Six students competed in the Poetry Out Loud finals, an annual poetry recitation competition, on Jan. 7 in the auditorium, with various classes and faculty observing.
Approximately 150 students participated in the challenge at the classroom level, but the competition quickly reduced to just a few students. Sophomores Abby Clarke, Kiera Silvia, Ashwika Dandu, Ben Probst and Sana Iyer, along with senior Simon Linden, reached the final round. As the winner, Dandu will move on to the state semifinals, which will take place on Feb. 7-9. She mainly attributes her success to watching other Poetry Out Loud performances online.
“I watched a couple of other people’s performances, just to get a feel for what the general vibe of Poetry Out Loud was,” Dandu said. “I was really inspired by the strength that so many people had when they were up on stage. Their presence and the tone that they were using were very inspiring.”
Still, Dandu admits to having a few jitters before and during her performance.
“I was so nervous,” Dandu said. “I didn’t expect that many people to be there, and I realized the auditorium was packed. I think, though, that once I started getting into the recitation itself and just getting into the flow state, I lost the nerves and started having more fun with it.”
While Dandu had to work through her anxiety as she performed, runner-up Probst felt that his background in music made him feel more at ease.
“I’ve been playing music for about 11 years now, so it’s just a part of me, and it made reciting my poems a lot more natural,” Probst said. “In fact, when I memorized my in-class poem, I wrote in musical notation for things like volume and speed.”
Iyer also found that having experience in musical performances helped her succeed in the competition.
“I am very used to having to memorize lines because I am a singer and sing for various events, competitions and performances,” Iyer said. “I think the whole reason I was able to advance into the finals was because of how I used my different tones in the different lines throughout the poem, something very important for singing.”
Beyond managing performance worries and techniques, finalists also had to memorize the poems themselves, which took numerous hours of practice.
“I practiced for only around three or four days to get the memorization down,” Dandu said. “Then, to get the flow and really express the poem, that took a lot longer.”
Once poems were memorized, competitors had to consider how they presented themselves physically on stage.
“The physical presence [was the hardest part],” Probst said. “It’s really easy to stand there or do nothing, or just sway back and forth as you’re performing. So, it’s hard to say the words and also be physically present.”
Although performing poetry in front of a large audience is challenging, Dandu highly recommends that students not miss their chance to participate in something so rewarding.
“If you have a passion for poetry, or if you have even a passion for just being on stage and expressing yourself, [Poetry Out Loud] is something for you,” Dandu said. “You should take advantage of the opportunity if your English teacher is mandating it for your class, because you could go pretty far with it.”
Overall, Poetry Out Loud illustrates the importance of poetry and self-expression, and it continues to be an event that many around the school look forward to year after year.
“I think that poetry is important because it is personal,” Poetry Out Loud organizer and English teacher Lauren Frantz said. “It encourages us to look closely at things that are hard to define, and to feel deeply about the world around us.”
