Daily Exercises in Irony -- from Imaginary Syllabus, Palm Press

Choreography: Two Leaps of Ironic Imagery

Step One

Compose a cluster of ironic or paradoxical images as each comes to mind. Do not attempt to connect them and avoid making each elaborate. Use concrete language as much as possible. When you have composed a cluster of about twelve ironic images, “step back” from them and look for a common theme or idea in them. You may find that six of them may lead in a direction that lends itself for writing more. Use one as a prompt and begin writing. Use the other five as needed, connecting what you find would be effective to the writing. Compose other new images if needed and if some of the images are metaphors, that is fine also. Keep unresolved irony as a guiding principle when brining a kind of unity of interrogation perhaps that remains open at its close.

Hop Too

Compose a cluster of ironic images as each comes to mind and do so around a topic, theme, or idea. Do not attempt to connect them and avoid making each elaborate. Use concrete language as much as possible. When you have composed a cluster of about twelve ironic images, “step back” from them and consider the common topic, theme, or idea. Use one as a prompt and begin composing  in a direction that lends itself for writing more. Use the other five as needed, connecting what you find would be effective to the writing. Compose other new images if needed and if some of the images are metaphors, that is fine also. Keep unresolved irony as a guiding principle when brining a kind of unity around interrogation, commentary, or narrative that remains open at its close.

Each exercise will have its own logic, essay-like or narrative, but dancers will need to keep alert for the quick turns, half or quarter or almost pirouettes. Dancers need to follow their investigation not a predetermined conventional choreography. Dancers shouldn’t stare at their feet if possible. However, they should work against the music or use the music to bring in the less than intuitive expectation, not for its own sake but to further the game of feet that is being played. Play is the limber muscle: tip, tip, hooray.