[color]Nichola (Nicki) Ward[/color] is the creator of [color]Naked Page[/color], a fusion of performance poetry, music and bondage at Rhubarb. We asked her to discuss a question that she must get asked often; Is Your Poetry Dangerous?
A few years ago while I was examining my own artistic direction, I created a piece called. “Is your poetry dangerous?”. This piece asked a series of questions. Could you get arrested for performing it? Does it create disturbed emotions in others? Does it change people’s minds? Does it challenge the artist, the audience and the society of others? This formed the basis of a manifesto of sorts and has informed all the work that follows.
Naked Page is dangerous in the very best sense of the word. Physically demanding, it involves the creation of a poem, driven by a hard rock beat and while suspending a naked person in rope bondage. The poetic form used is ancient, rigid and mathematically disciplined – This is a perfect complement to the process of bondage that constrains the subject while elevating it.
In counterpoint, the sexual tension and release of bondage… The imposition of form to liberate sexual expression… This is a perfect compliment to the process of artistic (pro)creation.
Naked Page is on stage February 20th. Click here for more information.
And for more on Nichola Ward, visit her website here.
