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maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea
again another dancer!- i just want to wish every one the very best of luck for their exam and i hope whateva question u all decide to choose i reli hope it goes well :> dont let nerves get the better of you-go for it-show the world that the 16/17/18 year old dancers are going to be the next big thing 🙂 go dancers go!!! xxxx
hey im also i A level student and chose to do this poem as my option, i have figured out a couple of motifs which i could do but i am nt sure of the music that i could use any body got any sugestions?? plz help!! x x x
I love this poem. For me it shows how our inner emotional world creates the world we find outside ourself. Knowing this gives us choice and freedom: we choose what kind of worlds we create, both inside our deepest self and with other people.
We as a class have started really late on ours and i mean like last week! Everyones comments have been so good, as it has given me an insight into what i can do! But has anyone else found the questions this year really random and hard to do? I do like this poem and after looking at it for longer, i apresheate what it means. For example my ideas is that two of the girls are like children and how they view the world, and the other two are more like the adults point of view on the world, so i am going to focus on this in my dance
Hey im a AS studen too.. and ive been lookin at your comments n thanku..it’s given me the confidence to carry on with the question..i hav’nt done much at all yet as i jus changed my question to this poem. But i hav chosen some music which i think will work..it’s by Alsaints- pure shores..i think thats what it’s called. it’s from that movie..the Beach. hope dats ok. Thnx guys! XxXxX
This is one of my favorite poems. It was my dad’s favorite poem, and he passed away a little while back, so this poem has burrowed itself like a clam in my chest, and each time I read it I feel the sea swell into my eyes, and my heart breaks a million times over…
iv choosen the poem as my AS dance stimulus. Having completed my dance i now have the task of fitting music to it iv found that a good song is hold tight by the chemical brothers, it has an underlying beat and a solo voice, you can change the dynamics of your dance very easily by switchiing between following the rhythm of the beat or the solo voice. might be some help to you.
good luck!
hollie x
This is a great poem commenting on what life has to offer us. Here cummings has taken the example of the sea to tell us it’s worth. The sea has so much to offer. It is a place to relax for some while for others it’s a ‘dangerous’ place. However, through the children characters, cummings is trying to explain that exploration is the answer to a lot of questions regarding life. Life is to be lived fully and we need to work out reasons for the way we think and behave. Life isn’t always ‘rosey’ as milly and molly experience but it could be funful according to maggie and may. Your concept of life is based on your emotions and experiences-good or bad.
Hi
I’m doing this question for AS dance as well but I’m finding it really hard to find the right music. Does anyone have any idea what music to use?
Thanks
obviously another dancer, thought id give my input. basically what im doing, is taking each character and giving them a different personality, so scared, happy, sad etc. and portraying these personalities through movement. the sea, being a recurring theme in the poem will be a recurring theme in the dance. I am going to make up a section for the sea, and repeat it after every character, so the dance will be in rondeaux form – a b a c a d e etc… i have also got one motif which i start off with, and then repeat it in every section with developments…for instance my character for may is a sad one, so i will perform the phrase maybe more slowly and with smaller movements, maybe floorwork.
this is such a hard question to put into movement, obviously there are lots of ideas about what the poem means, but to put it into movement is a different matter. this probably hasn’t helped anybody…but i guess its a good idea to know how other people are handling the question….good luck everyone!
xxxxx
hey peeps,
i chose this one 2. i couldn’t decide what 2 make of this poem + my latest idea is that the 1 speaker is in turmoil with herself and how she endeavours to cope with these strong, almost sctizophrenic (soz spelling!) trates of personality but im totally baffled by the end line what do you think peeps? ps monica think your interpretations are tres good 🙂 xxxx
Hey yup as level dance student and i have chosen this poem. I think there are four separate girls each who deal with theair problems in a different way. I got stressed out too and my teacher just told me to go and paddle in the sea! It really helped. I am trying to come up with a motif for “and” because I think it is significant. I also think this poem is about death and grief and getting through the different stages, ignoring it, running away from it, confronting it and finally getting through it. I have made some of my movements very childlike, eg head tilts focus down, etc. I would be grateful for anyone else’s help. Thanks
WEll………..HELP!!!!!
me and jen cant find any research on this damn poem, it just tells us the poem, and gives us no information on the structurew themes and main ideas etc…
But overal, a lovely poem which can b well interpretated into an A* Dance…LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
good luck with yours
love jen and jen
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
My interpretaion of this poem is that the speaker has lost herself. maggie, milly, molly, and may are the speakers attempts to find herself. In Maggie the speaker tried to drown out her troubles with a sweet song, which I take to mean that instead of dealing with her issues she igonored them and only payed attention to the things she could deal with. In Milly the speaker finds a star that is not where it belongs and it has lost its spirit; it has become weak. I think this is how the speaker feels, stuck somewhere she doesn’t belong and unable to do anything about it. In Molly the speaker’s worst fear comes true: that she cannot solve her problem, that it will destroy her. What sticks out to me the most is that May is the only one that “came home”. In May, the speaker figures it out. She “came home with a smooth round stone”. Stones become smooth and round after years of being hit by water. She has found herself! She is a product of all her experiences, she was molded over time. However, this “her” she found is alone, and that feeling makes the size of the world seem like nothing. She found herself at the sea, the sea being her thinking over her experinces and her life as a whole. That’s why she went to the beach in the first place. The beach is a place where she can think about her life (represented by the sea) and find her answer.
im doing this poem for my AS DANCE too, has anyone made a start on it yet? Ive got quite a few ideas, motifs and steps and thought we could exchange ideas.
I am doing this 4 AS level dance and so far enjoy it we have only just started and am finding it really to come up the music.
Hey, I am a AS Dance student, I have piked this poem but I am stuck on weather Maggie and Milly and Molly and May are 4 girls or only 1 with different personalites. Plus does any1 know the real meaning to this poem?
hey, I’m doing this poem too for my As dance and I am so stuck cud you guys help me with my motifs. I got so strssed out in my dance sibject that I started crying. I just don’t know what to do. I have a little bit of motif for the smooth round stone which is just rubbinf different parts of my body but my dance teacher said it doesn’t really come across as smooth… PLEASE HELP ME! xxx
hi
yes once again i am an A level dance student too! i am going to use the poem as my stimulus and i am hoping to use american hifi, its not easy being me. but not sure because the music has lyrics in it. i interpreted the poem as being about someone who doesnt want to let go of their chilhood and liked the idea of structuring the dance like a song,A B A C D structure. wat do you think mail me!
happy moving.
hiya. im studying A level dance aswell and i think this poem is a great option. Cummings life is very complex and his style of writing is so unique. i was considering using a piece of music based on the sea as each character shows their emotions or relationships with the sea and what they get from it. i think there are alot of hidden meanings and i was an excellent stimulus for my choreography.