The poem, “Sense of Direction,” written by Sandi McGinnis set to music composed by Ross McGinnis, inspired a dance called “Ashes” to be performed by Tami Stark McQueen at the 19th Annual Dancing Poetry Festival in San Francisco.

Ross and Sandi McGinnis reside in Oakdale with their children. Ross is the music director for the Oakdale Joint Unified School District. Sandi was a primary grade teacher for 10 years and has written poetry for about 20 years. She said her poem was inspired by 9/11 and how people reacted to what happened. She wrote the poem about 10 years ago but her sister, McQueen, is a dancer and decided to choreograph it into a modern dance piece. McQueen is the artistic director/choreographer at “One Dance Company” in Turlock.

The Dancing Poetry Festival is presented by Artists Embassy International and Natica Angilly’s Poetic Dance Theater Company. The event is Saturday, Sept. 8 from 12p.m. to 4p.m. at the Florence Gould Theater in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor Art Museum, Lincoln Park, San Francisco.

For advance tickets, please contact Angilly at (510) 234-0361 or naticaaei@aol.com.

The Dancing Poetry Festival founder, Natica Angilly, encourages dance companies to think outside the box and perform to the natural rhythm of poetry. For more information go to www.dancingpoetry.com.