Dancing Within the Deep Blue Sea
Happy National Poetry Month from Stance on Dance!
BY DELPHINE HSINI MEI; ILLUSTRATION BY CAMILLE TAFT
Pillow
Willow
Bridges of thoughts lead his path to home
Once been found
He was a child wandering wild
In the palace of her heart
She dances
Steps that ease his wounds
Sparks the purple flame of that forgotten lifetime
Her waving hands and silvery dress
Moving swiftly with quiet humming songs
Flowery animal of her dancing body yet unknown to him
Casting lingering shadows across his forehead
Dreaming smoke
Rivers of memories swell in him
Like floods
Like streams
Like the ocean he almost drowned in
Those dark pools of her eyes
He jumps in
Willingly
Charmed by her swift water
Sometimes slow and sweet
For a day of her embrace under the sea
For a kiss
For tangling tango libre
For moonlit falling like pearls on their shoulders
Siren of the backroads
Born in Taiwan, Delphine Hsini Mei has practiced dance in the U.S., Europe and Asia. She’s been a resident artist at Cite American-Foundation (Paris, France) and Dance Short (Amsterdam, NL). Her recent performance video works have been shown on ARTE CREATIVE Channel Europe, ARTOPIA Taiwan, and she was interviewed by STIGAMART for its VideoArt 2015 Biennial Special Edition.
Camille Taft is a seventeen year-old dancer living in Longmont, CO, who has trained throughout her life in primarily ballet and modern dance. With both her parents as visual artists, she has always appreciated the excitement that comes from a collaboration of mixed media, and was thus overjoyed to have the opportunity to work with Stance on Dance.