a poetical inquiry
in dance, text & memoir
A Poetic Body: SWAN by Martina Young
  • A Poetic Body
    • Philosophy & Approach
    • Critical Acclaim
  • The SWAN Project
    • Black Swans, an opera poem
    • The SWAN Project
    • The SWAN Lectures
    • Her story
  • The Dance Gallery
    • Gallery I
    • Gallery II
    • Gallery III
    • Gallery IV
    • Gallery V
  • Updates
  • Shop
  • Contact

The SWAN Project

SWAN: a poetical inquiry in dance, text & memoir is a multidisciplinary and collaborative life project. Begun in 2013, it is generative in nature, evolving over time in its specific contours across cultures, geography, and in its spontaneous and personal poetic appearances. Responding to the call, I have taken on an investigation of the swan image as a trope in myth, music, literature, art, philosophy, alchemy, politics, and dance,—recognizing all the while the particular hold the image has wielded over the human imagination. As a dimensional project, it continues to evolve, producing 1) new visual artwork; 2) a rigorous somaesthetic practice linking image, the body, and poetic perception to empathic experience; and 3) performance installations; 4) developing international friendships and collaborators.
 
Performance installations I - III addressed the image of the swan found in Alchemy (‘Coniunctio’ ‘Rubedo’ ‘Hieros Gamos’). On Solitude,—the 4th performance installation—addressed William Butler Yeats’s sense of the meaning of the swan: as the solitary human soul.
 
In addition to performance, I create a new literary book with the artwork of a collaborating artist. The content attends to my aesthetic philosophy, short essays on poetic perception and poetic life, swan bricolage, and personal photographs and memoir that subtlety weave a living continuity. 
 
To explore work of The Swan Project collaborators, please CLICK on each artist.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
L. Martina Young
Stephen Burr
Adela Hyeyeon Park
Ray Valdez
David Strother
Diane Rugg
Ricardo Olvera
Andrea Daerice Olvera
Gianni Mimmo
Jill Altmann
Vinny Golia
Anna Maria Mackowitz
Renato Elisei
Meghana Deodar
Eva Fernandes
Lyndsay Urquhart
Laura Jackson, Conductor
Laura Jackson, Conductor
​Reno Philharmonic Orchestra
​Reno Philharmonic Orchestra

Prelude to SWAN:
Hieros Gamos (part three)

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In concert with
Gianni Mimmo & Vinny Golia
Santa Maria Gualtieri
Pavia, Italy
"SWAN: a poetical inquiry in dance, text & memoir" has been selected for residency at Arte Studio Ginistrelle in Assisi, Italy this fall! There, L. Martina Young will complete part three, 'Hieros Gamos' ("divine union") -- the book of writings and performance. A UNESCO site, SWAN will be presented in the 2014 International Exhibit.
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Notes from the Underground
This project has been funded, in part, by the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
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  • A Poetic Body
    • Philosophy & Approach
    • Critical Acclaim
  • The SWAN Project
    • Black Swans, an opera poem
    • The SWAN Project
    • The SWAN Lectures
    • Her story
  • The Dance Gallery
    • Gallery I
    • Gallery II
    • Gallery III
    • Gallery IV
    • Gallery V
  • Updates
  • Shop
  • Contact