CriticalDance Forum

* The Dancer Who Lives In The Park *


the soft afternoon breeze
carries her imagination skyward
like a gentle wave

like the birds and clouds floating overhead
their airborne grace
is her vision of dance

"if I could move like that
what a beautiful dancer I might be"

"how do you dance like a flower--like a smile?"

"how do you enchant the little children
like a lullaby
with gentleness and love?"

" Give me five ! ", say Aimie and Ami

and they all dance off through the park together

ready to wow their world

Aimie absolutely insists on having her latest poem posted immediately--

So Here It Is !


You Dance So Prettily

And Seem So Wittily

I Can't Stay Sittily


So Let's Go To Italy !


[Added about an hour later----Some of our good friends from the Kirov-Mariinsky will also be in Italy this week and next. Drop in if you don't have other plans. They will be performing "Swan Lake", the one where the heroine and hero are real happy in the end, which makes most of the ending really nice for children. They will be performing in Cagliari, Sardinia. Sardinia is one of the most beautiful places that Aimie and Ami have ever been to ! ]

a day to dance


sunshine
all mine

dance steps in the grass
melodies in the breeze that seem to pass
all the things that make you fond
like dancing merrily in a pond

reflecting on a sunny day
here's a dance for you, it seems to say
a children's way
it's happy play

click-clack
you've got the knack
to make yourself smile
now that's worthwhile !

a rhythm here
a shuffle there
a grand 'jetay'
what's that? you say
it's just a name
still looks the same
to be enjoyed
oh boy!-ed

so many beautiful plants
come-on! let's dance!
you're in first place
with that smile on your face

"Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last....

"Looking for fun and feelin' groovy."

(Paul Simon "The 59th Street Bridge Song")


We have a hard time slowing down unless we are practicing our balletic headstands, but we do love looking for fun and feeling groovy !!

Love, Aimie and Ami

From Aimie and Ami's latest find, a scholarly new dance book entitled....


*S*tep *M*oves *I*nvolving *L*yrical *E*uphorics*

( for five-year olds )


All the steps that you ever learn are great

But it's * Your Smile * that really matters


****



a dance that lifts the dancers over and above

that carries us along like a burst of sunshine


" Hey, watch this ! " beams Aimie--dancing so 'by golly'-ly, Smile-lyly

it's summer and it's a wonderful time for waves to dance

two little waves live in the ocean
they love to dance

they reflect the sun and the moon
they make the dancing air visible
like dancers make beautiful music visible

they love to change costumes
they sparkle like diamonds
they turn golden
they become aquamarine and silver

they do all sorts of wonderful dances
they waltz and they glide
they sail through the air
they love fun dancing
they can't be silly enough

they are two of aimie and ami's favorite dance partners

it's a summer lake day


water glittering flittering

mirror clear here and there

a tune's in the air
a wave of your hair
is that a dance step i see
could be just could be

sky colors change
daydreams rearrange
trees hold in the light
a beautiful sight

glittering sparklets
looks great so let's
dance on the crest of the day
by far the best way

breezes are blowing
the children are glowing
their boats coming and going
with dancing twinkle eyes rowing
must be rainbows they're towing

so hey what's you knowing
it's your smile that is showing

really okay
it's a dance away day
one great big hooray
what more can we say

it's a summer lake day

waterfall dancer

floating from the sky
gliding skipping
shining sparkling

are you dancing for the children
are you auditioning to be a prima-balerina

are you dancing just because you love to dance

The Sunshine Circus Lyrical Dancers Have Finally Come To Town


Tonight they are performing outdoors in the park. Everyone has come to see them--even the stars in the sky seem to be applauding. It is a lovely clear night. Bright twinkling stars seem to be everywhere--even on the stage.

The dancers are performing beautifully and brilliantly tonight. Alexei Adonis is about to do his finale solo.

Five-year-old Aimie is watching excitedly from the wings. Everyone from Beau-Le-Soleil has flown in to see the performance and they all are standing backstage watching.

Alexei Adonis reaches skyward and the audience swoons.

Aimie can't contain herself anymore. She runs onstage as Alexei Adonis is making a low swooping gesture and jumps on his shoulder.

Alexei Adonis, ever the gentleman and consummate performer, lifts her gently off his shoulder, smiles kindly and sails off stage with a soaring grand jete leap.

Aimie, ever the consummate performer and show saver, starts to do the Tuesday Two Step.

Within seconds Alexei Adonis sails back on stage with another soaring grand jete leap. As he touches down up bounces what seems to be a bundle of twinkling starlight.The bundle of twinkling starlight pirouettes and grand jetes and lands on Aimie's head.

Soon all the dancers are onstage and bursts of starlight seem to be flying everywhere.


* It Is A Breathe-Takingly Wonderful Evening In The Park As A Sea Of Bouncing Bundles Of Sparkling Starlight And Beautiful Ballerinas Go Sailing Through The Air *


Alexei Adonis, after performing his final series of grand jetes by jumping over everyone's head, settles back to earth.


