When poetry becomes movement: The Messenger

It’s easy for people to watch a dance performance, give a sentimental sigh and then passionately profess, “I never knew dance could be so poetic.” It’s true that dance is frequently compared to poetry, but how often does one open a literature book, finding arabesques and pirouettes leaping from the pages? This reverse isn’t as common, but Rowan Contemporary Dance Company director Melanie Stewart is excited to be turning words into movement in her upcoming choreographic endeavor, The Messenger, a multi-media dance piece based on the poetry of Eleanor Wilner.
Wilner, a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and author of five books of poetry, has collaborated with Stewart for the past 15 years, observing Stewart’s dance work and producing poetic feedback.
“She was just terrific at looking at my work and giving it an interpretation from her view,” said Stewart of Wilner’s past undertakings. “I’m not always able to describe what I do in words, and that’s all she does. She brought a great power of the word.”
Wanting to take on another project with the award-winning poet, Stewart decided it was time for dance to do the interpreting. “In all these years she’s been writing for me. She sees my dances and responds,” Stewart said about Wilner’s work. “I thought I would like to take a work of hers and interpret it and do it from the other side.”
The result is The Messenger, Stewart’s dance piece based on Wilner’s poem of the same name. Originally staged in Philadelphia in 1996, Stewart’s piece is now being re-mounted for the Rowan community, performed by Rowan’s very own 16-member Contemporary Dance Company.
In short, the poem follows the eternal journey of a messenger and his message as they travel through time and around the world. Along with Stewart’s dance interpretation, The Messenger includes an original musical score by Mick Rossi and photovisuals by Jon Stark. The only two props in the show-a ceramic ball and a baton-are used to represent the world and the message, respectively.
“In the opening sequence, David O’Donnell, one of the dancers, is contemplating the sphere while there is slide imagery from all different landscapes and historical events,” explained Stewart. “It paints a pretty bleak picture of the world, so we see the world as a human place where atrocity exists and the message is ‘hope.’ It’s what keeps us going.”
When paired with the dancers’ actions, Stark’s photovisuals are used to give the audience a feeling of constant movement over time and space. “Because there are so many landscapes created with the slides and movement, you get a sense of traveling over time in different reference points,” Stewart explained.
The choreographer compares the journey of the message to that of the Olympic flame. “[The dancers] carry this message in an Olympic fashion,” said Stewart, “moving it and passing the baton.”
Though ‘hope’ plays a large part in Stewart’s interpretation of the poem, the messenger himself is not to be forgotten. “It’s clear in Eleanor’s poem that it’s not really about the message; it’s about the messenger,” explained Stewart. She stresses that the message of hope cannot exist without someone to carry it.
“I tried not to make it too much about the message, but more about the people who are carrying it,” Stewart explained. “I think that without a messenger or without a new hero we’re lost, and it’s about the people who help him along his way.”
The poem itself appears in its entirety during an abstract scene when everything stops and a recording of Wilner reading the poem is played. “All the lights go out with the dancers still on stage, and there’s this kind of ‘pulsing’ image on the screen,” Stewart said. “This is when it is read, so the audience’s complete attention is on the poem.”
Stewart preferred “encaging” the poem with movement, rather than having the dancers speak the poem or try to act it out. “That would really weaken what [Wilner] had done,” said Stewart. “I wanted to respect the integrity of her art, so I left it intact.” The poem will also appear in the program.
“It’s very beautiful to watch,” said Stewart about her dance poem. “It’s a short show with no intermission, so it’s something you can go to and get an intense visual and aural experience.”
The Messenger makes its way onto the Tohill stage in Bunce Hall Dec. 7-9 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $3 for students, seniors and children.