Letter From Paris: A Visual Poet

The Lone Wolf and I were strolling along the rue de Bretagne, and I was drawn to this beautiful book--Paris Venise Paris--in a store window.  These stunning photographs are of Carolyn Carlson, an American modern dance choreographer and performer of Finnish descent, who has been working in France since the 1970's.

Carolyn Carlson:  Paris Venise Paris  (Photo by Beth Arnold)

I was intrigued.  Do you know her work?  This is a short clip.

What voluptuous yet clean movement...and the staging is exquisite, costumes divine.

There is a tribal element to dance--ancient rhythms that pulse through our blood and bones.  The physical expression of moving our bodies, allowing ourselves to feel the beats, melodies, and tones and to improvise accordingly has been measured through time.  Personally, I feel release when I'm dancing.  As all good artists, Ms. Carlson connects the unconscious past with the present in her work. 

How does Ms. Carlson see herself as artist?

 According to her Bio:

California-born Carolyn Carlson defines herself first and foremost as a nomad. From San Francisco Bay to the University of Utah, from the Alwin Nikolais company in New York to Anne Béranger’s in France, from Paris Opera Ballet to Teatrodanza La Fenice in Venice, from the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris to Helsinki, from Ballet Cullberg to La Cartoucherie in Paris, from the Venice Biennale to Roubaix, Carlson is a tireless traveller, always seeking to develop and share her poetic universe. 

She arrived in France in 1971 the beneficiary of Alwin Nikolais’s ideas about movement, composition and teaching. The following year, with Rituel pour un rêve mort, she wrote a poetic manifesto that defined an approach to her work that she has adhered to ever since: dance that is strongly oriented towards philosophy and spirituality. Carlson prefers the term ‘visual poetry’ to ‘choreography’ to describe her work. She creates works that express her poetic thoughts and a form of complete art within which movement occupies a special place.

....Today, Carolyn Carlson is director of two organisations: the National Choreographic Centre Roubaix Nord-Pas de Calais, which produces and tours shows all over the world, and the Atelier de Paris-Carolyn Carlson, an international centre for masterclasses, residencies and creating new works, which she founded in 1999.

Carolyn Carlson:  in flow  (Photo by Beth Arnold)

The photos tell a tale in which fluid grace and elegance define Ms. Carlson's physicality, her movement flows as if she were half goddess and half gazelle.  The paint on her face marks a primal--tribal--spiritual connection to herself and, artistically, to us, her audience.  

Carolyn Carlson: fluidity  (Photo by Beth Arnold)

This image suggests a modern feminine Mercury to me, and Ms. Carlson inhabits a mythical world.

Carolyn Carlson's Paris Venise Paris pas de deux.  (Photo by Beth Arnold)

Paris Venise Paris would be a ravishing edition to any art book collection.  Even better, I want to get tickets to a Carolyn Carlson performance.

P.S.  I didn't find Paris Venise Paris in the U.S.  Can one order it?  It is available at Amazon/UK here.  A DVD of Carolyn Carlson's work Signes on Amazon U.S. here.

A review: "Signes is an artistic endeavor based on a year-long collaboration between choreographer Carolyn Carlson, composer Rene Aubrey and the great abstract artist Olivier Debre. The result is breathtaking and original in every respect, from the dancing to the music to the huge paintings that make the background."

                                                                        ---Beth Arnold in Paris