Speaking of Letters and Dancing

Notes

Speaking of Letters and Dancing is a setting of three short poems, the first two written by the Polish poet and playwright, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, and the third by the Japanese poet, Kobayashi Issa. The two themes explored in Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska’s works include, firstly, the feeling of anticipation and anxiousness when receiving a long-awaited letter from a loved one, with unexpectedly heart-breaking consequences, and secondly, the intimacy and joy of dancing with others—both poems exploring the important effect distance and physical proximity can have in personal relationships. Issa’s beautifully distilled poem reconciles these themes of separation and closeness by depicting an evening so still and quiet that even the stars, galaxies apart, might whisper intimately to each other.