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Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn for SSAA choir, percussion, and piano |
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 Commissioned by the women’s choir Sistrum under the direction of Meredith Bowen, I had the privilege to compose Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn for an incredibly diverse and lovely group of women to premiere. In creating this work I had the simple yet beautiful imagery of the poetry by author Kris Radish which was chosen by the women of Sistrum. Her words absolutely lend themselves to tone painting, and I tried to match my musical brush strokes with the bold colors in Kris’ poetry.
In “the dark line” the imagery of night blending with day lends itself to the choir’s opening, gentle lines that eventually give way to the final powerful a cappella line “bright moon, golden night, you have become my new season,” giving hope for love.
One particular line of Kris’ poems that I love comes from “morning prayer.” It is: “dark windows, kitchen sounds, laughter, near the chair…” I love this idea of being up early in the morning before everyone else, but being in room that has been and will be filled with voices and daily activities. I wanted to let the choir reflect this idea through a freely sung section where all of the voices – past, present, and future – mix and intertwine with each other all at once.
It was very important to me that this work to reflect the unique and lovely women of Sistrum. I wanted to give them all a chance to dance in the final title movement. I felt that the addition of a hand drum would bring together that primal instinct to dance and celebrate and to join together in harmony.
Read the poetry below and listen to examples from Sistrum's CD Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn, released in 2010 on Blue Griffin Recording, Inc.
"the dark line" (SCORE EXAMPLE)
the dark line
of winter
crosses my sky
in minutes
the lines of night
will blend
with the lines of day
and it is this
merging of times
of place
of seasons
that bends me
to the possibilities
of us
the beginning
of everything
the mingling of past and present
what has been
what could be
i cannot stop the sky
the night
the way
the trees now
whisper for heat
i cannot stop
my heart
beating like thunder
when i say your name
hear your voice
bright moon
golden night
you
have become
my
new
season
"morning prayer" (SCORE EXAMPLE)
just
a minute
dark windows
kitchen sounds
laughter
near the chair
a whisper
down the hall
and then
a twist
towards the light
and my early sigh
is my
morning prayer
for me
you
them
us
and
finally
feet on floor
beginning again
breathing light
tiptoeing
towards
another dusk
"Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn" (RECORDING) (SCORE EXAMPLE)
i will
dance naked
when i first
learn
to walk . . .
and there
will be
a rainbow of light
colors
to blind
the binding minds
the closed hearts
of the men and women
who said
"never"
i will not
simply walk
but
fly
with wings of gold
woman
warrior
feeling with a heart
the fineness of the
journey
and dancing naked
at the edge of dawn
is the gate
that moves my soul
into the endless
realm
of possibility
Poetry used with permission of Author Kris Radish
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Compositions 
