When I was a little girl, The Ugly Duckling was my favorite fairy tale. I loved hearing about the clumsy baby duck, waddling from place to place seeking a home and family, and finally finding it among the graceful swans. I was thrilled for him as he took his rightful place with them, so proud of him as the children on the bank called out "Oh, look at the new swan, he is the most beautiful of them all!"
I was maybe nine or ten when my great aunt Marion took me to see the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was my first live ballet performance, and of course it was Swan Lake. Here was a fairy tale being enacted before my eyes, romantic story, gorgeous costumes, beautiful dancing to Tchaikovsky's haunting, ominous score...I was transfixed. I was still in a trance when the matinee was over and my aunt took me to Clifton's and told me over tea and cakes how, years before, she had seen the great Anna Pavlova perform The Dying Swan.
I have continued all my life to love swans. Maybe it was no accident that I have ended up here, in a tiny studio overlooking this lovely bay whose mascot is a black swan. So whatever else I decide to write here, I will continue to post photos and drawings, stories and poems about my totem animal, the swan.
Where Have I Been?
5 months ago
