T:BA:09 : in order to see

multimedia presentation with live dancers

where do i look
it started with film broadcast on the back of the stage
then the live dancers appear
in front
audience's attention split
eyes wander
focus
where
the dancers copying what was and is
on the screen
still
lights off
on
dancers on the giant screen behind
the same and different
than on the stage
not quite
in sync but
almost
sometimes yes
together
or nearly

after a little while it becomes
like reading music
i remember
my split eyes
with hands on the piano keys
eyes bouncing from treble
to bass and
back
and then one day
i found the space between
the space between
the clefs and reading music
was easy

like those optical illusions
where you can't see the image
if
you focus
you have to find a space
not
on the picture yet near
and unfocus
and then you see

the dancer and the screen
complimentary
rather than
conflicting
unfocusing in order
to focus
and watch the
dance
on stage and screen
semi-simultaneously

poem inspired by T:BA:09

dance performance, "too"

by Dot.
photographs from
Amy O'Neil's tingyrage
bottom photo, O'Neil performs
in Ten Tiny Dances