My Third Week & The Cantab

 The third week of my internship would have fallen on school vacation week, so I am going to combine school vacation week and the following week as “week three.”

As internship begins to come to a quick close, I spent the majority of my time this past week working on the phrases I have started. This includes the Emily Dickinson phrase, “One does not need a chamber to be haunted,” from my very first day on internship. I backtracked my way through the Sabrina Benaim poem, “Explaining My Depression to My Mother,” and the five variations of my “mom” movement phrase, which I will admit was quite the challenge. Lastly, I reviewed the phrase that I created from my Language Autobiography. Karen also had me do two two minute writing exercises, where I wrote down everything that came to my mind. When looking at my list, I have to laugh at how bipolar my mind was that day. I thought I would share my list of thoughts:

• “Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that sometimes, ice is also great.” -This is a poem by Robert Frost, at least, a close variation of the poem.
• Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music
• I thoroughly enjoy the smell of apple cinnamon bread in the morning
• I recommend talking about your period seductively. -This is a poem that I will discuss further later.
• I am much more of a cat person
• Quack a doodle doo the cow goes moo
• I really like the taste of chocolate milk even though I really do hate milk but it’s yummy so I drink it anyways

The biggest thing, at least the thing I enjoyed the most out of these two weeks combined, is my visit to the Can Tab’s poetry night. Every Wednesday night from 7:00 pm to approximately 11:00 pm, there is a poetry slam. I have never felt more at home in such a foreign place. My mom and I had the pleasure to go and experience this event, and I definitely plan to go and attend again, and maybe even read. The atmosphere, the people, the vibe... It made me feel so comfortable. It was held in a dark, crowded "basement," and when I say crowded, I mean it. The dark room kept it more honest, I believe. There were people everywhere, and my mom and I were lucky to find seats. "Seats" meaning my mom got a bar stool, and I sat on some sort of cabinet. You had to be 18+ to attend, and the only things in the room other than the crowd was a bar and a bright-lit stage with a microphone. The night began with an open mic from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, which I learned that people wait an hour, sometimes longer, out the doors to sign up for the limited amount of 5 minute slots. I think what I loved about it the most was the honesty that poured from each open-mic speakers heart; All of their hearts really. Whenever someone spoke, I could feel the pain, the love, the passion emptying from their throats and out of their mouths, and it was absolutely heart-wrenching. The main act, Chanel Dupree, went on from 10:00 pm to 10:30 pm, and she was absolutely fascinating. She was selling a short book of poems that she had written, and after listening to her speak, I had to buy one. So shyly, I approached her and asked to buy one of her books. We began having a conversation about my name, (after she asked for mine, and told me about how she loves the name Jordan. She also agreed it's more of a girls name...but that's beside the point.) That conversation led to us talking about my internship, and how I am incorporating text and movement to create a final dance project for school. She was so intrigued, and I felt so comfortable talking to her. In my book, she signed it: To Jordan, Your name, face, voice, and overall personality is just magical! Thank you so much for supporting! -Chanel Dupree. P.S. Good luck with your internship!

Needless to say, I about died of happiness.

   The night ended with their poetry slam contest, which is three rounds of poetry, where six people compete in a 3 minute round, four people compete in a 2 minute round, and 2 compete for the title of Poetry Slam Champion in a 1 minute poetry slam. There were three judges, all of which were audience members picked at random. My mom and I became friendly with the young woman behind us, and got to help her judge each round.

   To end, I thought I would share some of my favorite lines from the night:

• "I am not as [messed] up as this poem." (Yes, I did change it to make it appropriate for this blog)
• "Nothing says 'Happy New Year' like a Celtic's 'Go [*beep*] yourself' tee shirt." (What I really liked about this haiku poem was that it was written by a woman in her late 50's. You go girl!)
• "I know what it's like to hand over a plate of my limbs to a man who has already eaten." -Chanel Dupree
• "I recommend talking about your period seductively." (This was a poem written by a woman who had read an article about a group of women that photographed themselves menstruating. The article and photographs caused a furious uproar, and many political debates. The poem and explanation is linked above. The reason I enjoyed this poem so much is not because of the humorous title, but because of how honest and blunt it was. It was brilliantly written, and the author, Kayla Wheeler, deserves much recognition for this piece of work.)