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DANCE

by puppeteer

/

about

A song both to celebrate dance itself and also puppeteer's mother's early life as a dancer, written shortly after her death in 2020. As the song describes, her mother had sent her to upstate New York at the age of 14 to spend a year learning dance with Alexis Kosloff, a Russian ballet dancer then living in the States who had once been with the Imperial Ballet. His brother Theodore was more famous as he lived in California and acted in Hollywood movies. At 17, puppeteer's mother toured with La Meri and Ruth St. Denis, both famous dancers in the 1930s and 1940s who along with Martha Graham (St. Denis' student) were known as the trinity who inspired modern dance. Puppeteer's mother toured with La Meri and St. Denis, and when the Americans participated in World War Two, she joined the USO and entertained troops on naval ships in 1943 and 1944 at the age of 18 and 19.

This song is also a celebration of the art of dance itself.

The image is from a photograph of puppeteer's mother doing an Indian classical dance, using the paint program to somehow extract just her from the background!

lyrics

DANCE by puppeteer C)2021

I
(Verses)

Dance was your first step, and dance your first love
So your mom packed you off at fourteen to Alexis Kosloff
You toured with La Meri and with Ruth St. Denis
In a seedy theater

In the USO on big ships in 1944
Dance for the boys who were winning the war
As the bombs fell above, young men all fell in love
In the Pacific Theater

(Chorus)

Dance for the courage and faith of the Jews
And the rousing black poets of rhythm and blues
And all the world's children we still disabuse
Of their dreams to balloon or to dance to the moon
Dance for the future, dance for the past
Dance to live now as it won't always last
Dance so you're playing the role you've been cast

II
(Verse)
Dance like you've got wings on your heels
Dance to express the pain your dancing body feels
Dance when words are inept
And you long to have leapt
Through life's theater

(Chorus)
Unstiffen muscles, unstiffen airs
Unstiffen rooms with unstiffen cares
Unstiffen rules for stuck proletaires
Dance
Dance for no reasons except that you can
Dance for the seasons of earth and of man
Dance because beauty is part of God's plan

credits

released June 10, 2021
puppeteer played all instruments, sang, and wrote this song.
The wonderful dancing feet are those of James Demeny whose dance studio website is www.jamesdemeny.com

song copyright with US Copyright Office, music performing and broadcasting rights managed by BMI, published digitally globally by CD Baby.

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all rights reserved

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about

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puppeteer Chicago, Illinois

who is puppeteer? i grew up of American parents in Paris and London. i became a psychologist by career, remaining a music obsessive, writing songs when i could on bits of paper. raising a family prevented creative outlet of that nature. now, as a divorced skeleton, i spend time when i can writing and recording for this collection of songs, entitled Songs of Love and Earth. ... more

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