Support "Swan?" A Tale of Belonging
Donation protected
"Mother duck’s egg was just a little bit…different. She had not laid it herself, like other ducks had, instead it had simply rolled into her nest one day as she sat hoping for a child. It was an odd color, and larger than the rest of the eggs, but Mother Duck guarded it with care just the same.
“It could be a turkey egg,” Warned one of the other mothers, waddling past with her brood. “Who knows where it’s been, best to leave it, I say. If it’s a turkey, it won’t even be able to swim. What good is that?”
But Mother Duck paid no attention. To her, the egg’s difference and the lateness of her offspring’s arrival proved only that her child would be special. “Good things are always worth the wait,” she thought. “And I have waited a very long time.”
As a folkteller and dancer, I am taking on a new challenge of creating a one-woman show that explores and celebrates the long-underserved culture of the adoptee. The 45 minute to one hour performance piece would incorporate spoken word storytelling and a fusion of dance styles into an interactive, family friendly telling of a “strange duck” and her search for belonging in an adoptive world. Inspired by the classic tale of “The Ugly Duckling” and infused with my own experiences as an adoptee in a world where blended families are rarely the villains of fairy tales, the piece aims to show audiences that family is wherever you are loved, and that a quest for belonging often requires searching only one’s own heart.
This campaign will cover some personal expenses (allowing me time to create!), photos and marketing, venue rental for the show's Pittsburgh debut, travel to and from Rochester, NY for a premiere at Bread and Water Theatre in early September 2016, and the simple props and costume pieces that I will need to bring each character to life.
You will recieve your incentives at the show (if you are attending a performance) or they will be mailed out the week of Sept. 12 2016. Thank you for your support!
“It could be a turkey egg,” Warned one of the other mothers, waddling past with her brood. “Who knows where it’s been, best to leave it, I say. If it’s a turkey, it won’t even be able to swim. What good is that?”
But Mother Duck paid no attention. To her, the egg’s difference and the lateness of her offspring’s arrival proved only that her child would be special. “Good things are always worth the wait,” she thought. “And I have waited a very long time.”
As a folkteller and dancer, I am taking on a new challenge of creating a one-woman show that explores and celebrates the long-underserved culture of the adoptee. The 45 minute to one hour performance piece would incorporate spoken word storytelling and a fusion of dance styles into an interactive, family friendly telling of a “strange duck” and her search for belonging in an adoptive world. Inspired by the classic tale of “The Ugly Duckling” and infused with my own experiences as an adoptee in a world where blended families are rarely the villains of fairy tales, the piece aims to show audiences that family is wherever you are loved, and that a quest for belonging often requires searching only one’s own heart.
This campaign will cover some personal expenses (allowing me time to create!), photos and marketing, venue rental for the show's Pittsburgh debut, travel to and from Rochester, NY for a premiere at Bread and Water Theatre in early September 2016, and the simple props and costume pieces that I will need to bring each character to life.
You will recieve your incentives at the show (if you are attending a performance) or they will be mailed out the week of Sept. 12 2016. Thank you for your support!
Organizer
Kristin Ward
Organizer
Pittsburgh, PA
