Ravens and other rebels
Plus poetry, dance and the power of the expressive arts to facilitate positive change. Friday I'm In Love - Issue 17
1. Corvid curious. This week I’ve been dipping into The Book Of The Raven - Corvids in Art & Legend by Caroline Roberts & Angus Hyland. It was here I learned that the ravens kept at the Tower of London, in accordance with the legend, can be mischievous. One likes to play dead, “causing people to cheer when he ‘miraculously’ springs back to life”. And while their wings are clipped on one side so they can’t fly too far, they do rebel at times. The aptly named Grog was last seen at an East End pub.
2. Experiments with poetic form. Lately I’ve been playing with palindromes and polyphonic poems. And this morning I had another go at a nonnet (a nine line poem with a descending number of syllables), inspired in part by this article – How to write your own physics poem by Sam Illingworth, writing in The Conversation.
If you like the idea of colliding science with poetry or hybrid pieces,
runs excellent workshops on this. My granny became a glow-worm in a poem started during one of these sessions.Another piece on poetic form that caught my attention this week:
Thirteen ways of looking at form by
3. Drunkards & witches & storms - This week my daughter’s primary school had a visit from Scottish Opera, whose adaptation of Robert Burns’ beloved poem saw pupils take on the roles of revellers, supernatural beings and the elements, to bring this darkly comic work to life.
After rehearsing the songs and moves with their teachers these past few weeks, the kids spent the morning bringing it all together with the professionals - with blocking, costumes and props, before a final run through. Families were then invited to watch the performance in the afternoon.
This is the third year running that M has been part of this experience, and it’s been a joy to see her confidence grow each time. Usually she wears ear defenders while participating (she experiences sensory processing issues), but this year she chose to wear the teal tammy hat provided as costume instead. The noisy boys in her current class are helping her grow accustomed to loud sounds, she tells us. We were also surprised to see our, at times selectively nonspeaking, child come out with a brilliant line of dialogue during an interaction with “Tam”. Something she improvised on the spot, she told us later.
Yet another reminder of the power of expressive arts. And of allowing folks who may not otherwise have been able to access particular art forms, to experience them at a young age. Thank you Scottish Opera (and teachers!).
The last novel I read - All The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker. Despite its imperfections (for me, it would have been more powerful had it finished a few chapters earlier, rather than wrapping up all the plot threads), I was engrossed in this sprawling novel with its themes of love, loss and redemption. If you enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, then this could be for you.
What I’ve been watching this week - The Other Side of Edinburgh, a fascinating documentary about Scottish ice hockey player, Tony Hand who grew up in Muirhouse (an area of the city more often associated with drug addiction and poverty) in the 1980s, and was the first British player to be drafted to the NHL.
What struck me in particular is the way that these young boys (Tony and his pals) would walk for over an hour to get to Murrayfield ice-rink to skate. Knowing that they didn’t have much money, the owner would give them jobs to do (such as painting woodwork etc.), in return for reduced rates. Due to ice hockey being majorly under-resourced at the time here in the UK, the players would have to wait until the rink closed to skaters – at around 10pm at night – before they were able to transform it into a hockey rink and train.
It got me thinking about the power of sport (or any other activity that inspires this level of devotion and dedication), to act as a pathway to wellbeing. About kindness and empathy. And about the impact the loss of youth facilities is having on individuals, communities and society at large.
The book I’m currently reading - Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Having recently enjoyed The Woman At 1000 Degrees by Hallgrímur Helgason (a historical novel featuring dying, yet feisty, 80 year-old Herra, which is based on an incredible real life encounter), I’m travelling to the land of ice and fire once again.
Kent’s novel is set in the 1830s in northern Iceland, where Agnes Magnúsdóttir has been sentenced to death by execution. Based on a true story it’s as immersive and disturbing as you might imagine.
The French edition of Helgason’s novel is suitably badass
Which books, documentaries, plays, performances and other wonders have been sparking joy, thoughts or new ideas for you this week? I’d love to hear in the comments.
Sending us into the weekend is Rambert Dance with the theatre adaptation of the popular TV series – Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby. If you’d like to see the full performance, it’s currently available to watch online, for free, from anywhere in the world. But only for a couple more days.
M’s play sounds wonderful, the power of drama for kids eh? My one regret in life is not having had more opportunity to do drama as a kid. We never did it, in primary school or secondary, until sixth form by which time self-consciousness had well and truly kicked in 😟