He lifts Aimie masterfully into the air with one hand just as what seems to be a gentle whirl of glittering starlight flies straight into her arms.


Alexei Adonis bends over and kisses Aimie's hand. Aimi, beaming like an entire galaxy, runs off the stage looking for her autograph book to get Alexei Adonis's signature.

The audience applauds wildly.


High above in the nighttime sky the Anna Pavlova Dancing Star, ever aware of a good show when she sees one, looks down with approval and lights up the night with a loving burst of dazzling beauty.

"What are we going to do today?", the Five-Year-Old Twins, Aimie and Ami, ask each other.

"I've got my dance class to teach", says Aimie.

"I've got my ballet to write for the new Kirov-Mariinsky Children's Dance Season", says Ami.

There's a knock on the door. It's The Dancer Who Lives In The Park.

"I've got to learn some new dance steps", she says.

"Let's take everything to the lake", they all say together.


Sitting at the lake they watch hundreds of Sparkles dancing on the water.

The Sparkles are really into some amazingly magnificent and complex choreography today.

A slow moving wave of waltzing Sparkles is dancing alongside another fast-stepping wave of swirling glittering Sparkles.


"This is really great dancing!", Aimie, Ami and The Dancer In The Park agree.

The glittering, dancing Sparkles seem to be glowing in appreciation.


"I am going to teach this to my dance class", says Five-Year Old Aimie, just as her class of little Five-Year-Olds arrive.

"Relevay, s'il vous play (if you please)", says Aimie to her dance class.

All the little children jump into the lake and start to merrily hop around. Aimie is overjoyed with the success of her first lesson.


Ami is watching the wonderful dancing Sparkles and excitedly writing down choreographic notes, using Advanced Kinetic Dance Notations For Five-Year-Olds. This will be wonderful for his new ballet.


The Dancer Who Lives In The Park watches the Sparkles dancing. She sees Aimie and the little children splashing merrily in the water while Ami is writing away triumphantly in his notebook.

"I think that I have an idea for my new dance step", she says, as she lifts herself into the air and performs one the most beautifully inspired 'Grand Jete Tour En L'Air' Jump Turns that she has ever done.

a chance to be graceful
a way to make space full
of waves in the ocean
of beauty in motion

will you really adore it
all you do is go for it
you don't need to be mappily
to move along happily

take your grace and just show it
then set sail like a poet

with a dance it would seem
you can make your own dream

A Child's Day


It's so beautiful today !
So many beautiful flowers during the day.
And so many stars during the night.

I must have counted a million different flowers this morning.
And a million different stars last night.
They're all so beautiful !

I can count to ten.
If you do that a lot you can get to a million.
I just know that there are millions of beautiful flowers and stars everywhere.

Are you a dancer ?
I love to dance.
It's one of my really favorite things to do.
There's absolutely nothing more wonderful than a dancer.

Did you know that daydreams can dance ?
Mine can.
My daydreams are wonderful dancers.
My favorite daydreams can dance so beautifully.
There goes one now.
Look at the way that it reaches out.
It's doing my favorite dance--The Love Dance.

Nothing's more beautiful than my daydream when it's doing it's Love Dance.
Can you do a Love Dance ?
You're smiling.
I'm smiling too.
It's beautiful to smile.

Here I'll show you how to do The Love Dance.
Jump up and down like this.
Pretend you are a little child or a dancing sailboat elephant.
Think your favorite thoughts.
Now think, "I'll love you if you'll love me."
We children are really good at this.

You're dancing.
I'm dancing too.
It's wonderful to dance.

* Autumn Gold *


It's that time of year again when Angela*Autumn*Gold goes dancing through the autumn woods.

Her galaxy of light brown hair again seems to glow golden in the fresh autumn air.

She looks up at the golden leafed trees and her face lights up like the golden tree tops--like the Sun.

She dances among the golden trees and her wonderfully moving hands and arms tell of all the beauty that she sees and feels around her.

So much golden light everywhere.


The Sun is shining goldenly. The trees are shining goldenly.

Angela*Autumn*Gold, dancing through the autumn woods, shines just as brightly.


Once again the clear bright sky above embraces one of it's dearest friends----The Gold Of Autumn.

* Autumn Gold *


it's A Magnificent Autumn Day today
the earth seems to be lit up
like a million brilliant suns

and the heart dances above
with lightness and joy


Angela*Autumn*Gold
is skipping and dancing along
smiling radiantly

just like she always does

Children Dancing

your world of a million gardens
embraces you with it's gentle calm
while your minds are dancing
with sweet dreams and joyfulness

" What is dance really ? " asks the Dancer In The Park
" It's having fun ! " says Ami
" It's being beautiful ! " says Aimie
" Then let's do it ! " says the Dancer In The Park

the sun is shining brightly
the waves are splashing
the lake is sparkling

the children are dancing

Happily Beautifully