The Swan Princess


"And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the moment you've all been waiting for... may I introduce the Swan Princess!" the ringmaster yelled to the crowd as they burst into cheers. The entire tent went dark and the crowd quieted in anticipation.

A spotlight appeared shining down on a small pool, approximately two and a half feet deep and five feet in diameter. A little girl, ten or eleven years in age stood to one side tossing pink carnations and their petals into the still pool. Then, gracefully, another figure appeared from the water wearing a *bulky costume of white feathers. A large puffy hat of feathers on their bowed head as they walked in the *shallow water that came up to their waist, arms folded behind their back with hands turned up just above the water surface in the likeness of a tail, the figure 'swam' round the pool. The tent was silent.

Slowly, a bar lowered to just four feet above the center of the pool and the figure stopped directly under it facing the crowd. (The crowd sits in half the tent.) Slowly unfurling their arms like the wings they play, the figure flapped once.

Twice, a hop.

Three times, a jump.

Four times, even higher.

Five, the figure bends at the waist, arms just skimming the water; they jump again, reaching for the bar. Grabbing the bar, the figure swings and pulls their body up so they are standing on the bar; they continue to flap as the bar rises till the figure is half way from the bottom and top of the tent. The arms stop flapping; the figure holds the wire holding the bar up and swings.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forward over half the crowd, back and forth over the majority of the crowded stands, the people gasping; back into the shadows and disappears. The bar comes forth again without the figure. The crowd is silent.

The spotlight disappears and all is dark... Now, the spotlight shines on the upper left corner of the tent, the crowd turns all their attention there and sees the figure again.

This time, *gone was the bulky swan costume, now the figure is more easily identified as a small eight year old girl wearing a tight white turtleneck mid drift top, with sleeves to the elbow and sheer from elbow to wrist. Long black hair, previously unseen, now in a loose up-do held together with white pearls, diamonds and fake carnations. Her white tights disappeared into her *silk clad slippered feet, covered from waist to knees by a *light blue skirt embroidered with the outline of feathers in white and roses in pink. A *fake diamond half mask surrounded her right eye and stretched across her forehead to curl around her left eye in intricate swirls and down her right cheek.

She stands on a small platform on the post of the tent and looks over the crowd with a smile, her emerald-green eyes sparkling with joy. The girl's arms were held in *première en bas, her feet in third position.

As the first notes of 'Morning Grace' began, the girl did a little curtsey to the crowd and took a *few steps, first to the right, than to the left on the balls of her feet. Lowering herself so her feet were *flat again, she reaches to the side, outside the shine of the light and comes back with the bar. More lights are turned on so the crowd can see the entire stage; the pool was still there, but the girl was gone.

By the time the woman starts to sing, the girl had swung off the platform and is reaching for the next bar with her legs. She catches it in the bend of her knees and releases the first bar. One of her legs stretches up straight and is slowly lowered to be level with her waist. The other leg suddenly straightens as well when she reaches the highest point of her swing on the other side of the tent. The crowd gasp, believing she was going to fall, but sighs and cheers when she catches another bar after falling only a few feet, her legs back together as she holds the bar with one hand to gesture her path with the other for the audience. More bars are released from the shadows going every which way as the girl swings onto a higher bar to line up with another that she stands on, on the ball of one foot. She swings and twirls and falls from bar to bar, occasionally catching the bar with parts of her body that didn't seem possible to move in such a way.

It almost seemed like she was flying for real... or she was dancing, completely comfortable in the air, dancing her heart out for the prince she has yet to meet.

As the last two bars played, the girl swung again from a bar on one side of the tent by her knees, as she reached for the bar on the other side, everyone thought she was going to hold it with her hands when she bent back in an arch and reached for it, when instead of using her hands, she used her back.

The girl arched her back until the bar was caught in the small of her back and brought her arms and head back, and held still. The music has ended.

Suspended in midair by two bars bound to go different ways, she looked like a swan shot in midair.

Unhurriedly, limply, the girl's legs dropped and she arched her back a bit more so the first bar swung into the shadows again and was balanced on the second by only her back. Still again—then slipping just slightly, she is falling headfirst to the ground. The audience gasps, for there were no bars for her to catch, only the tiny, shallow pool almost thirty feet below her.

The girl falls, calmly then, with a great splash, she disappears into the water.

The crowd is tense in anticipation.

.

.

.

The girl re-emerges from the shallow pool, back in the first costume she appeared in as a swan. The other girl comes out again as well, tossing more pink carnations in the pool.

The crowd gives a standing ovation as the girl takes off the hat and bows. They are still cheering when she leaves the stage with the other girl and still talk excitedly when they leave the tent for home.

"And, that, everyone was the Swan Princess! Thank you and have a good night!"


*a bulky swan costume, like really like a swan. Here's a better definition.
The hat is big and puffy and made of fake feathers about ½ the size of her head to cover her hair. It covers all her hair and her forehead and shadows the rest so people only see her mouth chin and bottom of her cheeks. The top is a turtle neck and is kinda round, goes down past her butt; the sleeves look like wings and cover the back of her hands and fingers but not the palms. The bottom of the costume (in the water) is waterproof tights and shoes. The first costume is not pretty, which is the point.

*the pool is two and a half feet tall. Harry is 4'6" tall

*it was hiding her first costume thus the reason it is bulky

*think white ballet flats, without the hard soles

*like a really, really light blue: off-white that looks like it might be blue. The embroidery of feathers are off-white white, and the roses are off-white pink (the embroidery is just the outline, like coloring books).

*those fake diamond things sometimes on girls' clothes that are worth, like, a cent... (do you know what I'm talking about?) Half masks only cover your forehead and eyes, as well as cheek bones. This one is made of flexible clear plastic so it can fit close to the face and pretty much not be seen.

*loosely held in an oval shape by your sides and slightly in front. If you still don't know, look it up.

*on the balls of her feet, she takes steps in one direction, than the other direction