A Review of Roger Bonair-Agard at Red Kiva
BY LAURA YES YES, Assistant Poetry Editor
From the very beginning of his feature at Red Kiva, Roger Bonair-Agard made it clear to his audience that we were in for a rare treat. He ignored the stage altogether, opting to perform in the recessed, more central area of the space: this simple choice transformed the little lounge into an amphitheater, lending the poet immediate grace and power.
Bonair-Agard opened his set with a chanted invocation, accompanying himself with a rousing djembe beat. The lighting at Red Kiva is uncommonly low, so Bonair-Agard's face dipped in and out of shadow as he performed; a less experienced poet might have suffered for this, but in this case, his awareness of darkness and light felt heightened. By extension, so was ours.
The poet's banter was clean and technical. Bonair-Agard used the space between poems for exposition, mostly, carefully explaining the history of this poem, the form of another. It was a very professorial way to connect to his audience. Generally I prefer more jokes and flirtation (then I have excuses to heckle), but given the crowd, I think it was probably a wise decision.
Yes, the crowd was quiet. Attentive, but not outwardly responsive. In similar circumstances, I probably would have tried to rustle up more noise, but Bonair-Agard's choice displayed him as detached, a little sardonic, but more than anything, extremely confident. The poise lent itself well to the stance he'd adopted at the beginning of the show: very clean and classical.
But Bonair-Agard is more nuanced than that. He adopts the classical pose and he subverts it. It's easy to conceive of poets as being very limited entities in one way or another, but Bonair-Agard doesn't play like that. He spits ghazals, and he pays serious tribute to Li'l Wayne, and never flinches for a moment—and that's as it should be. His presence throughout the show was quietly sensual, physically alert, and also hyper-intellectual. With that performance, Bonair-Agard reaffirmed that the contemporary poet can be much, much more than the delineation between page and stage.
At the end of the night, I was energized and happy. I wanted to order many of Red Kiva's delicious, expensive drinks and forget I don't know how to dance. I had the impression all of us in the crowd had just been given something truly complex and luxurious, a sip of something rare and forever mind-altering. That's what Roger Bonair-Agard does. Now you know.
After a lifetime writing poetry and five years in the world of slam and spoken word, LAURA YES YES has blossomed, earning a coveted Cave Canem fellowship and fourth place at PSI's Women of the World Poetry Slam. Laura also performs with Chicago's Speak’Easy Ensemble, the brainchild of Slam founder Marc Smith. Her new book is due for pre-release on Write Bloody Press in September. Laura currently divides her time between life at 4520 N. Real Talk Avenue, a notorious poets' house in Chicago, and performances all over the US and Canada. You can read her poetry/tour blog at http://lyeah.wordpress.com.
From the very beginning of his feature at Red Kiva, Roger Bonair-Agard made it clear to his audience that we were in for a rare treat. He ignored the stage altogether, opting to perform in the recessed, more central area of the space: this simple choice transformed the little lounge into an amphitheater, lending the poet immediate grace and power.
Bonair-Agard opened his set with a chanted invocation, accompanying himself with a rousing djembe beat. The lighting at Red Kiva is uncommonly low, so Bonair-Agard's face dipped in and out of shadow as he performed; a less experienced poet might have suffered for this, but in this case, his awareness of darkness and light felt heightened. By extension, so was ours.
The poet's banter was clean and technical. Bonair-Agard used the space between poems for exposition, mostly, carefully explaining the history of this poem, the form of another. It was a very professorial way to connect to his audience. Generally I prefer more jokes and flirtation (then I have excuses to heckle), but given the crowd, I think it was probably a wise decision.
Yes, the crowd was quiet. Attentive, but not outwardly responsive. In similar circumstances, I probably would have tried to rustle up more noise, but Bonair-Agard's choice displayed him as detached, a little sardonic, but more than anything, extremely confident. The poise lent itself well to the stance he'd adopted at the beginning of the show: very clean and classical.
But Bonair-Agard is more nuanced than that. He adopts the classical pose and he subverts it. It's easy to conceive of poets as being very limited entities in one way or another, but Bonair-Agard doesn't play like that. He spits ghazals, and he pays serious tribute to Li'l Wayne, and never flinches for a moment—and that's as it should be. His presence throughout the show was quietly sensual, physically alert, and also hyper-intellectual. With that performance, Bonair-Agard reaffirmed that the contemporary poet can be much, much more than the delineation between page and stage.
At the end of the night, I was energized and happy. I wanted to order many of Red Kiva's delicious, expensive drinks and forget I don't know how to dance. I had the impression all of us in the crowd had just been given something truly complex and luxurious, a sip of something rare and forever mind-altering. That's what Roger Bonair-Agard does. Now you know.
After a lifetime writing poetry and five years in the world of slam and spoken word, LAURA YES YES has blossomed, earning a coveted Cave Canem fellowship and fourth place at PSI's Women of the World Poetry Slam. Laura also performs with Chicago's Speak’Easy Ensemble, the brainchild of Slam founder Marc Smith. Her new book is due for pre-release on Write Bloody Press in September. Laura currently divides her time between life at 4520 N. Real Talk Avenue, a notorious poets' house in Chicago, and performances all over the US and Canada. You can read her poetry/tour blog at http://lyeah.wordpress.com.
