“American Smooth”, and all of Dove’s dance poetry, is inspired and shaped by the beat, speed, and rhythm of real dances—the waltz, the tango, and American Smooth itself, which is a type of ballroom dance. Writing about dancing for Dove means “writing within a framework—each dance has a distinct feel, an imbedded cadence that will suggest a certain shape or silhouette on the page.”

When we read this poem, we move through short lines that create a regular pace; not hurried, even though they are short. Most of the lines are about seven syllables long, with shorter lines of four or five syllables. Just like the dancers the poem describes, the lines maintain a shape and pace from beginning to end, no matter how difficult it might be to express what the poet wants to express in this structure. Words have to be chosen carefully to fit the lines, thoughts have to be broken in sometimes unusual places to fit the rhythm—like the dancers, the words themselves must “[move]/into the next song without stopping”.

The narrator describes dancing in a ballroom dance setting, and how she and her partner are completely focused on the hard work of making all the moves of the dance perfectly, all the while making it look easy. The narrator has been so focused on achieving technical perfection that she does not realize at first that she and her partner have achieved something much more—beauty. They had “achieved flight,/that swift and serene magnificence” that comes from music and movement brought together perfectly. For a brief moment, the couple has transcended technical concerns and even technical achievement. They have moved onto a different plane of pure movement, their bodies “flying,” moving without the brain telling them where to move and how to do it. It is a brief moment of transcendence, but it makes the whole dance worthwhile. It is the hidden potential within every dance, and every dancer.

Read a biography of the poet Rita Dove at the Poetry Foundation Web site.

Print Background Essay