By Adrianna Aguilar - Dance

An analysis of Graham’s movement brings one closer to the subtleties of the work just as
close readings of the poem and its words form an image of Helen. H.D.’s lyrical form and
narrative become a reality like the movement-language Graham uses in her work, which allows
the audience and those researching the work to see the centrality of Jocasta’s character. Carrie
Ellmore-Tallistsch, the dancer I watched as Jocasta in March 2012, embodied the released and
emotive movement language, and I could see the words with each stab of the arm and the plié of
the knees. Even the pupils of her eyes seem to radiate power and emotion in each movement
whether small or large. As Oedipus, Tadej Brdnik’s strength and emotional grace offered good
contrast to Tallistsch’s emotionally charged presence. One particularly striking image was when
Oedipus performed an arabesque penchee on the “bed” over Jocasta.
Jocasta’s extensions and other expansive movements are images that suggest her turmoil. In
H.D.’s poem, Helen’s anguished outbursts parallel these moments of strength and drama. At the
beginning, Helen exudes a sense of confidence, even though she is uncertain—consistently
maintaining the feeling of contradiction and conflict:
I am a woman of pleasure,
I spoke ironically into the night,
for he had built me a fire,
he, Achilles, piling brushwood,
finding an old flint in his pouch,
‘I thought I had lost that 56
Helen may be conflicted, but the reader gains an understanding of her perspective on the figure
of Achilles. Helen’s gaze and thoughts are emphasized just as Jocasta’s movements emphasize
her love for Oedipus and admiration for his body. Rather than the male gaze referring to the
female body, it is the female gaze on the male body that empowers. Her confidence in being a
56 D.H., 12.
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