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Dancer in the light box

Submitted by vandiemenspeak on Tue, 2017-07-04 08:41

She caught the lightening, and
conducted it in swirls

Pirouettes, whirling dervish devilish svelte

All on the perimeter observed this,
circular orchestration of light
guided by human form

And felt they were seeing unborn,
a love they would never know,
He watched from the shadows,

She, the light-rope tamer, walker of dreams,
within the ring surpassed all things imagined,
held us captive, like drooling circus clowns

Wide eyed children gazing up on a form angelic,
and fallen from a nameless sky, full of crests
less profound

And we could not name that choreographed
zoetrope of beauty, that contained all light
within the room, within the eye

There in the flames were all, who witnessed this,
pyre replacing iris, expanding,
while this purveyor of all photons exuded life

Mistress masterly of the greatest show on earth,
travelling Romany-like from a van parked
at the edge of the world;
she drew to a close, lights delicately died,
and the crowd, moved on.

Yet the dance, burned, song after song into
that winter sky, trailing comets blazing
in her wake, the fire-fragments of that
lordly Empress dance, live on.

Style / type: 
Free verse
Review Request (Intensity): 
I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
Last few words: 
An exhibition at MONA - a big light circle machine, where you could stand wave your arms about and make the laser lights dance- then a proper dancer (classically trained) gets up, and transformed the thing into this wonderful show, spellbound, i wanted to write something then - 6 months ago.
Editing stage: 
Editing - draft

Comments

Eumolpus

Tue, 2017-07-04 12:28

Eumolpus's picture

Me and my wife are big fans of modern and classical dance, thanks for your poem.
To me it all works. (only the last line; comma breaks up the thought, and is a bit of denouement after the thrill of the dancer...not sure we need moved on,,,forces me, the reader to do the same, but I don't want to, I want to stay within the performance that spell bounds)..

The most recent amazing dance we saw was Red Bull Flying Bach. You MUST see them, even if just on youtube (there's a lot, here's one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwMw5gYncGE
That was a performance I don't think i was able to close my mouth, I had this amazed look on my face for an hour.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

vandiemenspeak

Tue, 2017-07-04 18:34

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And will be choreographed again, let's call this a rehearsal. Slightly different process perhaps, and the dance might go on after all, a bit longer. Was just testing unknown waters. Will check out the link, although, I have two left feet, and only everything from pelvis up can manage to move in rhythm, I too do like to watch a trained dancer in action, it is the most honest, captivating and sensuous things to see. Love it.

Thanks Eumo.

Chris.

Chris Hall - Tasmania

Grossbooted draymen rolled barrels dullthudding out of Prince's stores and bumped them up on the brewery float. On the brewery float bumped dullthudding barrels rolled by grossbooted draymen out of Prince's stores.

author comment

jane210660

Tue, 2017-07-04 17:04

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by the images.
Catching lightening and conducting it in swirls, orchestration of light - I like the musical thread here. The images of other worldliness and fire.
A very beautiful poem. It must have been an amazing experience.
Jx

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vandiemenspeak

Tue, 2017-07-04 19:31

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beautiful and comical - because you could get in to this contraption ( more or less a cylinder 10 feet across, with thousands of LED lights and senors) move around and the lights reacted to your body. Lots of slow jerky, stiff hipped, Thor clashing old men, then kinds making the lights bubble, then this lady, with her partner watching, possibly i think a former dance teacher/current dance teacher, obviously knew what she was doing, just moved about in the space so gracefully - that the lights just swayed and danced and sand with her. It was at MONA a museum down here in Hobart that's grabbed a lot of attention, as it would, being built underground 100 feet down into rock next to the river Derwent, with a glass elevator (deliberate) that goes down.. here's a link:

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4242106/mona-hobart-australia-w...

It is a fantastic place, being setup by a gambling venture capitalist - who had to open it with the proviso from the TAS Government that Tasmanian residents get in free! This does give some of the more controversial and recent exhibitions, a bit of a male bias, and they are subject to some worthy, yet constructive criticism - this from the closest thing we have to the Guardian online down here:

https://theconversation.com/scientists-ponder-the-evolutionary-urge-to-c...

Thanks for checking in Jane :)

Take care,

Chris.

Chris Hall - Tasmania

Grossbooted draymen rolled barrels dullthudding out of Prince's stores and bumped them up on the brewery float. On the brewery float bumped dullthudding barrels rolled by grossbooted draymen out of Prince's stores.

author comment

jane210660

Wed, 2017-07-05 08:22

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Have followed them through - really interesting.
Expensive if you're not a Tasmanian - haha.
Jx

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