My Fairy Tale Survival Kit For Cancer (& Other Real Life Crises) - By Gypsy Thornton

"Silence will carry your voice like the nest that holds the sleeping birds"
Text by Rabindranath Tagore, illustration from the Stray Birds series by Kuri Huang
(Artist's social media & contact details at end of post)

2018 will forever be the year in which I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Having now had a double mastectomy, and continuing ongoing treatment, I can now officially say I am a breast cancer survivor.

I wish I could say I am feeling strong and confident and I have a new zest for life. Maybe that will come, if I'm lucky, but I'm certainly not there yet. I am clear, however, on one thing: fairy tales remain integral to my life; and by "life" I mean living beyond "surviving". 

Everyone's experience with cancer (and other life-threatening issues) is different but there are commonalities too, so to that end, here's my home-spun, Fairy Tale Survival Kit. I hope you find it useful.

(Note: I've included books and resources that were touchstones for me for each point. I suggest substituting resources that speak personally to you.)

My Fairy Tale Survival Kit for Cancer

(& Other Real Life Crises)

1. Be the one who learns what Fear is
      (and face it)

Fairy tale resource: Outfoxing Fear: Folktales From Around the World by Kathleen Ragan

    This book, written in direct response to the 9/11 attack in the US, and its aftermath, was especially helpful in exploring different cultural attitudes to fear and death. The tales really did have the effect of making me feel less trapped in my too-many thoughts, and eventually became a great way to talk about those specific fears with my son in a less direct way. Reading these fairy tales, especially, "grim-with-humor" stories to - and with - my son, gave us a way to talk (and think) about our very real fears without directing addressing my cancer. Seeing the way different cultures deal with various fears made us feel less isolated and encouraged us to think differently about facing our own very specific ones. Reading these tales also encouraged the first real laughter I had after my diagnosis and surgery - something vitally important to "living life beyond surviving".

2. Ask Baba Yaga to tell you her stories

       (and listen to her advice)

Fairy tale resources: Baba Yaga - The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales - Introduction and translations by Sibelan Forrester, with contributions by Helena Goscilo and Martin Skoro and a foreword by Jack Zipes; Ask Baba Yaga: Otherworldy Advice For Everyday Troubles by Taisia Kitaiskaia

    As regular readers here know, Baba Yaga has been a favorite of mine for many, many years, largely in part because of her primal aspect as well as her dual nature. Discussing the beautifully illustrated yet harsh stories in The Wild Witch of the East, gave my son and I something of substance to talk about that didn't feel like like a waste of suddenly-very-precious time together. They gave us a much-needed break from talking about cancer, pain, illness, doctors, hospitals, fears, and death. It was also an avenue to feel other emotions without guilt; to be shocked, disgusted and delighted, to laugh and to be real together without creating more exhaustion or focusing on very real fears. The raw yet lyrical advice to mundane and heartfelt questions in Ask Baba Yaga was another source of relief for me. The Baba's mythic (and sometimes feral) replies can be applied to an array of human experience and I found I was able to think about things I needed to in a fresh way. That different lens helped me see beyond my self-focus and not get so overwhelmed. Fairy tales tell resonant truths and offer hope for the journey. Baba Yaga makes sure you pay attention to those truths and illuminates the path with flaming skulls. It's exactly what I, and my family, needed.

3. Learn to use sleep as a weapon

       (avoiding poison apples isn't as easy as you'd think)

Fairy tale resources: Snow White variations & articles (papers, books, movies, novels & some deep thinking - Link 1 - history & Jung, Link 2 - Zipes & Tatar on the tale, Link 3 - a writer/psychologist explores problem resolving as a married Snow White, Link 4 - Novel: 'White As Snow' by Tanith Lee, Link 5 - Movie: Blancanieves (released Blu-ray/DVD 2012) directed by Pablo Berger, Link 6 - Picture Book: by Benjamin Lacombe, Link 7 - The Other Sleeping Beauty by WillowWeb)

