Openin Night Dancing Analysis

This anthology of poems is about dance. The poems are divided into three categories. The first category is how an aspiring or retired dancer acts throughout their day. The second category is the fear of being on stage and performing. The third category is how everybody incorporates dance into their daily lives. Everyone dances in their own way.

Here is a deeper look into the first category, daily lives of aspiring or retired dancers. When a dancer has a desire to become a professional, they need to work hard in class and outside of class. Some lines from The Dancer to support this are, "Class is over, the teacher and the pianist gone, but one dancer in a pale blue leotard stays to practice alone without music" (Tucker 1-5). The dancer understands that devotion to dance will help her become a professional. After a dancer retires, they are not done with dancing. An example of this is from the poem Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West, "Retired ballerinas on winter afternoons walking their dogs in Central Park West. The ballerinas leap and pirouette through Columbus Circle" (Ferlinghetti lines 1-4). Once you are a dancer, you will always be a dancer. …show more content…
Everyone gets nervous before they go onstage because they do not want to mess up. The poem Openin' Night shows this, "She heard ‘em giggle she heard ‘em boo the programs sailed the popcorn flew as she stomped offstage with a boo-hoo-hoo" (Silverstein 15-20). Dancers do not want the audience to disapprove of their performance and leave before the show is even over. Once a dancer gets on stage and hears the music, they can dance their way through it with no fear. The audience enjoys watching a complex dance piece. The poem Dance Piece has lines that say, "The errand into the maze, emblem, the heels bow upon space, speak of the need and order the dancer's will. But the dance is still." (Belitt 1-4). How a dance piece looks