Topic: Spanish Dancer

[Firestarter]

Spanish Dancer

As on all its sides a kitchen-match darts white
flickering tongues before it bursts into flame:
with the audience around her, quickened, hot,
her dance begins to flicker in the dark room.

And all at once it is completely fire.

One upward glance and she ignites her hair
and, whirling faster and faster, fans her dress
into passionate flames, till it becomes a furnace
from which, like startled rattlesnakes, the long
naked arms uncoil, aroused and clicking.

And then: as if the fire were too tight
around her body, she takes and flings it out
haughtily, with an imperious gesture,
and watches: it lies raging on the floor,
still blazing up, and the flames refuse to die -
Till, moving with total confidence and a sweet
exultant smile, she looks up finally
and stamps it out with powerful small feet.

~Rilke

[Firestarter]

The wisdom expressed by Rilke in this poem is the wisdom of the spanish dancer - some folks are limited to the power of fire - they may be able to raise it - but what about the power to raise it, command it, and snuff it out when done with it? Now that is power, and that is the wisdom of the fire dance.

[Michael]

stand up, move your weight onto the balls of your feet...

there, you are dancing.

the rest is embellishment (ah.. but what embellishments!!)

[Firestarter]

stand up, move your weight onto the balls of your feet...

there, you are dancing.

the rest is embellishment (ah.. but what embellishments!!)

Esp if you have small feet!