Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Alicia Suskin Ostriker’s poem "Saturday Night" is a vivid and intense exploration of youth, rebellion, and the cathartic power of dance in a world marked by chaos and uncertainty. Through a rich tapestry of imagery and allusions, Ostriker delves into the primal and improvisational nature of dance as a form of expression, resistance, and survival for the younger generation. The poem juxtaposes the ancient and the modern, the ritualistic and the spontaneous, to highlight the ways in which dance becomes a sacred and rebellious act in the face of a fractured and turbulent world.

The poem opens with an epigraph from Plato, emphasizing the sovereign power of music and its ability to reach the deepest parts of the soul, imparting grace. This idea sets the stage for the exploration of how rhythm and harmony, particularly through dance, serve as a powerful force that connects individuals to their innermost selves and to each other. The second epigraph from Chekhov, "The cranes are flying," evokes a sense of movement, migration, and the passage of time—an apt metaphor for the transient and dynamic nature of the dancefloor.

As the poem begins, we are transported to various dancefloors around the world—Chicago, Petersburg, Tokyo—where dancers "Hit the floor running." The description of these dancefloors as sometimes paved, sometimes decayed, reflects the diverse and often harsh realities in which young people find themselves. Whether they are dancing on "rotted linoleum awash in beer" or on a "field across which the dancers streak / Like violets across grass," the act of dancing becomes a unifying and transformative experience, transcending the physical conditions of the space.

Ostriker contrasts the "prescribed ritual" of traditional dance, rooted in history and art, with the "desperately new" improvisations of contemporary youth. This shift from the controlled and choreographed to the spontaneous and chaotic mirrors the larger cultural shift in which the certainties of the past are being dismantled, leaving the younger generation to navigate a world where they must create new forms of expression in response to the ever-present threats around them. The "sine-curved / Yelps and spasms of police sirens" and the "spasmodic feedback" of history’s death and cremation provide a harsh backdrop to this new form of dance, where the stakes are high, and the expression is raw and unfiltered.

The poem then zooms in on a specific scene: a boy with "purple spikes" in his hair and a girl wearing a skull on her clothing, both thirteen years old, dancing together. These "Young allegorists" are not just moving to the beat but embodying the dark and violent realities of their world. Through their dance, they mime "shootouts," "tortured ones in basements," and "cold insinuations before sex / Between enemies," turning the dancefloor into a stage for enacting the brutal and often incomprehensible experiences they encounter. The girl’s dance reflects "The shoplifter’s meanness and self-betrayal," while the boy dances out the theft of a truck and the act of shooting his father, turning personal and societal violence into a shared performance.

Ostriker’s portrayal of these dancers as "flying vipers" and "diving vulvas" emphasizes the raw, experimental nature of their movements, where the point is to push boundaries and explore new possibilities. The dance becomes a form of biological and cultural experimentation, likened to "pollen flinging itself / Into far other habitats" or seed "travel[ing] a migrant bird’s gut / To be shit overseas." This imagery underscores the idea that these young dancers are testing the limits of their environments and their identities, seeking out new ways to survive and thrive in a world that is constantly shifting.

The poem culminates in the recognition that every adolescent body on the dancefloor is a "laboratory," where the experiment is survival itself. The dancers’ choices—lipstick, boots, jeans, earrings, and the way they move their bodies—become part of this experiment, a way to synchronize with the chaotic energy of the world and perhaps find a way to endure it. The music that "imitates history’s catastrophe / Nuke for nuke" becomes both a reflection of the world’s violence and a means of coping with it. The dance, in this context, is not just about survival in a physical sense but about surviving with one’s spirit intact, despite the overwhelming forces at play.

In the final lines, Ostriker brings the poem full circle, acknowledging the "intersection of poverty and plague" where the planet’s children, "brave, uncontrollable, juiced / Out of their gourds," invent the sacred dance. This dance is both a rebellion against the world they have inherited and a sacred act of creation, a way to carve out meaning and joy in the face of despair. The use of "sacred" suggests that in their uninhibited and fearless expression, these young people are participating in something deeply spiritual, a form of worship that is as necessary as it is defiant.

"Saturday Night" is a powerful and evocative exploration of how youth use dance as a means of navigating and surviving in a world that often feels hostile and chaotic. Through rich imagery and a keen awareness of the cultural and historical forces at play, Ostriker captures the raw energy and desperate creativity of a generation that must constantly reinvent itself to survive. The poem celebrates the resilience and inventiveness of these young dancers, who turn the dancefloor into a sacred space where they can experiment with identity, defy societal expectations, and ultimately, find a way to endure.

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