforts of the choreographers

Imagination in excellent styles unbeatable for centuries

India boasts of a plethora of unparalleled dance forms


Cosmic dance of Lord Shiva in His abode at Kailash

Consort Parvati superbly accompanying the bash

Curious Devaas converging the area to witness the clash

Colorful are the descriptions of the divine dance!


Shiva’s dance form, Nataraja’s perfect balancing on one leg

Cosmic dancer representing rhythmic movement of the cosmos

Naturally inspires the dancers to reach to greatest heights

No wonder His Idol adorns every dancer’s home and podium


Lord Krishna’s dance on the venomous snake

Lurking in the sacred waters of the Yamuna

Leaving thousands of innocents afraid to bathe

Laid to rest thanks to the thunderous dance of the Lad!


Krishna’s Rasaleela in the Brindavan, the divine dance

Krishna replicating himself in as many numbers as the Gopis

Dressed in attire as resplendent as the magnificence of the Lord

Biggest dance event told in Bhagvatam is worth a thousand read


Folks! come in huge numbers to India, home of Dance

Bharata’s exponential Bharatnatyam in exquisite sequence

Kerala’s Kathakali a highly stylized classical dance-drama

Manipuri, Odissi and Kuchupudi dances full of grace and elegance


Dance to our tunes to learn to reach to excellence

Dance to your heart’s content to be in sync with brilliance

Dance to the copious classical music to picturesque poses

Dance to the graceful expressions of our sculptures in millions!


Rangarajan Kazhiyur Mannar



“Nothing happens until something moves”

A. Einstein



"I am absorbed in the magic of movement and light. Movement never lies. It is the magic of what I call the outer space of the imagination. There is a great deal of outer space, distant from our daily lives, where I feel our imagination wanders sometimes. It will find a planet or it will not find a planet, and that is what a dancer does."

Martha Graham



"Even with a lot of groundwork, and regardless of how complex it is, it doesn't have any sense if it doesn't become dance."

Merce Cunningham



"I have seen him stop people in class and ask them, 'Who are you? If you're you, don't try to dance like him or her. Dance like yourself.' He told us, 'Your own personal individuality is your most priceless asset.' Lester didn't want to make little Lester Hortons out of us."

James Truitte, excerpt from an interview with Larry Warren in New York City, June 3, 1973.

Taken from: The Lester Horton Website.



"The great mission of the dancer is to contribute to the betterment of mankind"

Ruth Saint-Denis



"If I could say with words what my dances express, I wouldn’t have a reason to dance"

Mary Wigman



"Great dancers are not brilliant for their technique; they are brilliant for their passion"

Martha Graham



"People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose. I was chosen to be a dancer and that's something you live with all your life"

Martha Graham



Visitor's contributions:


Title: BEYOND ME
By: Trisha Ferro

Away from me
I feel the pull
Push me out
and pull me through.

I lie in a space
of in between
where stillness moves
and my shadow rules

Spin me round
Down to the ground
Deeper Still
Beyond your sound

Play with my colours
A moving Palette
Colours of a rainbow
Fill my head.

Dance me deeper
into myself
beyond my being
beyond my seeing.
Beyond the meaning
of me ..........



Title: beautiful n unique

By: blu
From: Colin Johnson (blu)


I dropped beats on my feet and bass lines into space time, to find that place called sanctuary -a place where there are healin rainbows of red, yellow, pink n blue orange n purple n green mother nature theme! - pamperin me into my cultural unity tellin me about inner mysteries that im beautiful beautiful n complete that im beautiful beautiful n unique........



Title: Joy! 
By: Sue Hodson
From: Rustenburg, South Africa


Dance,
flowing from within
Exploding up
and
out

A radiance
glowing, moving, swirling
a bubbling transformation from
stillness
into
life.

Joy Divine!



Title: Dance faces you towards heaven... 
By: Anonymous
From: No location given


Dance faces you towards heaven, in whichever direction you turn.



