“Catch a cab in New York and you will see how the world connects.”
— Salman Rushdie (speaking at the Montalvo Arts Center)
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Movement
When asked what movement he belonged to Edwin Torres said something along the lines of- There are so many movements happening around us at any given moment, large and small, from decades to just the day coming and going, that if I ever stopped to think about which one I belong I think I might just miss it.
When pressed further Edwin that begin speaking of Dada and how he felt this was one of the primary forces behind his work. I am glad he shared that since I knew him primarily as a Nuyorican sound poet. And in that last statement, I classify Edwin into three boxes. Not that any of those boxes are limiting (the last two are extremely broad) but I am sure someone could come along and say that calling any Nuyorican poet a sound poet would be redundant since a Nuyorican poet is actively dealing with the blending, teraing and reintegration of English, español and Spanglish. But then again, where is this definition written in stone?
This all comes about thanks to the performance movement class I took a few days back where a group of us where places in trios and assigned a specific function- leader, follower, neutral. The leader’s role was to conduct movement independent of any outisde concerns. The follower was to respond to the leader but not entirely by sight since that would lead to mimicry and the follower would lose their identity by just copying. And finally we had the neutral, a position that just notes the relationship between the leader and follower. All this done without any music, just going out into a very large stage area and making the movement happen.
The end result of the three groups was mixed but one common thing was that we are asked for more neutral. No one had a problem being a leader and no one had a problem being a follower but neutral kept disappearing.
We were asked later where in life we considered ourselves- leader, follower or neutral. Speaking as a poet, I decided that I was neutral, that I would like to see myself as a bridge between those who have spoken before me and those who will continue to speak after me. That if I am committed to creating dialogue in my work, then I havce to step back from it and allow the reader to determine where to place my work in the larger movement of oral tradition and how it relates to them personally using more detailed movements, like Nuyorican, sound, stage, performance, slam, etc., to give the reader a real sense of space and distance.
The other thing I noted though was that our group’s unwillingness to accept a neutral position might come from the fact that in our communities, stillness can be (mis)interpreted as stagnant and that stagnant can be read as death. Something key to think about when you consider how cultural identity is under attack.
More later especially when it comes to how the individual places themselves in movement and how the movement classifies the individuall.
From the Fishouse at City Lights Bookstore
Hear the word as delivered by some of the inaugural Fishouse poets on Thursday, May 17th!
Join us for the West Coast launch of the From the Fishouse Live Reading Series.
An evening celebrating From the Fishouse, the audio archive of emerging poets, with Barbara Jane Reyes, Matthew Shenoda, Shane Book, Maria Hummel, and Camille Dungy
mc’d by From the Fishouse Founder and Executive Director, Matt O’Donnell
Boogie…Down…Productions
Present at today’s Yankees game (which the Bombers won 6-2) was the cover photographer for my chapbook with a copy of Anywhere Avenue in hand!
Coincidence or Jus-Da-Way-Its-Meant-To-Be? You make the call, but I will file it under Serendipity.
For more pics of “urban fragments” you can go over and check out flickr.com/photos/vogelium
As we proceed… to give you what you need…
Some other blogs I’ve been checkin out lately:
blindelephant.blogspot.com
Where you can find Craig Perez’s thoughts on poetry, chamorro issues and Achiote Press.
cantstopwontstop.com/blog
Jeff Chang on hip-hop, sports and journalism.
debbieyee.com
A fellow IWL writer, Debbie’s work and feedback keeps me on my toes.
hiphapa.blogspot.com
Keepin the conversation movin as to hip-hop’s responsibility to the API community and everyone else for that matter.
latinopoetryreview.blogspot.com
Letras Latinas’ blog. I am sure that Francisco Aragón will be helping push forward the (re)defintion of Latin@ poesia.
teddykristiansenblog.blogspot.com
Of It’s A Bird fame. Currently working on a new Neil Gaiman graphic novel.
thaoworra.blogspot.com
Brian Thoa Worra keeps us up to date on his new book, Laotian Lit and lots-a-lots monsters!
Any other blogs I should be knowin about?