Notes About The Poem
Dance knows no borders – it brings people together regardless of religion, nationality, sexuality and political persuasion
- Sergei Polunin
Retired
Throw me high, higher still
Let me breathe again,
Let me gain
height, I will
Live, smile, laugh, be filled
With heartbeats steady and wild
Let me move, relevé lent (1)
Let me stand
Hold my hand
As if I were a child
Be my supporting leg (2)
Be my heart when it fails
Beat it for me, it's too frail
Throw me high, I beg
Pirouette me like a sail
Dancing in the wind
Retire (3) when I retire
Be me, be my ire
Be my eyes when I am blind
Be my anger while I am kind
Sit with me, this music
Kneel by me, don't mourn
For I felt airborne
For one second, one tick
Alive, in your arms reborn
***
September 30, 2017
Copyright © Darren White
(1) Relevé lent is a classical ballet term meaning “slow raising.” It is usually used in the Russian Schools of ballet. It describes when a dancer starts in one of the basic ballet positions of the feet with straight legs, then lifts one leg off the floor while raising up to relevé on the supporting leg.
(2) Supporting leg is a classical ballet term that describes a dancer’s leg that is supporting their whole body while the other leg is free to do another step. A dancer’s supporting leg is often called a “standing leg.”
(3) Retire is the position in which a ballet dancer raises their thigh with the knee bent so that the pointed foot is placed either in front, behind or to the side of the supporting foot.
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