Title: Dancer
By: Poppin Boy
From: Riyadh Ksa


I dance for laughter, I dance for tears

I dance for fear, I dance for screams

I Am a dancer and I create dreams.....



Title: For dancers.
By: Anonymous
From: No location given


Fall seven times, stand up eight.



Title: I will write peace on your body.

By: Anonymous
From: Japan


“I will write peace on your body and you will dance over all type of dances”

Adaptation to dance from the original of –Sadako Sasaki-



Title: Zen Statement on dance
By: Anonymous
From: Japan




Not speaking is the dance
Some things are better left unsaid



Title: Humanist gift (exchange)
By: Léa Donald MBEMBANIT
From: Brazzaville Republic of Congo


Dance is a spirit. We must make a human revolution by contributing to the world peace.

The contribution to world peace is the best expression of contemporary dance or other traditional dances in the world.

Dance for me is a moment of contemplation. I discover the world through my vision.

And dancing is the best way to express what one feels in the contemporary world. Because there is no difference, me and dance, I'm a dance and the dance is me.



Title: Dance
By: Annonymous

Moving with your feet
Spinning and turning non-stop,
regardless of how complex it is.
Leaps so high as the sky
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
A movement to release pent up tension.
An artistic portrayal of body movement
Rhythm of the unseen
Expressing my fears and feelings
Helps me get by day by day
Flowing from within 
Translating my vision of the world




Title: As if I
By: Kaela P
From: Pennsylvania

I dance as if I have no other time to. 
I dance as if my life were on the line.
I dance as if it is the only thing I have to do.
I dance as if dance is my life.
Truth is,dance is my life. 




Title: Dancer?
By
From:

It takes an athlete to dance
but an artist to be a dancer




Titledance = express
By: Yash Barodiya
From: Kota, Rajasthan

Dance to express, not to impress.




TitleDance: soul seeking enlightenment
ByBAKSHISH Arora
From: Self

Dance is an incredible art, which divulges us the dimensions of devotion.
Dives us into the ocean of peace, boundless and bare,
And bathe us with the essence of the creator




Title DANCE STYLES STAY FOREVER
ByBLU OF BLU UK JAZZ DANCE 
From: UK

Dance steps come n go but dance styles stay for ever sharing fond  memories of how we do a step this way and that way.

Dance steps come n go but dance styles they stay forever evoked by ancestral  rhythms shaping and cultivating how we style the steps within a rhythmic measure. 

Dance steps come n go but dance styles stay forever, mambo jazz, calypso , rock n roll, blues dancing soul, lindyhop, rhumba, clog , tango, flamenco, blu uk jazz dance.




TitleYou Danced the Day of the Dead

ByEdgar R.F. Herd

From:Massachusetts


You Danced the Day of the Dead


You danced lightly in
        Slow graceful flight
        Through the dark evening
        Sprightly with
        Quick-witted awareness
        Responsive to the emptiness around you

You danced the day of the dead
        And stood nearby
        As we changed the tire
        The ballet created
        On the spot
        Barefoot in the empty lot

You danced the adventure bemused
        With misfortune
        And yet amused, the muse
        For an evening emptying
        Into autumn

You danced the day of the dead
        In purple pullover
        Moving swiftly with your
        Blue jeans indigo
        In the white-violet light
        Of the parking lot

You danced like a daughter of joy
        In the tribe of all saints
        Caravan delayed
        Replacing wheel
        Before moving along

You danced to music
        Orchestrated in your head
        In swift deft gazes
        In the hollow city
        The parish ensconced
        In mass
        Hidden away
        Like a dancer’s heart
                On the day of the dead.




TitleA DANCE OF MY OWN

ByRaine Alyssa Catalano

From:TWICE UPON A DREAM another collection of childrens poems


A DANCE OF MY OWM

Spinning and twirling...
Round and round...
A skip, a gallop,
A leap and a bound.
Into the air...
on a full head of steam...
away I go ....
on the wings of a dream...
to the special place...
where my spirit
flies free
and never a clearer
vision I see...
Harmony in movement...
passion and grace...
in a flash...
I'm a dancer
in a magical place.
A feeling more glorious...
I never have known...
than when I'm dancing...
a dance of my own.

