“A Voice to Isolde”
“A Voice to Isolde”
Combining spoken word and modern dance, Sydney Hutton and Gabri Posard gave voice to Fair Isolde from Gottfried von Stratssburg’s Tristan. They probed the duality of love, the physicality of passion as both lustful and romantic and the interdependence of all experiences in the character’s life using the nuanced character of Isolde as inspiration. Gabri’s brought her extensive dance experience to Sydney’s playful language for a collaboration brought to life by the talents of videographer Punya Chatterjee. Their artistic exploration furthered the themes explored in the Thinking Matters class, What is Love?
"A Voice to Islode":
If we slept amongst the stars
Unshackled from this earthly burden,
If we escaped to our cave of gems,
jewels envying our brilliance.
Oh, but our Duty is cruel, persistent,
Determined to exact its tribute.
Our bodies, whole in embrace
Are cleft down the middle by Duty’s naked sword,
Severing our once naked figures,
Exposing our naked souls.
A fissure, a wound bone-deep
Is ripped open between us.
My hope tumbles into the abyss
I am left with only a crystal shard,
Just a scrap. Again.
Broken off the bed of sorrows
on which I sleep.
Sydney Hutton is a member of the Class of 2019 and is interested in Human Biology and Public Policy. Originally from the town of live music and scorching temperatures, Austin, Texas, she now revels in the moderate NorCal temps and chill vibes. Sydney enjoys coffee, staying up too late, being sarcastic and running (most of the time). It turns out she is a poet and did not know it, for this is her first piece of published poetry.
Gabri Posard is a freshman originally from San Diego, California. While her major has yet to be decided, she finds herself gravitating towards the idea of Symbolic Systems, an interdisciplinary major that focuses on computers and minds. She has been dancing since about the day she could walk and has since competed at events like Hip Hop International and joined a hip-hop team here on campus. Her other passions include running a non-profit charity, Donate Don't Dump, which focuses on alleviating hunger by reducing food waste.
