Nikki Krings
Body, Limited
Dance has been a second nature to me for almost 20 years now. It has gotten me through almost every hard time I have ever faced, and it has taught me not only discipline and work ethic, but what passion feels like. When I had my accident, the ability to dance and feel that passion was taken from me. Through the limitedness of my own body, I choreographed Body, Limited and had my dear friend Anna do the honors of bringing it to life for me. She dances my story to the rhythm of her own breath to represent the guidance I felt by my own. The following poem was created without a sense of direction to mimic the unclear path of this continuing journey back toward the unlimitedness of my own body.
Body, Limited Choreography by: Nikki Krings, Mentor: Emily Swanson, Dancer: Anna Colaianne
Your body's a temple
In church they always say,
But was it God who let her fall?
Her strength rips through
trees that could have
ripped through anyone else
Red stained knees
Benumbed limbs
Silence her
A cold
needle pierces
the muscle
She's fine
puffs of tobacco through brown
and crooked teeth
She screams
because
she can control her voice
Flat, she lays
for days and
days
Flat, she lays
swelling eyes at
work
Cold plastic hugs
sucking skeleton
Body, limited.
A wheeling wonder,
carried by the strangers
Who feel sorry
The plastic hug
takes away from
her
To the unlimitedness
of her
self