Okay. While I was doing work on my project, I found this, and I think it definitely merits a look. Leaves Unbound attempts to showcase various selections in “Laves of Grass” involving interpretive dance, chamber choirs, and naked people. Lots of naked people. Apparently there is a lot of chanting of various lines in the text, “From I contain multitudes” to “I celebrate myself.”
I’m really curious what you guys think of it–or even what you think Whitman would have thought of it. It certainly incorporates the unification of body and soul. But do you think that embodying and displaying Whitman’s themes were the ultimate goal, or was it simply an excuse to put nudity in performance art? Either way, it looks kind of awesome.
Whoa, that kinda tripped me out. I wasn’t expecting that.
And I think Song of Myself lends itself very well to this type of performative art. Walt would be pleased, I think. After all, it’s free publicity.
The videos on this site could be really useful nudges to people doing cinepoems or something like them for final projects. Cool find.
Wooooahhhh….Whitman totally would have been on board for this. I guess I missed my chance to get naked on stage and dance around to the 29 bathers though