Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2008SYR15
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
With Coin-bright Shimmies
poster information
Description
With coin bright shimmies
festival bellydancers
light up Westcott Street
For a number of years, I myself was involved in belly dance. I have always enjoyed going to the Westcott Street Festival -- my first teacher had a Westcott Street studio -- and that was one of the first public venues where I saw it performed in Syracuse.
When I was thinking of something visual for my haiku, the idea popped out at me, and as I played with words and images, it came together.
A lot of dancers wear as part of their costumes shawls or scarves with coins on them tied around their hips. When the dancers shimmy, the coins move and sparkle and it's very bright and joyous. I think the belly dancers add a lot of color and interest to the festival.
I have always admired dancers, the beauty and grace of their movements. Belly dancing in particular is a beautiful celebration of femininity that can transform any woman into a goddess.
An interesting twist of events brought the Poster Project to my attention the week before the Westcott Festival, so when I saw the poem about the dancers there, I knew I had to do it. I went wild taking photos; it was my first time at the festival, everything was new and interesting. I wanted to capture that energy, that vivacity.
But mostly I wanted to capture the essence of belly dancing. It's not about any one woman or dancer. It's about womanhood and power, grace and strength, and a celebration of life.