    I quickly found there is this incredible pressure to "be an inspiring role model" when having "brave and radical surgery" (apparently a common pressure for breast cancer patients). But though I might have looked brave going into it all, I didn't feel brave. It isn't thrilling to "avoid death", it's exhausting. I couldn't do basic physical things and my brain had trouble putting the most elementary sentences together. (For a writer-reader this is very distressing!) I couldn't manage calls or visits; reading was hard; emails, news and social media were best avoided. The last thing I felt able to do was support and cheer others on, let alone write posts or a book (yes, I was asked) to "chronicle my inspiring journey". My stress was massively increased - the exact opposite situation my long-term survival is dependent on. Having also had to move house just days before the surgery, I had purposely unpacked my Snow White book collection where I could see them when I came home from hospital, to have them comfort and inspire me, to remind me to believe in new beginnings, to aim for survival despite the odds, and to have grace through it all. But I found myself returning to the image Snow Drop's death-like sleep and her lack of choice about it until that apple piece was dislodged. I knew I wouldn't be fully recovered until the cancer - and its poisonous effects - were completely gone from my body. Prior to diagnosis I was very fit and ultra-healthy (according to doctors). I had even maintained an excellent "anti-cancer" diet for many years, yet I still fell victim to the disease. Given that my chronic sleep issues and long-term stress likely had a big influence on my getting cancer in the first place, I knew I needed to fix that as a priority. Right then I gave myself permission to side step all of the pressure, build a cocoon of social silence and let myself sleep instead. Being able to think of this process as my season of hibernation and healing, so I could eventually bloom again, has truly helped change my thinking, and made it easier to get something my life depends on right now: lots of good quality, healing sleep. It's going to take a good long while, so if I don't get back to you, assume I'm sleeping... zzzz...

Note: A quick shoutout to those beyond my close family who have continued to send encouragement in many forms without pressuring me to respond over the weeks and months, especially Lisa, Louisa, Tahlia, Jack and Gina - a sincere THANK YOU to you very special people! It means more than I can say to have you be steadfast in your support despite the silence from my end. ❦

4. Know that your tale matters

       (you don't need to be a 7th son of a 7th son)

Fairy tale resource: Folk by Zoe Gilbert

     This book is in my top three of 2018. Though I'm certain I would have loved this book at any time, reading it at this crisis point was extremely helpful, and resonated right when I needed it. It reminded me that hardship doesn't mean an absence of magic and wonder. While the cycle of stories in Folk that take a generation to unfold, have as many happy endings as not, wonder infuses every mundane life and, to me, that felt both accessible and oddly reassuring. Unlike many modern reworkings of fairy tales and folklore, Folk does not continuously focus on a single person; there is no 'hero' or 'destined one'. Any one  - every one - of the community is touched by wonder - be it horrific or fantastic, no matter how long or short the life, no matter how stupid or smart, no matter how well or unwell, no matter how gifted or talented - or not. Where many retellings and collections focus on 'the special' for fairy tale and folklore to make a difference, this book focuses on ordinary people. With so much of my life having been changed and taken away, this made it feel like fairy tales were still accessible to me and that wonder is always close by.

5. Be your own fairy godmother

       (don't wait for magic to come to you)

Fairy tale resources: The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year by Linda Raedisch; The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury; #FolkloreThursday

   Time becomes uber-precious when Death leaves a calling card; it shifts your perspective. Getting my kid clean every day is suddenly nowhere near as important as helping him mark occasions and nurturing a 'habit of Wonder'*. I realized that paying attention to our place in the world via seasonal traditions, lore, rituals and story, helps us feel part of it. It lifts our lives out of the mediocre and shows us how we can make a difference - something I really want my son to understand. Doing this gives our story more, well, magic. But it's tough to commit to. Making magic is hard. It takes a lot of time and effort, and feels twenty-times harder when you are sick. Despite the wisdom of 'give yourself a pass this year' (advice which has great merit) I did my best to make magic this Samhain/Halloween and Christmas/Yule season for my little boy. It made me realize that even the most mundane of us, in the most undesirable situation, can work magic, if we try. While we may not be up to creating coaches out of pumpkins, just a touch of homemade enchantment can transform the world around us. It just doesn't come free. Not even the gifted get off doing magic for no price. As with most things worth doing, magic is 90% (or more) hard work. But despite the limited strength and energy dealing with cancer dishes you, it truly is worth it. My mundane 'efforts-by-human' look and feel like REAL magic, to my son but also, surprisingly, to me. Turns out, those endorphins that flood my system when I see shiny eyes taking in wonder, have a magic of their own: they're one of the best cancer fighters on the planet.

6. Look for breadcrumbs when you're lost

       (they're everywhere!)

