Take collaboration, for example. If I find out that a novel or a poem was written by two people, it seems a little strange to me. How much did each person participate in the writing of said piece? Because I can't pick apart the work and figure out which words belong to each person, I don't enjoy it as much.
But collaboration in spoken word? I love it. The use of two voices can make an entire poem what it is. The poets can use their voices individually, in tandem, and as echoes all in one piece.
Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye are two of my favorite spoken word poets, and they're both absolutely brilliant on their own, but together they bring to life poems that just wouldn't be the same otherwise.
Here's "When Love Arrives"
And "An Origin Story"
LINDSEY! THANK YOU for posting this! This was so cool, very entertaining. I've heard OF spoken word, but I don't know that I had actually seen any videos. The things I like about this are the same things I like about slam poetry, which I posted about. You should check it out!
ReplyDeleteThis really does make poetry come to life -- and through an interesting variation of double performance. Great connection with theater!
ReplyDeleteAs a former theater enthusiast I can really appreciate this. It must have taken quite a bit of time to rehearse and choreograph that. I'm impressed with how even their hand gestures went together. So, am I to understand that they wrote these poems together and then performed them or are these someone else's poems? Are they found anywhere in written form? It would be interesting to compare how the written version would look. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSarah and Phil are best friends, so they wrote this poem together. And I agree, their choreography is spot on!
DeleteThey each perform individually, and I know they both have books of their own poetry published.
As far as I know these two works haven't been published. I suppose if they were, formatting would be an important aspect of presenting both perspectives?