Spoken Word is the art of performance poetry. It can be emotional, inspirational, educational, and as creative and expressive as your imagination. It can also be a tool for healing and growth. How you bring your words to life on stage is about how prepared you are to deliver them. It combines the skill of oration with the subtle nuance of theatre and improvisation. Voice projection, tone, stance, and body movement are important. So is an understanding of oratory tools such as parsing, parallelism, and pace. Whether you are reading at an open mic, featuring at an event, or competing in a slam, the goal for the poet is the same. Deliver your message in a way that engages the listener, capturing their attention for the duration of your poem. This workshop prepares participants to do so. It discusses technique, individual voice, and presence. It also provides the participant with an understanding of the art form and a set of tools to use in sharing their words with an audience. Through various activities this workshop seeks to give its participants confidence in presenting their works.
Each participant is encouraged to come with one poem memorized. It doesn’t matter how long or short the poem is. Having the poem memorized allows for the focus to be on performance elements.
This workshop is led by the 2023 Piedmont Laureate and award-winning poet and performance artist Dasan Ahanu. Dasan has been coaching poets in poetry performance and poetry slam since 2005.
Event Details
- When: Sunday, March 12, 2-4 p.m.
- Location: Thomas G. Crowder Woodland Center, 5611 Jaguar Park Dr., Raleigh, NC 27606
- Registration: Please register before the event
- Cost: Free and open to public
About Piedmont Laureate
The Piedmont Laureate program is co-sponsored by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, Durham Arts Council, Orange County Arts Commission, and United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County. Its primary goal is to promote awareness and heighten appreciation for excellence in the literary arts in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. The program is dedicated to building a literary bridge for residents to come together and celebrate the art of writing, enriching the lives of all our citizens.
The 2023 Piedmont Laureate is poet and spoken word artist Dasan Ahanu.