Fairy tale resources: Firebird by Mercedes Lackey; Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey (an ongoing historical-fantasy, fairy tale-based series)

    When I got my diagnosis, I found I had to make a lot of life-altering decisions (for me and my family) very quickly. To my dismay, I learned that if I didn't ask the right questions, certain things were never explained and yet it was my responsibility to figure all this out. I have spent  weeks worth of hours studying medical papers and texts, trying to understand current cancer research and my options so I can make the best decisions, but there are no right answers - or guaranteed treatment. This weighty research is hard enough pre-surgery but afterward, when treatment can get very complicated, and you have to discuss and decide while in pain, with a brain that is in an awful fog, feeling like your survival depends upon your decisions, it can drown you. I needed a brain break. At first I tried my usual route - fairy tale study and research - something I have always greatly enjoyed but instead I felt suddenly stupid, unable to concentrate and it only resulted in exacerbating my stress - I couldn't even do what I loved anymore! Disillusioned, I picked up an old fairy tale novel I had never gotten around to reading, wondering if I should donate it to a thrift store. It was an Elemental Masters novel, a series I'd always considered a light read for a younger audience, but flipping through the first few pages, something caught my eye. I was able to read and enjoy it and - surprise! - there was enough fairy tale 'meat' for me to chew on when I needed it. Even on the 'good' days, when my neurons were firing more normally, I found myself inspired to pursue plenty of research crumbs. It actually brought tears of relief to my eyes and I proceeded to hunt down others in the series and carried a book with me to every doctor's appointment so I could escape the stressy-go-round my brain would spiral into there. I would go so far as to say these books helped me find my way back to myself and my 'tell-a-tale' heart... (Heh.) Once there was a girl who never went anywhere without a book of stories in her hand. Wherever she went, she always had with her somewhere she wanted to be...***

7. Know that a leftover wing doesn't have to be a curse

       (neither do scars)

Fairy tale resource: A Wild Swan And Other Tales by Michael Cunningham, Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

     While a double mastectomy is about more than losing body parts, what I didn't know is that it can also make you feel like an "unwoman". I never expected this. I thought the physical challenge would be the hardest part. Despite feeling very different from most folks my whole life, this was the first time I truly felt less than human. Reconstruction (a ridiculously painful, debilitating and still!-onging process of many months), seems - to me - only to underscore the fact. I finally started to find my feet again (so to speak) when I considered the little mermaid and the prince left with the wild swan's wing (note: a wild swan's wing). In Michael Cunningham's tales the characters tend toward self-indulgent victims of curses or magic; they are sad, lonely and often unable (or unwilling) to change their circumstance. The more I read, the more I found myself annoyed that the aspect of wonder each character lived with, was unappreciated, even hated. It wasn't until I came to the line in the title story of the wing curling itself on the sad prince's form that I realized I was guilty of heading down the same path.** Different may mean "something wrong" to most people, but it doesn't have to. It's taken a while but I've finally realized, with a different (to "normal") silhouette and extensive scars (outside and in) comes new opportunities - if I do something about it. I can't be the "old me". There's no going back. But the "new me" doesn't have to be tragic and feel cursed. I find I now have more realistic expectations of myself and others, but also appreciate those moments of wonder and magic much more. Maybe I'm a little distorted in form - I'm not used to it yet - but I can more easily see the wild in me now.

~ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ~

My journey through these particular woods has a long way to go but I'm grateful for every step forward. Clearly my tale isn't quite done yet...

Have fairy tales ever been helpful to you in a real life crisis?

 

Note: I must include a very heartfelt "thank you" to my fairy tale friend and OUABlog's partner Tahlia Merrill, Editor-in-Chief of Timeless Tales Magazine, for keeping the blog alive the past few months. She coordinated and posted book reviews, especially of books she knew I wished to have signal-boosted, and pointed readers toward fresh fairy tale goodness in Timeless Tales Magazine and on social media so I could ignore the online world and just pay attention to my immediate one. She will continue to do so as she can manage, as I cannot guarantee any consistency of posting from my end for the quite some time, so we thank you for your patience with the random timing of posts and reviews.

