The Twist: A Musical Reflection on Navigating Social Expectations
‘The Twist’ is a performance and musical reflection that uses twisting as a model for understanding (dis)conformity from social expectations in the modern/colonial world (enforced via cisheteropatriarchy, ableism, white supremacy, etc.). This story has five acts that reflect on the artist’s confrontations with the challenges of performing to the standards of social expectations, recognizing how they may leave themselves and others feeling ‘twisted.’
now see me dance
“now see me dance” opens the story as a confrontational moment between performer and audience, in which the performer makes known their consciousness to the act of performing to the standards of social expectations: “now see me dance for you!” Rather than being a silent performer, they embrace the stance of making known or uncovering their performance for the audience, thus discomforting the assumptions of ‘normalcy’ or ‘naturalness’ that may otherwise be assumed of social expectations, even while potentially alienating themselves in the process.
2. twizted dance
“twizted dance” is a transitional moment in the story that signifies the artist’s exhaustion in regard to the consciousness of performing to the standards of social expectations. This makes them feel “twizted” inside (the z used symbolically as a twisted s to signify a double twisting - being conscious of the twist but still engaged in it).
3. chameleon twist
“chameleon twist” is the centerpiece of the story that speaks to being “dragged out” by social expectations, likening the modern/colonial experience of twisting ourselves to the experience of a chameleon that (must) change with its surrounding environment for survival. The song begins in this seeming dissatisfaction with the act of twisting before transitioning into a bombastic embrace at the end: “I am… chameleon!”
4. twist out!
“twist out!” is another transitional moment in the story that expands on the previous song’s bombastic conclusion. It features a sort of mockery or humor in regard our obligations to twisting, with a high-pitched laughter and exclamation: “do it!”
5. echoes in the cavern
“echoes in the cavern” is the closing act of the story that speaks to what twisting in conformity to social expectations may create within us: caverns. These caverns can haunt us, making us feel empty or lost, as we yearn to feel whole. Yet, as we become conscious of the caverns, we can begin to send echoes through them that guide us back to ‘feeding’ our souls or otherwise rejuvenating ourselves back from a state of unconscious twistedness.
Music available on Spotify.
