Max’s Musings: Carol Levin

How can a singular voice create something picturesque?

Writer and dance director Carol Levin published her poetry collection Confident Music Would Fly Us to Paradise in 2014. As a patron for all distinct art forms, Levin dedicates her collection to the Seattle Opera. The collection offers a deep dive into many intricate facets of a colossal opera production. 

Some of the talented individuals and necessities discussed throughout the collection are as follows: the directors, the conductors, the singers, the dancers, the stagehands, the makeup artists, the opera hall, the lights, the stunts, the props, and the curtains. Levin’s collection honors everything needed to weave a dazzling and dynamic show.

Levin’s mother remains as an influential and supportive muse for the collection. Her mother opened the door and submerged Levin into the operatic world and all its glory. Levin declares that “music is the gift my mother, Jeanette Horn Fogelson, gave me” while she “has been in my thoughts, singing, all through the long process of composing my poems”. Just like the author, the muse holds ownership in the art’s creation.

Of all the poems in said collection, I found Levin’s poem “Eloquence” to be quite fitting for all creatives and their respective and corresponding crafts.

Eloquence

If you refrain

   speaking

      for yourself

         speaking your mind

            in tongues

               speaking out

                  volumes

                     speaking frankly

                        do you

                           sing instead

                              no

                                 you dance 

As humans, we are constantly communicating and finding new ways to build it up through our day-to-day lives and ongoing relationships. The title alone plays into this idea of communicating effectively and with purpose. Eloquence is a necessary and rewarding tool needed to seek avenues for change.

Artists and creatives do not always communicate through their physical voice. The theater is a true testament to this. Whether they use music, art, or the stage to conjure their own healing remedies, creators seek to bring joy to their own woes as well as the woes of others.

Humans are constantly trying to find their voice and their worth. It is not enough to know what you want to say but find the courage to speak the words into existence. Artists’ voices are constantly changing and expanding with no clear stopping point. Their craft is constantly evolving.

There is substantial power behind one’s individual voice and “speaking for yourself”. Sometimes, it is easier to speak up for others before you are ready to speak up for yourself. Without one’s voice in the mix, the entire choir would shift and the entire show should change.

When it comes to “speaking out [in] volumes”, there is a difference between one’s tone and one’s frequency. The louder one speaks does not increase the probability that your point will get across. Sometimes, it is the quieter voices dipped in sincerity that have the higher potential to change lives and minds.

Although “speaking frankly” can come across as a rude and empty gesture, I see Levin gravitating toward open and honest communication. It is easy to hide one’s thoughts and feelings and shut them away inside oneself. Although vulnerable, it takes great strength to vocalize them when you feel like the world is not listening to you anyway.

Confident Music Would Fly Us to Paradise by Carol Levin (paperback); McCaw Hall in the background.

The Evergreen Echo

Instead of resorting to singing, which also uses words to communicate, the speaker invites the reader to dance. This out-of-the-box thinking pairs well with the stage and any creative art form. Dancing serves as its own language for self-expression and culture that words do not always communicate.

There will always be people who will not understand someone’s art. As creatives, we place value on our art higher than the rest of the world will. It is not up to us to convince people that our art is meaningful and valuable. The right individual will see what treasures it offers from the start.

The stage, like any book of poetry, is a means to escape from the constraints of reality and learn something new about oneself. What I always find fascinating about the stage is how every performance is different. One could see the same play time after time and still learn something new about the world and their inner self.

As a tall and timid high schooler who possessed the theater bug, plays were my save haven for self-expression, self-inventory, and self-reflection. It was through theater and show choir that I found community for misfits and outcasts. Being different was celebrated instead of being discouraged. As someone who wasn’t out yet to the rest of the world, it allowed me to find acceptance where I could at the time.

Although I haven’t had the chance to attend the Seattle Opera yet, I look forward to breaking that seal soon. I truly resonate with the power and the showmanship behind Levin’s words. Levin weaves a theatrical tapestry that immortalizes and pays homage to that special time in my life where the stage was the only place I wanted to be.

The show may come to an end, but yours is far from over.