All artwork in this post by Kuri Huang's Andersen's Tales for Guomai & her Stray Birds series, based on verse by Indian poet Tagore. From top to bottom including the header: 1. Stray Birds series, 2. Steadfast Tin Soldier, 3. Stray Birds series, 4. Snow Queen (1), 5. The Iron Pig, 6. Snow Queen (2), 7. The Tinderbox, 8. The Wild Swans, 9. The Little Mermaid, 10. Thumbelina

Kuri Huang - Freelance Illustrator

Official website / Behance / Tumblr / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

Available for commissions - Contact her at kurihuang3344@gmail.com

~ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ∘ ✾ ~

Covers of books (and movie) mentioned:

*A 'habit of Wonder' is the best term I could think of to describe having a constant awareness of the potential of Wonder in a situation and nurturing it.                                                        ** A comment on the New York Times' printing of the title story from A Wild Swan and Other Tales (Cunningham) caught my attention and gave me excellent food for thought on this subject. I have included the relevant section below. Story at this link for context:                                 I believe the story's ending is profound: the wing has developed an autonomous nature as any unintegrated archetypal complex is prone to do. This mysterious condition is often populated with (usually hidden) evolutionary vestiges that become symbolic at best, but more commonly just uncomfortable, when, in the modern era, their significance is rendered banal by confusion and ignorance. (Excerpt from comment by BC_ OR from Portland Oregon in Oct, 2015)                                                                                                                              *** This is a paraphrase of a JK Rowling quote. Also see these other great reasons for always carrying a book.

Garrone's Live Action 'Pinocchio' Gets Harry Potter SFX Wizard

Pinocchio, which is currently being sold at Cannes, has signed one of the most sought after special effects folks in the business, Nick Dudman. We are guessing he is currently trying out a variety of noses for his new project...

We reported a while back on Italian Director Matteo Garrone (Tale of Tales) and his latest passion project, a live action, personal retelling of Pinocchio, which he is also writing. (You can find that earlier post HERE.)

Dudman told Variety that the new Italian-language “Pinocchio” will have a “flavor and look that’s quintessentially Italian” and will be different from what audiences are used to seeing in mainstream fantasy films. “It’s a very personal journey for Matteo,” Dudman said. “They are doing something very different from previous versions. It’s very dark.” 

“’Pinocchio’ is a dream of mine that goes back to when I was a child,” says Garrone. “On my desk I still have my own personal ‘Pinocchio’ story-board that I drew and colored in when I was a kid, and which is one of my most cherished mementos.” 

... Production is expected to begin in early 2018 in Sicily, Calabria and Tuscany. (Variety)

We're looking forward to see how this develops, if we can. Garrone was pretty strict with his closed sets on Tale of Tales, but this is, at last information, still supposed to be a family film and should be very different from everything Garrone has done to date. Either way - we won't have seen a Pinocchio like this one before.

In case you missed the note, it's been confirmed that unlike Tale of Tales, this film will be in Italian.

Tomm Moore's Next Irish Folklore Film, 'Wolfwalkers' Pitch Trailer Released

In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter, ROBYN, comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when Robyn saves a wild native girl, MEBH, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the WOLFWALKERS and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.

The third animated feature film from director Tomm Moore and Cartoon Saloon, (Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea) Wolfwalkers has had fans eager to know more ever since the first pieces of concept art and a synopsis were teased, back in 2015. (Click on images for a closer look.)

This week, Tomm Moore (yes, we're spelling his name correctly), and his co-director Ross Stewart pitched Wolfwalkers at the Cartoon Movie Festival - and that meant a 'pitch trailer' with test animation, (different from a regular trailer, since all art was made to pitch the movie, instead of pulled fro the movie to entice you to see it), along with additional concept art.

At Cartoon Movie festival : Wolfwalkers movie by Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart / Cartoon Saloon

You can see the trademark Tomm Moore design sensibility (aka simply beautiful and mythic), along with some possible hints at other aspects in the title text.

Here is the pitch trailer:

Wolfwalkers teaser at Cartoon Movie festival March 9th

From Den of Geek, (Nov 2015):

Cartoon Saloon’s next feature (FTNH Ed: after 'The Breadwinner') is expected to be Tomm Moore’s third, and another piece of Irish folklore. As you can see... Moore is dabbling with lycanthropy, though with a definite twist. According to Moore... the film draws on Oliver Cromwell’s decision to ‘tame Ireland’ by slaughtering their wolves. 

The inclusion of a character called Mebh (pronounced like Maeve) might be an allusion to Táin Bó Cúailnge, the episode of the Ulster cycle that deals with the driving off of the cows of Cooley.

