OVERVIEW/DIRECTOR'S NOTE:

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It has taken twelve years to get this show to actually happen. That’s right: twelve. years. 

What began in the summer of 2009 as a seven-person project to present the up-and-coming generation of Divas here in Syracuse, has proliferated beyond my wildest imagination into a true extravaganza. But despite the innumerable changes made throughout the decade it’s taken us to get here, the mission of the show has never wavered:

These women are ferocious. Every one of them brings something inherently different to the table, so much so that there is no use in even attempting to compare them. Honestly, it’s not really possible! They are each exquisitely singular, and I am thrilled that they will be sharing their talents with you this evening. 

They say that seven is the most magical, or holiest of numbers – but given the length of time it’s taken this show to reach the stage, I’m half inclined to wager there’s a case to be made for twelve. After all, there are twelve Greek Olympians; twelve zodiac constellations; twelve days of Christmas; and we just so happen to find ourselves in the twelfth (and final) month of the year; the month most associated with winter celebrations, with both Christmas and the solstice rooted in the concept of the feminine divine – and as we all well know the origin story of Christmas, I thought it more prudent to look elsewhere for inspiration.

At this time of year, the ancient Greeks exalted the goddess Persephone – Queen of the Underworld – whose absence from Olympus brought winter’s biting chill, killing every vegetation not yet yielded for the harvest. Upon returning to Olympus in the summer, however, she was changed, “filled with wisdom and knowledge of existence outside of her Mother’s realm. She had learned the power of transformation; from death to rebirth, from dark to light, lost to found, chaos to clarity, fear to transcendence.” (Judith Shaw)

Similarly, the ancient Celts worshipped The Cailleach, a goddess who was said to be “the embodiment of winter, clothing the land with the whiteness of snow, ending the time of growth with the time of death and darkness.  As ‘The Veiled One’, in the quiet, dark of winter, she rules the hidden worlds, reigning over our dreams and inner realities.” (Judith Shaw)

So, you see, Mother Mary isn’t the only queen venerated at the end of December. It appears, in the collective conscious of Western civilization, that this time of year has been long reserved for the power of female transcendence, and so too shall our show uphold that most ancient of traditions. 

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