July 29 (Lunar calendar: June 12), 2023 Saturday | Dawnxisoul393art

      

《Dance on Piano》， by dawnxisoul393

The story and reflections behind our painting 《Dance on Piano》, as well as a poem we wrote for it：

Lucy gazed out the window of the sunny music room, watching the flowers sway gently in the breeze. Her teacher had assigned her practice, but on such a lovely spring day it was hard to stay inside. An idea came to her - what if she could somehow bring the outdoors in?

Lucy began by stretching her arms wide as if embracing the whole piano. She closed her eyes and imagined the keys extending from the instrument like a long road, stretching out across the green grass and among the flower beds. When she opened her eyes again, the vision seemed almost real. A smile spread across her face as a new game began to take shape in her mind.

Carefully, Lucy placed one foot on the lowest white key. It felt solid and steady under her ballet flat. She lifted her other foot and set it down gently on the next key, and the next, slowly making her way up the keyboard. The piano emitted a strange, sliding sound as her weight compressed the keys but did not trigger any recognizable notes. Lucy laughed - this was not standard piano practice, to be sure, but it was fun!

As she danced, Lucy waved her arms like a flower swaying in the breeze. She spun in slow circles, trailing her toes along the edges of black and white like a butterfly fluttering among the blooms. Sunshine poured through the open window, dappling her purple dress with golden light. Birds chirped cheerfully outside as if providing a musical accompaniment. Lucy felt as light and carefree as they looked with their colorful feathers.

Her improvised dance led Lucy higher up the keyboard, where the notes became closer together and more complex under her feet. She had to pick her steps more carefully now or risk missing a key entirely. This required focus and balance - much like real piano playing. As she danced, Lucy found herself visualizing the notes in her mind, hearing the chord progressions and melodies they represented. Without meaning to, she had started to apply some of her music theory lessons to her whimsical game.

Before long, Lucy reached the top of the piano, landing confidently on the final high C key. She paused there, breathing heavily, cheeks flushed from the unexpected exercise. But her imagination was not done yet. Glancing down, Lucy saw that she had traversed the landscape represented by some of history's greatest composers. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven - their works stretched out before her like a path through the flower beds.

An idea struck Lucy. What if she could retrace their footsteps through dance? Slowly, carefully, she began to make her way back down the keyboard, interpreting the composers' styles through movement. For Bach, she glided her feet in orderly counterpoint. For Haydn, she bounced playfully from note to note. Mozart's melodies were danced with grace and charm. Beethoven's strongest passages had her digging her toes firmly into the black keys as if bracing herself against a dramatic storm.

As Lucy neared the bottom of the piano once more, she realized her odd game had taught her something unexpected. By connecting each note to a composer's voice through motion, she felt she now understood the relationships between them in a visceral, bodily way. Forms like sonata and symphonies suddenly made more intuitive sense. Genres like classical, folk, and modern felt less strictly defined. Music had revealed new depths simply by allowing her imagination to play.

Her dance at an end, Lucy sank down on the piano bench, suddenly tired but filled with wonder. She rested her hands lightly on the keys, feeling their bumps and ridges under her fingertips. Closing her eyes once more, Lucy let the impressions of her journey wash over her - the colors, the sounds, the stories embodied in each chord. A slow, lilting melody began to take shape, told through her dancing fingertips. It wove melodies of nature with themes from the masters, mingling past and present into a singular dreamy reverie.

As the last notes faded, Lucy opened her eyes with a start. Had she really composed something just now? It seemed impossible, yet the memory of music still echoed faintly in her mind. A warmth rose in Lucy's chest at the thought that somewhere inside, through dance and play, her creativity had found a new avenue of expression. Perhaps this was what her teacher meant when she said music was about more than just practicing scales - it was about opening your heart and letting your soul soar wherever the notes might carry it.

From that day on, Lucy continued to find unique ways of interacting with music beyond routine exercises. Sometimes she sketched to capture vivid melodic images. Other times she sought inspiration by improvising movements across the open piano lid. Her playing grew in subtlety and passion as more of herself went into each performance. While the technical skills took perseverance to hone, Lucy found her motivation renewed whenever she recalled that fanciful garden dance among the black and white blooms. Music had shown her its wild, imaginative spirit, and awakened within her a joy of creative play that would last her whole life through.

《DANCE ON PIANO》

Every step you take

heartbeat

Every piece of music you play

It changed my life

Toe jump

This is for your smile

Fingertip dripping

For your approval

I want your thoughts to travel through

Falling in love

The notes that accompany my heartstrings

Black and white keys

Play my music

Playing beautiful melodies

Trembling and waving

Our Dance Step Dream

There is our soul in music

《Dance on Piano》 (863w)