Contemporary American Monologues for Women by London Todd;

Author:London, Todd; [London, Todd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group

GETTING OVER TOM

BY LENORA CHAMPAGNE

Taken from a longer, solo performance—what the author calls a “high energy” “talking dance”—this piece recounts an evening spent in Montreal. The speaker recalls having traveled there to celebrate Christmas with her friend Patricia, whose husband, Gabriel, had recently walked out on her. Throughout the visit, the speaker struggled to resolve anxiety and indecision about her own lover, Tom: Should she leave him? Was he right when he accused her of needing to keep control? What is she waiting for? There is no other mention or description of Claude, who in the excerpt below asks the speaker to dance.

That evening

Patricia and I

talked about her marriage

and I remembered the wedding

where all these French Canadians

were doing this amazing dance

and I was so moved

and felt ashamed.

I thought,

“These are my people.

But I’ve forgotten this dance.”

Then Claude came up to me and said

“Do you want to dance?”

I guess he could tell I did

since I’d taken my shoes off.

And I said

“Yes.”

I was afraid

because I’d never learned

how to follow.

When the spinning began

he said

“Look into my eyes.”

“You must look into my eyes.”

And I realized

“I have to!

Or else,

I’ll fall!”

It was disturbing

at first

to look into his eyes.

I felt exposed, vulnerable,

without polite distance

as protection.

For a while

I thought

what was scary

was letting go

of self-control

and placing trust in another—

a man—

to keep from falling.

Then I realized it wasn’t about

placing trust

in another—

although it was about

letting go—

but about

balance.

When you’re spinning

while you’re holding someone

the center can’t be

in each dancer

or in one

or the other.

It has to be

somewhere

in the space

between the two.

So, after learning this,

I was distresed

when Gabriel

walked out

Patricia’s door.

Then Patricia said

she had to bake some cakes

for a christening the next day

so I went to bed early

even though it was

Christmas Eve.

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