A dancer delicately weaves her body across a spotlighted outdoor stage while poetic verses waft through the air, accompanied by jazz piano.
The organic mixture blends three art forms into one, much like the mixed gin and tonics or double-shot espressos and steamed milk warm the bellies of the entranced audience, blending art and art lovers into a single moment.
This moment of artistry is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 1, at the Szechuan Martini Bar, 1350 W. Hwy. 89A, West Sedona.
A dancer delicately weaves her body across a spotlighted outdoor stage while poetic verses waft through the air, accompanied by jazz piano.
The organic mixture blends three art forms into one, much like the mixed gin and tonics or double-shot espressos and steamed milk warm the bellies of the entranced audience, blending art and art lovers into a single moment.
This moment of artistry is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 1, at the Szechuan Martini Bar, 1350 W. Hwy. 89A, West Sedona.
The auditory stimulation will be the product of the Mighty Minstrels, a trio comprised of poets Gary Every and Jen Valencia and pianist David Vincent Mills.
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Courtesy photo
Hillary Moore, currently a dance major at California State University, Long Beach, will perform with The Mighty Minstrels, a Sedona poetry and music trio featuring piano skills of David Vincent Mills and poets Jen Valencia and Gary Every. |
The visual component is supplied by Hillary Moore, a dance major at California State University, Long Beach.
“I feed off of them, I do whatever I feel at that moment,” Moore said. “For the most part, I just kind of go with the flow. I just dance.”
Every is an award-winning poet and short story author who has been published in poetry nationwide. Distinctly an Arizona poet, his work often blends American Indian spirituality with a touch of tongue-in-cheek Western cynic humor, tall-tale imagery and bizarre true stories.
One of the Verde Valley’s top female performance poets, Valencia plays with the imagery of language to create scenes as rich as her visual art.
Mills is one of Northern Arizona’s top jazz pianists. Also a part-time poet, Mills’ foray into the art of spoken word enhances his knowledge of how to pair his music with poetry.
Moore starting dancing at age 5 and has spent the last 18 years studying ballet, modern dance and jazz. She’s set to graduate in December and plans to further her dance career in the dance studios of New York City.
The Sedona Poetry Open Mic begins immediately after the performance and any poets are welcome to sign up and read.
Christopher Fox Graham
Larson Newspapers
