My Meeting With Jodee

October 13, 2015

My Meeting With Jodee at the Hummingbird Cafe

Jodee was so interested in how I got to Durham…selling the house, the earthquake, the hurricane. , my first visit to ADF in 1978 at Page Auditorium…my life in Sitka, birth of my son, divorce.  Moving from Tarboro, how I got here to Durham.   Like therapy speaking to her.  I read her my poem about Stewart Singer, Dynamic Possibilities,  The War Inside Your Body about Jesse Z.  She was really encouraging about me send my poems off to Brookline to the contest.  The Amy Lowell prize…such esteemed poets have won that I almost didn’t bother sending in my stuff.  But you never know!  I conveyed to Jodee how much I LOVE ADF.  She was totally cool about me observing classes.  She said the instructors love it!  She contacted Adele Myers and got a DVD for me of “Einstein;’s Happiest Thought.”  I mentioned how it inspired me to go ahead with knee replacements.  Fear of falling…no more.

 How INSPIRING ADF is!!!  Treehouse Around Stonehenge, talking with students from VCU in 2013.  Meeting Twyla Tharp’s assistant.  Oh wonderful!!  I’ve seen a lot of dance companies…It was cool that when Kelsey came down with the DVD by Adele that she had on a shirt of the Alvin Ailey dance company.  I saw them in Richmond in the early 70’s.  Judith Jameson wiping the stage with her skirt.  Unforgettable.

Meeting Stewart Singer, Jesse Zaritt, Stephen Petronio, Adele Myers.  Jodee is amazing.    We talked about Stuart Singer, Stephan, Jesse and Jodee.  From Colorado, small college in NY then NYU.  Charles Rheinhart was her mentor.  Wow.  No wonder she’s good!

When I saw “On Their Bodies” in summer of 2013, I wondered about the genius behind the planning of it. That’s Jodee.  Took me a while to figure it out:  “on their bodies,” i.e. their body of work.   Three older dancers dancing their own dances.  Doug Varone spoke of how he didn’t think he could do it.  But he did, and beautifully!  Stephen Petronio gave me a hug when I told him his work was ground-breaking.

Our time went by quickly.  Joeee’s interested in interviewing me for the ADF newsletter – cool!

 We spoke about how some people in Durham do not even know about the American Dance Festival. Pretty amazing!  I suggested a documentary, or a book, a book that would end up on the NYT bestsellers' list.

One thing that impresses me about dancers is their supportiveness and non-competitiveness.  So sweet.

Havana

In Havana, the damas hang their laundry out like flags.

azules, negras, blancas, rojas --

tank tops and tee shirts with Che Guevara's face,
waving like banners of victory
Little girls' dresses one by one
hung up on the line to dry,
nearby, Papa's bar serves daiquiris, just the way he liked them.
White shirts like the ones he wore
hang row upon row on clotheslines.

I love the way  the damas hang out their laundry.
Not intending to create art.
They do anyway and in their way
welcome us to old Havana,
where you can still smell cigars and listen to
congas tap out a tropical dance.

The Music of That Place

The Music of That Place

I woke up that morning to the sounds of humpback whales

breeching, their dorsal fins slapping the waves.  

  

My usual wake-up  call, so miraculous and playful.

The Great Land had called me, and I obeyed,

just taking my backpack and stayed for

six years,  through childbirth and divorce.  

On that day, the Glacier Princess was taking

Sitkans to Glacier Bay for an overnight stay.

No charge!  My baby is safe on the island with Mimi

and I'm whisked away on a catamaran to Glacier Bay.

This place, so primal yet spectacular

Puffins, eagles, 

mountain goats posing on ledges.

Orca play in our wake.

The passengers are sunning themselves,

soaking up rays to combat the long days

of rain and grey skies.

The Friday Noon Writers' Group

     Who--whee!  The Friday Noon Chapel Hill Writers' Group is really something!  It's been going on about 20 years and the moderator is David Manning.  My favorite poem was "Stuff Happens," pointed reference to the callous remark made by Jeb Bush in regard to the Oregon shootings.

     In the group was professor emeritus Conrad Neumann, recently returned from Martha's Vineyard, his home.  He shared a news article about the return of his fishing cap with the group:  

The War Inside Your Body

The War Inside Your Body

There was something about you

that I noticed in the studio

in the way you spoke to students.

Compassion, yes

you saved one or two.

There is something about your

Jewishness.

how your ancestors fled Belerus

after World War II,

Why, the devastation still shows

in your face,

so serious

full of anguish

Transformed by the

image of the strong, powerful

Jewish man,

you dance your Jewishness

in every gesture

every movement

reflecting belonging

and pride.

Yoga in the Moon Glow

Yoga in the Moon Glow

Vinyasa flow

under a full moon

with 100 souls

honoring Mother Earth.

Sweetness and sweat

combine

intertwine

as we find our potential

in soft summer breeze

barefoot in the courtyard

amongst magnolia trees

Another God-Smack

Another God Smack

I was just in Harris Teeter in the spice section,

A small boy brushed against me and was admonished by 

his dad,

and I felt a little ticked 

not at him

but at how crowded Aldi had been

and getting my flu shot

at Rite Aid

(and how ridiculous the drug stores are here

in comparison to the ones in Paris

that are entirely holistic)

and at the silly music playing in 

the grocery store.

Not wanting the little boy to

think I was cross with him,

I turned around and saw he had a 

cookie sheet,

and said,

"Oh good, you reminded me to 

get a cookie sheet!"

He was adorable.

I found a cookie sheet to roast vegetables on.

The little boy and his dad moved on down the aisle.

I looked carefully at the father.

He looked like...

the writing instructor at Duke whose 

course i wanted to take.

"Excuse me...

do you teach a writing course at Duke?"

It was him, John Evans,

who introduced me to his son,

Zachary, age 7, fluent in French.

John and I spent a while chatting by the spices.

I told him I had been thinking about taking his course.

Starts soon.

I just mentioned this to someone yesterday,

Abbie.  At the Lakeside Y.

I asked Zachary if he could come over and play

with my cat.  While I write.

John invited me over to bake cookies.

Zac slipped in 4 boxes of Jello even

tho he didn't eat it the last time John made it.

John moved to Durham in 2012.

He partly inspired me to also.

That and ADF

And DPAC

And Duke.

And so I'm here, too!

Two knee replacements and one published

book later.

I'm here.

Thank You.