Ever since the first night I rode through Port of Spain's Independence Square, I knew I wanted to host a space activation lab of some magnitude in that space. Nearly 2 months into my Trinidad dance residency, I have been doing small-scale space activations at Independence Square to test out the "laboratory." I have also written a lot about my process as it unfolds.This poem is the second in a series of pieces about Independence Square in Port of Spain, Trinidad. This space fascinates me for so many reasons. Oftentimes after space activating somewhere close by, I go and sit here, sometimes for an hour or more, just watching the diversity of life experiences in this space, writing about it, sorting through my creative projects, dreaming up more collaborations on all levels. Independence Square is also the site for a large space activation lab that i am doing in the near future. Are you in Trinidad...If you would like to be a part of the magic, contact JOYISM! at joyism@dancejoyism.com. This lab will also be professionally documented via film & photo.
we dazzle our world
jumbled hues bleating horns
flashing halogen eyes
fads scream brightly above
popular chicken houses
the red, white, and night
swirl and bounce
on the windows
cars mingle with pedestrians
drivers steer
passages through circles
space clamors
for more
the masses mash-up
on each other
identity softens and blurs
smeared onto seasoned slabs
the opening
a muster point
for the magic made
the day spent
its dreams dissolving
discarded traces soon dangling
on the past
the noise swells
and heaves its waves
the speed splinters time
transient lime unraveling on stone benches
circuits confess complex communities
the circus spins
yet strands itself in the now
a familiar thing draped as
spectacular
dark spots in the gutter
fat rats race the curb
machetes christen the coconuts
young flesh trails the street
the night falls down
impartially
everyone is welcome
but no one is home
7:56pm
1.13.2011
east side of the cipriani statue
independence square
port of spain, trinidad & tobago
A short film from a spontaneous space activation with a 5 year-old at Independence Square
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