Copyright secured Raine Alyssa Catalano




Title: nope

By: nope

From: nope 


I started to leap I started to twirl and suddenly I thought I owned the world to relieve I continued to jump leaping falling and standing back up I had months of work still to be done but as of right now I was the only one the only one watching seeing my mistakes the only one watching seeing my risk takes soaring again  took one more leap took off my pointe shoes and went to sleep .




Title: 5-6-7-8 W A I T

By: Tania Dey

From: India 


Five six seven wait
Don't just start cause your getting late, 
In a hurry you just finish to imitate,
Take sometime and find within whatever shall motivate.

When it is relaxing to be engaged,
Dive deep you will always be saved
You found something interesting,
don't just settle nodding your head,
Improvise and have your bodies lead instead.

You soon realise however you master your split, it wont matter in the story if it does not fit,
I suggest find your gift,
Cause that will give the edge to your lift.

Contemporary does not mean absence of traditional,
Its an advantage if you have something additional,
The strength you find in a classical, is a strong base so very foundational.

Go ahead don't fall in limitation,
you now know success is not an imitation,
Whatever is your natural instinct, do it without hesitation,
If you be open enough you will find mentors to lead you out of any situation.

Five six seven eight 
lift your bod every time to celebrate.




Title

By: Joe

From: U.S.A.


blessing or 
curse : 

             such is 
stark beauty 

                       of 
the ballerina 




TitlePandemic at the Disco

ByMelissa Drake

FromUncorped Influence


There’s a Pandemic at The Disco

The dance floor is empty, patrons ordered to stay home.

The energy is stagnant, there’s no dancing to move it through.

Connection and intimacy with others canceled, resume date unknown.

There’s disbelief among the crowd, frustration and panic abound.

The dreams and downloads have stalled, replaced by doubt.

Negative energy is building, without the dance floor as a place to dispel.

The medicine of dance is thought suspended, due to the pandemic at the disco.

Thankfully it’s not true, it’s only a belief for those who’ve given their power away.

The dance and the medicine are within, the environment and others matter not.

The dance within is always turning, whether recognized or not.

All planetary dances and partners are transitory, the soul’s dance eternal.

A pandemic at the disco does not stop life’s dance, the pause a reset for those who choose to be led.

Rather than outsourcing belief, connect to the infinite and ever-present power source.

A pandemic at the disco is not an end, it’s a lead to a new Universal dance.




Title: Poetic Dance

By: Alisha

From:

E-Mail Address: hilndpuppy[at]aol.com

Before Maya Angelou put her poetry to dance, their was The Poet and the Dancer, Richard and Natica Angilly. They created "Natica Angilly's Poetic Dance Theater Company with Poet laureate man of letters, Richard Angilly".  They have performed world wide and across the USA. They also created The Dancing Poetry Festival held every Fall at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. They travel as "Ambassadors of the Arts".They are sponsored by Artists Embassy International. A 501c3 all volunteer arts organization "furthering intercultural understanding and peace through the universal language of the arts". I am a charter member of the dance company and Vice President of AEI. Alisha Rodrigues Business manager www.dancingpoetry.com




Share some dance poetry
with us.

Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in.

Please enter the word that you see below.

  


If you wish to submitt a graphic with your poem, just contact me and send me your e-mail address. I will reply back and let you know to which e-mail address you can send the files. 


Return from Dance Poetry to Contemporary Dance Home Page 


Enjoy this page? You can pay it forward easily. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

The handy e-book of CONTEMPORARY DANCE HISTORY:

The Dance Thinker is our occasional E-zine. Fill in the form below to receive it for free and join us.

Read:

"The Dance Thinker"
BACK ISSUES




Post contemporary dance announcements (workshops, auditions, performances, meetings and important news... it is free.)