Act I
The snowflakes captivate with their grace,
toes en pointe swirling through
whirling,
sparkling flurry.
They do not slip, and I long to
enter this world of freedom and time
suspended,
grace effortless.
We are a line of Christmas clothes,
three girls, Gaga and me among this afternoon crowd
of taffeta and hair bows, and we behold
afternoon wonders
in ice and snow
tulle.
Chins arch skyward, legs, hands
all
extensions of
this winter’s storm.
_____
Intermission
We lean over railing to see orchestra
tune, and
it never ceases to
strike how Tchaikovsky’s sheets
emanate through hours, all this
melding of
blessed instruments with musicians’
own bodies,
creating meaning and we are
seeing behind
the veil.
_____
Act II
The Sugarplum Fairy is
exquisite, and she is
art —
this body emanating Balanchine elegance
as she
flies and spins and
travels floor like
no earthly being.
She is a creature of ease and shine and strength
and then
sweat droplets shimmer in the space
between shoulder blades, and she is
human,
and my breath catches
when her Cavalier holds her in position
at a crescendo, and for a moment
her thigh muscle quivers,
rapid fire.
And this is the moment eyes fill and I
feel gut ache
for now we glimpse behind the
veil of
elegant ease to the pain and sacrifice that creates
physical symphony,
this labor, this
toil of heart and frame that only appears
as
breath.
Connecting through the power of stories written, spoken and lived
Exquisite!!!
Your concluding several lines left my heart Pounding!…. what your eyes witnessed on that stage!…the tremor in the thigh muscle, the sweat between the shoulder blades…those tiny almost imperceptible things pointing at the truth – that in the arts, ecstasy (those things of extraordinary unearthly beauty) only come by way of very earthly agony… Just gorgeous Ashley!!!!
Thank you, Ma. Thinking differently about earthly agony now, as I know you are too, but as we know, it’s so important to proclaim the light and beauty in a world that seems to have gone mad.
I knew instantly where you were and what you were watching!! Well done.. they truly are so incredibly strong and beautiful all at the same time.. and you’ve really captured that. xx
Thanks for your kind words, Smidge. Glad I could paint some of that exquisite strength and beauty. It was a joy to be there and share this time with my girls and mother-in-law.
Ashley, you took my breath away!! Although I was not physically present, your words nevertheless captured the beauty of the show and brought them to my heart. A BIG thank you for this. Beautiful!!
Much love XX
Mia
Thank you, friend. Grateful that these words made their way to your heart. That’s an honor.
Very artful. Liked it even better on the second read. An insightful tribute to artists and their art.
Thank you, friend. I know you know about this life of art.
Poetry has always been mysterious to me. I am never quite sure that my interpretation is plausible or that I get the gist of it. Phrasing and language,however, tell me something about the observational skills and sensitivity of the provider; In your case there is no doubt.
I suppose my gist was this: There is a certain beauty in that which appears effortless. Much wonderful art appears this way. But there is another kind of beauty in recognizing the pain and sacrifice, the human effort that made it so. Is that what you got? :-)
This takes my breath away, friend.
“for now we glimpse behind the
veil of
elegant ease to the pain and sacrifice that creates
physical symphony,
this labor, this
toil of heart and frame that only appears
as
breath.”
What an elegant and perceptive way of expressing what lies behind seemingly effortless, graceful art. It’s so easy to be swept up in magic of “effortless”, beautiful artistry – be it dance or painting or writing or music – so that I’m not able to see the pain and sacrifice and humanness of the artist. I love how your eyes see so much.
Thank you, friend. It feels so good to be “gotten” by you in my words. Truly, I treasure that gift.