This is the text which was read to the audience/participants whilst they were having their feet washed:
A small un-adventured foot
So precious,
Small.
Tender.
So soft and unaware of what’s to come.
It has such beauty.
PAUSE
The satin
The silk.
Preparing for elegance,
Performance.
The sole of her grace and beauty.
Hidden from sight, neglected, and left to become coarse, and hard.
Hardened.
Hidden from sight, neglected.
PAUSE
A foot which is battered, bruised, and scarred.
The feeling through the foot becomes lost
Lost
Unconscious movement
Wiggling of the toes
Flexing
Extending
PAUSE
Dry,
Corse and hard.
The warmth of the water soothes the aching muscles
Loosens
Softens the hardened skin.
Sensitive
Delicate.
Everything washed away
Removed
The sweat,
The dirt,
The skin,
The blood.
STOP
A machine for the rest of the body.
There is no one type of foot,
Adaptable
Agile
Flexible
Strong
Resilient.
The endurance,
Perseverance,
Enabling us to move in ways not natural to us.
Used without thought.
PAUSE
Repeatedly beaten
A foot can be so fragile.
Wounded,
Bruised all over,
Abused from the rough ground.
Bruised
Black and blue
Torn
Bandaged
Supported
Rested
Elevated
Iced
Compressed
Fixed
PAUSE
Days
Weeks
Months
Years
Scars remain
Physically
Mentally
Years of strain and injury
Potentially affecting the remainder of their career
Left with the reminder
Scarring
Pain
Damage
PAUSE
Ligament damage
Joint damage
Scarred, changed
New movement potential
Exploring the limitations of an injured foot
PAUSE
Without thought
No awareness of sensation
The feeling
The feeling becomes numb
Bruised, black
Blue
Beaten.
Ugly
Veins that are ever prominent
Mapping out the foot
Complex
Full of well formed curves,
Harmonically joined together.
The undeniable ability a foot has
PAUSE
The minuet scars
Cuts
Lumps
Bruises
Caused through our habitual movement
The clicks
The crunches
That happen continuously.
Horrendous
Disgusting
Crooked toes
The scarring tell many stories
The pitter patter on the ground
Years of wear,
scars from running bare footed,
but they still hold us up.
Running from one place to another
And yet they will never fail.
The way the ankles point to the sides, presenting themselves
as gate keepers of the foot.
PAUSE
“ Those elegant pink silk shoes hide a battery of injuries:
black nails,
purpling flesh,
growths galore”
Something so beautiful,
Hides something so repulsive.
Underneath the beauty.
The beauty, and grace.
The feeling of elegance,
Security
Strength
Completely torn away from the foot
Left to feel free
Hidden from sight, neglected, and left to become coarse, and hard.
Rough
Cut
Damaged skin.
The freedom,
The sensation of the feet finally being able to breathe again.
Relief
Loosening,
PAUSE
Rest.