The lead for this film was changed, fairly early on, from a little boy (like the previous two films main protagonists were) to a girl, which means we'll be looking at a 'girl friendship' film - something which is still unusual in animation (and not just there, either). Here's some concept art, the pencil drawings by Moore:

From Tomm Moore (via Animation for Adults):

It's set during the English Civil War in the mid 1600s but Oliver Cromwell decided he was going to symbolically tame Ireland by killing all the Wolves. So he sent all these hunters over, and if they killed a certain amount of wolves they got a bit of land. So the main protagonist is this little boy from England who comes over with his Dad, and he arrives actually near where I live in Killkenny. And he runs up against that around here wolves weren't seen as baddies, they were actually seen as people. The belief was that wolves were people that St Patrick had put a curse on when they wouldn't convert from paganism. So a lot of people believed that wolves.. especially around the Killkenny area.. were people. So that's the kind of premise! I won't tell you any more than that...

And on that note, here's a little something Tomm tweeted a couple of days ago...

The projected release date for Wolfwalkers is 2018 but that's not firm and without much to go on, it's difficult to know what stage of the production the film is currently in. Whenever that will be, it won't feel soon enough!

The Human Form of Disney's B&tB Enchanted Objects

Phew, have we been busy! We have lots of news to share but thought we'd kick off with something brief before we get to the awesome, juicy, special behind-the-scenes we have to share... and a tip for the best last minute seasonal present for a real fairy tale lover you might ever give... Stay tuned! You should find out sometime later today.

For now - if you haven't already seen this floating around the internet, take a good look at how the enchanted objects from Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast, will look* in their true and human form.

That the giant movie theater promotional cutout features the humans is probably a large hint as to the emphasis of this movie: people's true selves. We're most curious to see how that plays out with the Beast's transformation into human form and Belle's acceptance of that, after she's come to love him in his transformed state (boy are there going to be some interesting conversations arising from this!)

One question: where's the human Chip? (And is Mrs. Potts drinking from... him? O.O )

Thoughts?

*Inside the Magic

"Reimagining Beauty and the Beast: Social Stratification Through Human Animal Metamorphosis" Lunch Lecture Oct 18 2016 by IIAS

Polish Tales - Justyna Patecka - Dobrochoczy

You may wonder why we are highlighting this lecture when its purpose is primarily to better understand Asian social realities in a global context, but bear with us. The way this lecture presents and discusses animal descriptions of peoples (groups on the fringe of accepted society, for instance) to shed light on societal thinking, dovetails very well with fairy tale studies of tale types using transformed people, beast-people and even talking beasts. Try to have this in mind when you read the abstract.

Psoglav (Serbian: Псоглави, literally doghead)

Artist Unknown

First a little about the IIAS, as their knowledge sharing and collaboration is inspiring, and is similar to the philosophy held by fairy tale scholars and enthusiasts we greatly respect.

The International Institute for Asian Studies researches humanities and social sciences, encouraging global knowledge exchange with both academic and non-academic institutes, linking expertise around the globe. Almost all they do is collaborative in nature and inclusive. Based in the Netherlands, they hold international conferences, workshops, seminars, roundtables, and interactive think-tanks for a wide diversity of scholars and experts as well as public lectures. (Sounds great doesn't it?!)

This particular presentation is Lunch Lecture* by visiting scholar Dr Sayana Namsaraeva.

Below is the abstract. We have put in bold the aspects that piqued our interest:      

Reimagining Beauty and the Beast: social stratification through human - animal metamorphosis at the Sino-Russian border
In this lunch lecture, IIAS fellow Dr Sayana Namsaraeva (Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge) will discuss dehumanising narratives and new “bestiary” vocabularies at the Sino-Russian border.

Dr Sayana Namsaraeva

Following the ancient Greek and Roman traditions other accounts of imaginary beasts were added in medieval European bestiaries mostly to talk allegorically about immorality of the non-Christian Pagan world by depicting them as wild beasts, non-human or half-human creatures. On the contrary, China also has developed its own symbolic system  to depict their China-centered cosmology tianxia (all under Heaven) as being divided between those who lived according “Chinese ways” and those who didn’t follow “Chinese ways”  and live in beast-like condition in barbaric (藩部）peripheries of Chinese civilization. However, the myths of monstrous creatures inhabiting borderlands still persists, and the Sino-Russian border is a vivid example how  human-animal mythology produces new monsters at the borders of modern states.

