(sorry for the late posts, but I've been having trouble with the internet and connection)


One thing that I noticed especially during the in class presentation was that performance does make a difference in whether it is performed in person on stage or read right off the page, or even if it is accompanied by music. In the case of Sarah Jones's piece "Your Revolution". I can see the immense difference between what I felt from seeing her perform the poem versus just reading the poem as it was written. I did not get the same feeling or the message did not come across strong enough for me on paper as it did when I seen her perform. On paper you can lose the voice of the poet, the actual voice and the all the characteristics of that voice. You lose a connectedness you can only get from seeing a poet on stage and watching the way they move with every word spoken and the way they may look at you when speaking. You lose all of that on paper. Every word possible evokes a movement in the body, when reading a poem the movement or lack of movement your body makes comes from your perception and perspective of what the poet is trying to portray but when you are seeing the body movements made from the poet him/herself and what positions their body goes into when they speak the words, it's a totally difference perception and thought provoking experience that you cannot get on paper.

Performance in/of poetry also brings out orginal theatrical aspects of poetry and spoken word.
All poetry tells a story and what life is story without characters, laughter, smiles, and many emotions that you feel when hearing or watching a story unveil? So performance of a piece is taken into much consideration when talking about the overall criticism of someone's work.