This year’s Culturama was markedly different from the experience I had last year as an emcee. Last year, standing on that stage to a full audience, I could rouse the audience to a roaring applause before a performance or attract laughter with a well placed quip or to. This year, I stood on a stage to a near empty auditorium, and performed spoken word poetry (a new experience for me personally). I have encountered spoken word poetry in literature and drama class to a limited extent before, but I had always been inspired by how the best performers could so effectively use language which we are so familiar to such the creative extent that they command a music of their own. Sarah Kay’s performance on TED sharing her experience as a mother, is a prime example. The alliteration, assonance, rhyme and rhythm leap from the mouth like a music beat, and it is something that I have taken inspiration from while creating my own piece.
Personally, it had been quite a challenging experience. As I have mentioned, I have no experience at all with performing this text type, and limited experience with writing poetry (though I do love reading literature, especially poetry). For me, mustering the confidence and finding my stride to perform was almost as difficult as the process of writing and rehearsing my piece.
Learning Objectives
- LO2- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
- LO5-Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.