Mike
Smith - 'Ordinarily Speaking'
In 2002, I decided
to set out on the performance poetry road. I could, at last, answer my
careers master’s relentlessly intimidating question,
“Smith,
what do you intend to do when you leave school?” with,
“Perform
Poetry, sir!”
My poetry springs from our everyday shared lives - thus 'www.ordinarilyspeaking.co.uk'
- and I’m pleased to say that audiences of all ages, children
and adults alike, find it humorous - when they’re meant to!
- engaging, often provocative and driven by powerful rhythms and
rhymes. I love the energy of rhythm and rhyme, but only when they
are fresh and ‘right’: they must be the servants of
meaning, and not vice-versa.
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When
I perform in village halls and other 'small scale' venues, I perform
poems and tell linking stories to create a coherent evening of entertainment.
At the
moment, much of my performance work is in schools, with audiences aged
3-18. However, I’m slowly building a ‘history’ of adult
venues, especially village halls, but also in arts centres, folk festivals
and theatres; offering a rhythmical, rhyming, humorous, energetic and
entertaining look at the world. |
Words,
parts of words and groups of words are not neutral objects or feeling-free
zones. T.S. Eliot once said that we feel before we understand, and the
more that we can energise language through movement and voice colour -
what I call pumping up the language - the more that feelings will engage
and understandings will follow.
When
I perform in schools, I combine performance with workshop, under the heading
Poetry Workshops In Performance. The unique feature of this form is that,
where primary schools are concerned, I can work with the whole school
in a day! It must represent this year’s Good Value Award!
Most
Memorable Literary Experience
Singing
Buddy Holly’s ‘Everyday’ in the bike sheds, every morning,
before having to go into school.
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Schools
- "Ey up, Mike. That were fabulous!"
Y6 South Yorkshire girl
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“For Foundation and Y1 to be so ‘with it’
for nearly an hour was remarkable, and to watch them joining
in with you was great. I realised near the end of the session
that none of the children had asked to go to the toilet ! “
KS1 Literacy Coordinator
Older Audiences
-
"You know, you could give poetry a good name!"
Festival Audience Member
- "My face ached with smiling recognition - from beginning
to end - that Mike's poems were about my world. Brilliant!
- "We really enjoyed it on Friday night. Such a vibrant,
talented performance! We loved the way you brought your poetry
to life. Everyone was 'with it'. And we raised over £100!"
Village Hall Committee
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