The Prankqueen - From James Joyce Finnegan's Wake, Chapter 1
By Ellen Goldman
Until now, my choreography has mostly been concerned with exploring the structure of space, Jitterbug Live, Knitting the Seven Ring. Now I am using Choreograpy and LMA to study literary structures, first Proust, Lost Passage, and now Finnegans Wake, the Prankqueen. On my second reading of Finnegans Wake, I began to hear the music of the written words and see the shape of the text. Reading aloud was the method of study, but dancing the words was the only way I could begin to grasp the complexity. I was desperate to understand the structure, and understand the context more fully, as this is the only time the Prankqueen appears in the Wake. My reading partner and I then recorded it, and I improvised listening and speaking with it. This Prankqueen is an excerpt of a seven minute work in progress.
About the Artist
Ellen Goldman
After many years of teaching Laban Movement Analysis, at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement studies, in NYC, and writing two books - As Other See Us and Geometry of Movement - creating educational videos, applying the Action Profile System in business settings and for career development, I now abandon myself to studying, learning and moving with Joyce's "Finnegans Wake."