Time To Dance

Product Information

The diurnal cycle of the hours and the annual cycle of the seasons are firm favourites with poets, offering as they do rich possibilities for metaphor. I decided to conflate the two cycles to make a four-part structure: Spring Morning; Summer Noon; Autumn Evening; Winter Night, and to characterize each with a different solo voice: soprano; tenor; alto; bass. The overall design is completed by a Prologue and an Epilogue, with different texts but in which the underlying depiction of sunrise by the orchestra and largely wordless choir is identical, so bringing us musically full circle. There are also two additional/optional ‘movements’—‘Times and Seasons’ which the choir sings at the start while entering in procession through the audience, and an After-dance, ‘Proper Exercise’ (more of which below). The description and being in the mind of the main character was certainly convincing. This was less true of two female characters: his lover and his wife. To enjoy a fully-rounded character a reader expects grey and possibly dark grey aspects. Both these women were above criticism. The lover, Bernadette, becomes a very active, uninhibited, monogamous and amorous lover; not what you might expect of a teenage rape victim without the same relentlessly investigative treatment as the protagonist receives. Her moral development is totally out of kilter with her upbringing. Angela, the wife, is a sadly perfect person. I found it one of the most emotional and compelling dramas I have ever seen and I still remember it fondly & vividly today, some 18 years after being shown on TV. The perfect marriage! That’s what every person see in John and Abby’s relationship. For almost 22 years they were the couple every other couple wanted to be. People who enjoy reading religious books would enjoy this novel, as it explores ones’ own sense of religion, making the reader question oneself about how they had treated their religion. Also, people who enjoy romance novels would enjoy this book. Instead of it being a book about two people falling in love, it’s about two people having to learn how to fall in love again to make a good example for their family. People who enjoy reading a long, slightly more challenging read would also enjoy this book because it makes a person question their own morals on multiple levels. Generally anyone who enjoys a good book that challenges their mind would thoroughly enjoy this book.

Here young Nelson is in the first year of secondary school - or would be if he turned up. Much of the time he is skiving, a continuation it seems of his primary school avoidance where his mother almost went to court over his absences. The story doesn't make much of this avoidance, but we can glean from it that Nelson is a solitary child with poor sight, who has to wear a patch to protect his eyes. MacLaverty doesn't tell us the disease but we can work it for ourselves based on the name of the patches he has to wear: Opticludes which are worn when people have amblyopia, weak vision in one eye, or basically a squint. If Oedipus blinds himself late in life realising that he has slept with his mother and killed his father, Nelson has poor eyesight early in life but, in a way, this is Oedipus Rex retold. Choral societies are hungry beasts and there are only so many Rutter Glorias they can consume. With A Time to Dance Roth has provided a serious alternative—a contemporary work of real character and energy. In A Time to Dance, Karen Kingsbury paints a portrait of a Christian family with a crumbling foundation. As John and Abby struggle to avoid each other through the course of their daughter’s engagement, they turn not only from one another but also from God. They ignore or refute his promptings, even while wondering why He no longer cares to give them comfort. Both are mired deeply in a web of pride and self-pity, refusing to give, becoming more and more bitter. Honestly! John and Abby are seen by everyone around them as the perfect married couple. They have been married for 22 years and have no idea how to communicate??? What have they been doing in all that time? I recognize that people can grow apart, but these two never make any attempt to actually talk to each other. They just make accusations and suffer hurt feelings. I wouldn't say I have a perfect marriage, but we do TALK to one another, and there is mutual respect, meaning we listen to the other point of view, even if we don't agree. Is that actually a rare thing in the world? from the book: "They are the perfect couple-envied by their friends, cherished by their children, admired by their peers. But John and Abby Reynolds know they are pretending to be happy. In fact, they're waiting for the right time to tell the kids they're going to divorce. But at the family meeting where they plan toe tell their children, Nicole shares a surprise of her own; she's getting married. How can they spoil her joy with their announcement? They can pretend a little longer - until after the wedding. But questions begin to haunt them as the date draws nearer. What happened to the love and commitment that held them together for so long? Is it still there somewhere under all the pain and misunderstanding? And is it still possible, alone in the moonlight on an old wooden pier, to once more find..a time to dance? "The two temporal cycles, Times of Day and Seasons of the Year, are favourite subjects for poets, as they offer such rich possibilities for metaphor when dealing with the human condition. There was no shortage of material; I simply had to spend a lot of time (well over a year) searching and sifting.

A Time to Dance’ is perhaps a perfect short story, a small contained work that manages to evoke Edinburgh while invoking Ireland, to conjure up childhood without ignoring a mother’s concerns, and is yet another Scottish tale about an absent father. ( Celia , On the Island , Shuggie Bain ). It also reaches into myth with a story of blindness that is likely to bring to mind Oedipus, and concludes with a biblical quotation from Ecclesiastes. It is also sensorially rich and offers too the occasional examples of witty defamiliarisation and restricted, even unreliable narration. Time to Dance, music comes into being when the air is made to dance. For me, the most inspiring composer from this point of view is Bach. His music is infused with the spirit of dance. He must have been a great dancer – just look at the pedal parts in some of his organ works! Even in the most deeply felt movements of the great Passion settings, his music sets the spirit dancing. And for me, the measure of great Bach performers is the way they make the music dance. That’s one reason why I feel so privileged to work with Ex Cathedra’s inspirational conductor, Jeffrey Skidmore. So yes, I spend quite a lot of time both singing and dancing around when I’m composing, although I make great efforts not to disturb the neighbours.It is indeed true that there were some raunchy scenes between the two main characters but they were entirely appropriate and in keeping with the plot. They're the perfect couple—envied by their friends, cherished by their children, admired by their peers. But John and Abby Reynolds know they're just pretending to be happy. In fact, they're waiting for the right time to tell the kids they're going to divorce.