Last week I posted on how dance training and experience helps one in professional pursuits (acknowledging that the performance of dance alone is a professional pursuit). This week I'm going to discuss how skills developed though the practice of slam poetry are also useful in pursuits outside of that craft. Many of these skills are similar, such … Continue reading Transferable Skills: How Slam Poetry Experience Helps in “Real Life”
Month: February 2015
Transferable Skills: How Dance Experience Helps in the “Real World”
As artists, we often get flack about the practical usage of the skills we spend so much time developing. "OK, so you're skilled in [dance, poetry, music], sure," people often say, "But how does that help in the real world?" At university, I double-majored in English and Dance, with a minor in Educational Studies. The time spent … Continue reading Transferable Skills: How Dance Experience Helps in the “Real World”
Performance Poetry: To Write or Not to Write?
Recently I've been working on developing and refining my creative practice for writing performance poems. To help determine some of the most helpful practices, lately I've been speaking with other performance poets about their creative processes. When I write performance poems, I compose them on the page as I would do with composing a print poem. I … Continue reading Performance Poetry: To Write or Not to Write?
Spoken Word Styles: Narrative v. Abstract
I was speaking the other day with a fellow spoken word poet about our favorite "celebrity" slam poets, and we fell into a conversation about what makes a good spoken word piece. Our preferences differed and revealed an interesting divide which I think may derive from our different artistic trainings. This poet was trained in … Continue reading Spoken Word Styles: Narrative v. Abstract
Katie Ailes 