Ve, Marian Murawski

Based on Georgio Agamben’s concept of “anthropological machine” (2004), my presentation analyses  dehumanising narratives and new “bestiary” vocabulary developed by Chinese and Russians, who are involved in border trade in a border city Manzhouli (满洲里）, to talk about race, ethnicity and their  social status in the local border society. Who are these “shaved pigs”, “old cats”, “old half-cats”, “camels” and “half-camels”, “devils”, “snakes”, “werewolves” and “dogs” the border society comprises of here?  And why border politics as an “anthropological machine” contrasts humanity and animality, and  divides border society into humans and less-humans ?  

In addition, my presentation discusses other narratives, such as shape shifting (from Ugly to Fairy) mostly widespread among Russian female traders, new Chinese beauty ideas expressed locally in the notion of the “Russian Beauty”.   

You can get more information and register for the lecture HERE.

Beauty and the Beast by Gabriel Pacheco

* About IIAS Lunch Lectures: Every month, an IIAS researcher or visiting scholar will present his or her work-in-progress in an informal setting to colleagues and other interested attendees. IIAS organises these lunch lectures to give the research community the opportunity to freely discuss ongoing research and exchange thoughts and ideas.

"The Crane Wife" Comes To Life in "Tsuru" This Weekend Via Ballet, Storytelling & Textiles in Houston

I believe this is a first for a ballet, as I can't find reference to the Japanese fairy tale being re-created in this particular dance medium, but it's not just a performance either. This special fairy tale presentation by the Asia Society Texas, in collaboration with the Houston Ballet will take place alongside a textile exhibit and interactive presentation, as well as storytelling.

Tsuru, translated as The Crane Wife, is one of Japan's best known fairy tales and tells the story of a crane that CHOOSES to become a woman and be the wife of the man who releases her from a hunter's trap (or, alternately, removes an arrow and binds her wound, then sets her free). The tale (which you can read HERE) is rather tragic as, inevitably, a crane cannot remain married to a human, and as such, is perfect fodder for a classical ballet story.

The tale has been unforgettable for me ever since I first read it as a child; the transformations, the images of white, black and red, a wife's secret and the complications love and relationships bring, all so elegantly woven together. I love this fairy tale.

Official artwork for "Tsuru" with Asia Society Texas & Houston Ballet

I've put together some excerpts from articles listed as sources below, to piece together the overview for you and to highlight the emphasis on the tale, why it's so fascinating and why the multi-media format of this event reflects it as well:

Traditional drawing from The Crane Wife
artist unknown

It's easy to see why "The Crane Wife" would appeal to Kusuzaki (Houston Ballet soloist), who grew up in the classical ballet world. The tale is, in some ways, a reverse version of "Swan Lake." It's about a wounded bird who becomes a woman. 

A farmer finds the crane in his fields with an arrow through its body. He rescues it and sets it free, then returns home to find a lovely young woman waiting for him. They marry. To help him prosper, she hides behind a screen for days at a time, weaving gorgeous textiles for him to sell. He must promise not to peek. Of course he can't resist. When he discovers she has been reverting to bird form, plucking her feathers to create the fabric until she's ill, she flies away. 

Mariana Godet - Ballet and Origami

Tsuru no ongaeshi ii by lirael42

Kusuzaki has wanted to share the unique culture of Japan through dance ever since moving to Houston 11 years ago. "For me, the longer I live away from my home country of Japan, the more reverence I have—reverence toward tradition and innovation, transcendence and solidarity, and of understated, but, fierce, strength and integrity." All of them will be on display this weekend at Asia Society Texas. "[The ballet's] heroine lives a life of duality: a crane behind the screens and a woman in the public’s eyes," says soloist Kusuzaki, who will dance on pointe as the crane and on flat as the woman. "Many ballet heroines journey through these dualities and take on different forms, such as Maiden to Odette in Swan Lake, Giselle to Wilis in Giselle, and Temple Dancer to Shade in La Bayadere." There's a difference, though, as Kusuzaki points out: Tsuru has complete autonomy over her destiny. She is in complete control of her transformation and decides when she is crane and when she is woman. 

Kusuzaki said she initially focused on the themes of temptation and broken promises, but her collaborators saw the tale as a framework for reinterpretation. She said "Tsuru" offers a modern, layered take on the story. It's about a relationship between a man and a woman, not a fairy tale. 

