dancer’s litany
BY AURA FISCHBECK-WISE; ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH GROTH
In doorways and canyons and empty rooms,
on the edges of cities and in the middle of traffic
or a thunderstorm
At the ocean, by a lake, near the road and under bridges.
(Our) feet land on terra firma
with minds like antennae scanning the atmosphere
Seeking out the substance of space and time and a way to make it matter
With a sort of open eyed listening,
seeking the meaning of energy,
force, propulsion, rhythm and effort
with a lightness that is more divining than exacting.
This is a certain way to live in the world.
Walking around with open channels
receiving the nuanced broadcasts of shared realities . . .
The ones that float in the ether and arrive all at once at many places
Some of us look for these places, and name them like children.
We share a dream of a common language
which cannot actually ever be spoken
(and this makes all the difference)
As we live our lives absorbing chemistry, electricity, matter and emptiness (space)
Returning and departing
as often as we can.
~~
Aura Fischbeck-Wise is a San Francisco based choreographer/performer, improviser, movement educator and writer, a Philadelphia native, a first generation American of German descent, and a second-generation dance artist. Her work investigates the complexity of her lived experience through practices that invite noticing the interplay between perception, proprioception and presence. She moves towards the constancy of change as a way to locate herself as one who is committed to a life in motion. She orients towards the phenomenological world as moving towards more and more understanding of multiple realities unfolding simultaneously. She holds an MFA in dance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia (2022) and a BA in dance and poetry from Naropa University. Aura Fischbeck Dance is fiscally sponsored by Dancers’ Group. www.aurafischbeckdance.org
Sarah Groth is an interdisciplinary performer, choreographer, teacher, poet, and mixed medium visual artist. After achieving a degree in Contemporary Dance and Intercultural Communications from the University of New Mexico, Sarah set out as an independent artist and traveler. She has had the privilege of moving, creating, and performing with renowned international artists across the world. Sarah has been published in the Albuquerque Journal, Blue Mesa Review, Daily Lobo, Stance on Dance, and Forty South. Sarah is committed to addressing the complexities of humanness in conjunction with self and community — aiming to bring the intensely intimate forward, creating openness within juxtaposition and identity.
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