Dance is Like Kinetic Poetry
The official release of [in]verse on March 10, 2023 is just one week shy of the three-year anniversary of Ontario’s first lockdown. On March 17, 2020 many of us headed home from our places of work, our educational institutions, our dance studios, for a three week period to flatten the curve.
As those weeks turned to months, those of us in the performing arts learned we would have to stay nimble in our efforts to continue to do what we love. We called upon our creativity to pivot towards innovative ways to engage with our audiences at home, where isolation left them craving entertainment, content and human connection more than ever.
During this time, Arlen Hlusko returned to her parents’ home in Ontario, where she fostered connection for her international community through a free weekly concert series, Live from Lowville with Love over Facebook live. Throughout this series, she would regularly pair her solo cello performances with a reading of poetry that spoke to her, and thus intensified the emotional resonance or meaning behind the music. As FFDN dreamed up unique opportunities to create platforms for dance artists despite the circumstances, Arlen’s cozy and welcoming virtual series became a spark of inspiration. .
FFDN’s forte lies in the ability to take a diverse collection of work and present it as one united experience. Much like the intricate assembling of our annual festival, we called upon Hlusko to lead the curatorial process of this album. Close dancemaker friends, many of whom had shared their work on FFDN’s stage before, were invited to read a poem of their choice. As Toronto’s Premier International Dance Festival, who’s success is due in no small part to our strong and extensive community of dancemakers, we felt not only a desire, but a sense of responsibility to create space and provide a platform for our dance community to express their creativity in a time where there were no stages open to dance on. Margaret Grenier, who reads the poem“Grace” by Joy Harjo, remembers,
[in]verse was one of the few projects during the pandemic that gave me an opportunity for artistic expression and connection to others. It was wonderful the way it expanded the circle of time and space beyond our solitude.
An album of music and poetry may seem a peculiar medium for a dance festival. But the truth is, dancers are natural born storytellers. In place of words, a dancer relies on their kinetic energy to convey their message and bring a story to life. The expansion and contraction of limbs, punctuated by stillness and explosive movement, have the power to ignite feelings and empathy in the same way a poem can activate the full scope of human emotion, from irrepressible joy, to a puddle of tears on the floor. And yet, despite dancers’ aptitude for storytelling, it’s not often we hear one speak.
Vanesa-Garcia Ribala Montoya, who’s voice can be heard on track number 21 in the poem “Romance Sonámbulo” by Federico Garcia Lorca, recalls how the connection she has to her body and movement as a dancer, helped inform her process for [in]verse.
It was a challenge at first, to express the deep range of emotions found in Romance Sonámbulo, from passion to tragedy. In the end, I had to connect the tone of my voice, my demeanor, my breath and my rhythm while speaking. I imagined that I was dancing the poem.
Similarly, Peggy Baker, who reads the poem , “For Terril” by Patricia Beatty, views dance as poetic movement,
A vast array of extraordinary and innovative collaborations arose during the restrictions of the pandemic, and this project immediately struck a chord with me. I think of dance as a kind of kinetic poetry, so to have dancers reading poems with music arising in response and in conversation with those poems feels right.
As you journey through the tracks of [in]verse, we invite you to let the words dance in your mind as you connect with the powerful emotions captured in the poems, thoughtfully selected by our dancemakers. Enjoy!
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