...Not quite the traditional production Kusuzaki originally imagined, it's become something more, with a team of Japanese natives who, like her, built careers outside their country. "We have a different perspective from people who live in Japan," she said. 

The production blends contemporary choreography with theatrical movement and live music. Its set includes five panels and projected video.

I really wish I could go to this! I will have to watch for any reports and photos of the special event.

It's exactly the sort of collaborative storytelling experience that makes a big impression, even more-so today, in the era where so much information-overload is at our fingertips. To experience this 'live tale' can be life changing.

Here's the press copy for the overall event:

Storytelling traditions and the uses of textiles are varied throughout Asia. Our focus for the first Creation Station of 2015 will be The Crane Wife, known as Tsuru no Ongaeshi in Japanese, which recounts how the life of a broken-hearted man is transformed when he rescues an injured crane. We will create wing designs from yarn, bookmarks from cardboard looms, and felt pouches. We will also exhibit selected Asian textiles for visitors to learn about the myriad of styles across the continent. 

Interested in this program? Asia Society invites you to join us for a beautiful retelling of The Crane Wife folktale through music and movement in collaboration with Houston Ballet. 

---

Saturday, June 27 at 7:30. Sunday, June 28 at 2. $25–35. Asia Society Texas, 1370 Southmore Blvd. 713-496-9901. asiasociety.org

I wanted to add this quote as well because I think it sums it up very nicely:

(Artistic Director) Matthew Ozawa says the work has universal appeal. "We as humans relate easily to stories of myth, especially those deeply impacted by transformations and metamorphosis," he says. "They help uncover and reveal deep universal truths of who we are."

Tsunekazu The Grateful Crane - Gion Odori 2008

Sources: HERE, HERE & HERE

AFTS Call For Papers on "Transformations: Spinning Straw into Green and Gold" for the 2015 Conference

by Marianne Stokes (& used/altered part of the header for fairy tale blog Spinning Straw Into Gold)

From The Australian Fairy Tale Society: a call for papers for presentation at the 2015 Conference on Sunday June 21st, 2015 (the Winter Solstice in Australia) .

Due date is now Friday, February 27th, 2015. 

Details are below...

Man, I REALLY want to go hear about all this at the 2015 conference! I will have to hook up a remote listening device..! Luckily, this will be recorded for those of us who can't attend, to catch up afterward.

AFTS: Call for Papers

Odette's Transformation by Poppy Alice

Conference theme:

‘Transformations: spinning straw into green and gold’

Transformation is a key element within the enchanted realm of fairy tale, both within the stories themselves and the history of the genre. The possibilities of change are explored in tales where frogs become princes, boys become swans, and many a poor girl is revealed as a true princess following a trial of courage and endurance. Over time and across cultures universal ideas have wrapped themselves in an array of motifs, shifting to suit their audience, setting, and times while retaining the same underlying truth. How have Red, Cindy and Snow adapted to the Australian climate? Are there fairy tales born of our cultural landscape? What changes and what remains the same in a transformation?

Proposals are invited for presentations on the following fairy tale topics:

Daphne by Arthur Rackham

* cross cultural transformations 

* cross generational transformations 

* cultural appropriation 

* European tales from an Australian perspective 

* oral to written and back again 

* folkloric to academic 

* magical transformations – human / non-human 

* therapeutic – personal transformation through story 

by Kaarina Kaila

* adaption across forms – storytelling, music, dance, film, visual arts, etc 

* personal to public and back again 

* maturation / coming of age 

* changing status 

* objects of transformation 

* myth to fairy tale 

* adapting for audience (age, gender, class, sexual orientation, dis/ability), place, and time 

* curses to blessings 

by Christina Marie Day

Performers are invited to present short works or a taster to showcase longer works.

Artists are invited to exhibit and discuss their work.

Along with academic papers, performance, and exhibitions, we are also seeking panelists.

Presentations will run between 15-30 minutes.

The conference will be recorded, with the permission of presenters, and uploaded to the AFTS website.

by Anne Siems

Please send 100-200 word abstract submissions to: austfairytales@gmail.com

Submissions close 5pm Friday 27th February, and presenters will be announced in March 2015.

Conference tickets will be discounted to $50 for successful applicants.

So, fairy tale lovers. Start spinning those abstracts and stories, and we hope to hear from you soon!

Let the enchantment begin!

The Australian Fairy Tale Society Committee