America

America

The following link takes you to a video of a solo I choreographed to Allen Ginsberg’s iconic poem “America.”

The poem was written in the 1950s in response to articles published in time magazine that described homosexuality as a form of psychosis. Ginsberg poem describes the author’s experience as an individual living in, yet excluded from, American society. Ginsberg universalizes this experience by making reference to other excluded groups. Although there is anger behind Ginsberg’s words, the poet also seems to be trying to comprehend the situation he describes.

Ginsberg poem is relevant to our society today. Unfortunately, we live in a country in which basic rights, such as marriage, are denied to some people based on their sexual orientation. My piece mirrors Ginsberg’s bewilderment with his society by enacting a body at odds with itself, constantly trying to catch up with itself.