Blythely Dancing

[My Mom and I celebrate at La Mariana Sailing Club after my MFA graduation. Photo Credit: Rhonda McBride] It’s been five years since my MFA in Dance and what have I done with it? What do I have to show for my time since my terminal degree? Well...I taught at UH Manoa while I was there, then went on to Hawai’i Tokai International College, UH Windward Community College, Kaiser High School, Dole Middle School, King Intermediate, a number of private schools as a regular substitute teacher (Mid-Pacific Institute, Assets High School, and several others), two public elementary schools as a part of STEPS to Success, and the Movement Center (a nonprofit performing arts school).  I directed TMC’s annual summer show, “Dancing the Silver Screen,” got my HI State Secondary Teaching Credential and TESOL. For three years I rode around O’ahu on a beautiful Honda Shadow Phantom motorcycle named A’ama, my pride and joy and a truly beautiful way to commute. Riding a motorcycle...

LINK to the Video on YouTube This short (less than one minute!) choreography, "Like Waves," is an excerpt from my 2015 MFA in Dance thesis choreography “The Shrew Unleashed." The work was danced to poetry old and new, including an improvised collaboration, a slam poem, and some of Shakespeare's Sonnets. "Sonnet LX,” which we nicknamed the more descriptive “Like Waves," incorporates many themes, speaking of time, death, beauty, maturity, praise, and the ocean. This sonnet gives me the feeling of being resigned to an inevitable fate, in awe and powerless. Working collaboratively, the dancers chose to depict how “the waves make toward the pebbled shore,” rising, falling, turbulent, sustained, strong, bound and at times free, wringing and pressing with the tides. In order to dance the movements of the waves, this was performed as an ensemble, descending and ascending diagonals from upstage right to downstage left. Structurally it worked well to hav...

I love poetry! I enjoy reading it, writing it, sharing it, using it for teaching and inspiring choreography. What do you use poetry for? Who are your favorite authors? Every day during National Poetry Month (April) 2020 I shared a blog with favorite poems by other authors as well as my own work. Then I created a video to share some of my favorite resources for teachers, parents, and lovers of poetic verse: https://youtu.be/gvlBPVfounI   Correction: I misspoke about which website to go to for what purpose. The Poem-a-Day comes from Poets.org, videos of live poetry reading/recitation are on the Poem.org blog, and the Wild Poetry Forum is a live forum community for sharing and enjoying new works. I hope you enjoy these resources, and please share your favorites in the comments! Websites Poem-a-Day from Poets.org: https://poets.org/poem-a-day Poem.org Blog with Videos: https://wn.com/Poem Wild Poetry Forum: http://wildpoetryforum.com/phpBB3/index.php Books...