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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2001)
A IMP Tl TIE ISUS ■ Poet and storyteller Patricia Mees Armstrong has traveled the world writing poetry and enjoying life By Rebecca Wilson Oregon Daily Emerald Patricia Mees Armstrong enjoys telling stories. Her eyes light up as she expounds on subjects ranging among travel, motherhood, educa tion, journalism, health and the ear rings her husband is making for her. “You have to stop me,” she warns, “or I’ll just get completely offtrack.” Sometimes, when Armstrong re alizes she is going off on a tangent, she catches herself: “But that’s an other story,” she says. Fortunately, she puts her stories to good use. She has published nu merous critically acclaimed short stories, and in January, she finished her fourth book of poetry. Armstrong, 67, has been writing poetry for 55 years — her first poem was published in Seventeen maga zine when she was 12 years old. The year was 1949 and she re ceived $5 for her efforts. Photographs of Ireland, modern art and pencil sketches of small boys decorate Armstrong’s east Eu gene apartment. Irish folk music floats through the homey living room, while mugs of artificially sweetened tea steam on the kitchen table. The apartment is neat — even the desk where Armstrong compos es her poetry and stories. But somehow, the apartment seems temporary: Armstrong and her husband, Richard, have been married 46 years — and this is their 50th address. The couple have lived “literally around the world” in places as diverse as Guam, Crete, Nepal and California. Now, despite their dubious health, the Arm strongs continue to see the world. “Now we seem to just gravitate between Ireland and Eugene,” said Armstrong, who holds citizenship in both the United States and the Republic of Ireland. Armstrong was able to acquire dual citizenship because her father was born in Ireland, but for all her globe trotting, she didn’t visit the is land until several years ago. “I avoided Ireland, even though it was part of my roots,” she said. The Armstrongs finally made the trip on a suggestion from a friend who is a professor of Celtic studies. What started out to be a simple visit to family members turned into an artistic and cultural journey. “I finally found people who looked like me,” said Armstrong, who is an only child. She also found an artistic com munity she could identify with. She described a group of friends who meet in the back room of a pub every couple weeks to play music, tell stories or, in Armstrong’s case, read poems. “They say, ‘Hey Yank! How ‘bout a poem?”’ she said. “I feel at home there; those people wrap their arms around me.” This feeling led to Armstrong’s newest book of poetry, “On the Road to Laragh and Beyond.” “Laragh is an actual village,” she said, “but in my mind it isn’t. I had the idea of composites for my char acters.” So Armstrong’s book is fic tional — but not entirely. “I’m a little concerned that my Irish friends will think the poems are specific,” she joked. Armstrong’s last book, “Daring to Dance, Refusing to Die,” chronicled her struggle and triumph over breast cancer. She donated all prof its to breast cancer research. Although Armstrong triumphed over breast cancer, she has strug gled with other health problems ever since. Her husband also has health issues. But the couple aren’t deterred by health con straints: “We aren’t statistics,” she said. “I’m not my breast, and Richard isn’t his heart.” Nevertheless, Armstrong in cluded some poems about sur viving cancer in “The Road to Laragh and Beyond.” Armstrong’s writing has received critical notice from Oregon Literary Arts, Inc. and Willamette Writers. But readers enjoy her poems for the insights they offer into everyday life. Bob Welch, a columnist for The Regis ter-Guard, said that “dis covering the poetry of Patricia Mees Armstrong 1C 1 i o r^icrmmrinn in is like discovering an unbroken sand dollar on the beach. Arm strong’s poetry is lyrical re porting from one who writes, ap propnaieiy as Dotn visitor to Ireland and one rooted deeply in its soil.” Armstrong enjoys reading her poetry; she has given public read ings in small bookstores for her pre vious books. The public will have the opportunity to hear Armstrong read her latest poems at Tsunami Books at 2 p.m. on March 17. For more information, call 345-8986. Courtesy Patricia Mees Armstrong felt inspired to write the poetry in ‘The Road to Laragh and Beyond’ after tramping around Ireland with her husband. Personality, variety set stage for dance trio performance ■ Relax with the Armchair Adventures concert at the Hult Center this weekend By Rebecca Wilson Oregon Daily Emerald Three dancers clothed in an array of well-worn, mismatched tights and leotards twirl, leap and glide across a practice room at the Dance Theatre of Oregon. To untrained eyes, the motion of their slender bodies seems graceful and elegant, but the choreographer knows they have yet to achieve perfection. “Turn your body more ... look all the way up to the ceiling,” he in structs. Then the dancers smile knowing ly and begin the sequence again. The trio is composed of Pamela Lehan-Siegel and Marc Siegel, who are the artistic directors at the Dance Theatre of Oregon, and Amy Stod dart, an assistant professor in the University’s dance department. Lehan-Siegel said she feels privi leged to work with Stoddart. “In Eu gene, we felt that she was one of the most accomplished people in bal let,” she said. “We wanted someone of her caliber.” Stoddart, who received a master of fine arts degree from the Univer sity of Colorado at Boulder, said her biggest challenge has been balanc ing teaching and rehearsal. “This is like my research,” she said. “It’s been... an intense rehearsal process. It’s fatiguing and exciting.” Stoddart comes by her fatigue honestly. The trio has practiced four hours a day for weeks with choreog rapher Kennet Oberly. On Feb. 24 Members of the Dance Theatre of Oregon soar against the backdrop of a city skyline. They will fly on stage with the Armchair Adventures concert Sunday at the Hull Center and 25, the group will perform Oberly’s “The Ghost Rags” as part of the Dance Theatre of Oregon’s Arm chair Adventures concert. Oberly said he created “The Ghost Rags” especially for the Dance The atre of Oregon. The dance “really in corporates the personalities of the three dancers,” he said. “The source of the music is rag time,” Oberly said, “and I love rag time.” He said the music is a “rag suite” composed by William Bol com, who was part of the ragtime renaissance of the 1960s. “He was one of the few who really got into the shoes of old ragtime,” Oberly said. “I can empathize. I’ve had to transport myself as well. ” Spirits and ghosts are the basic idea behind “The Ghost Rags,” Oberly said, but “emotionally ... there is no actual story. Ghosts are just a shooting-off place. There aren’t any specific ghosts.” The Armchair Adventures also features “Eirenanach” and “Fab rique: Exhibits A Through E,” which are choreographed by Lehan Siegel, and “Men’s Group” and “Dad’s Group,” choreographed by Marc Siegel, who also wrote the mu sical score for “Dad’s Group.” Siegel said the concert will show case a variety of dance forms, from ballet to post-modern, and interest ing set and prop additions. The dancers will wear original costumes by resident designer Sher Alltucker. “The idea behind the Armchair Adventures concert is to [see a vari ety of dances] from the comfort of your armchair,” Siegel said. “Open your mind ... Every piece is totally different.” The Armchair Adventures will be performed in the Soreng Concert Hall at the Hult Center on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for children. For more information, contact the Hult Center at 682-5000.
