The Smithsonian Institute show of “Journey to Dodoland’ at the Discovery Theatre in 1983 was to encourage creativity and build confidence and to know we can live our dreams. Living the dream – so important then and so important now.
The show was the only ‘Journey to Dodoland‘ show where a woman who played the harp was one of the musicians. There was also a drummer and a singer. The show was improv and had participation from the audience. The audience made the sound of the birds when they found out ‘listen to the birds” was the secret to go to Dodoland. Some audience members joined us to show what character they would become in Dodoland where you “could be what you want to be“. In the secret to go home from Dodoland they all pretended they were in a cocoon and then raised their wings to fly and repeated “As a caterpillar changes to a butterfly I can fly and fly.” Many came up and together they flew as butterflies. A beautiful sight of transformation to be remembered.
I ( Della ) made a special silk Bird Helmet cape to wear for playing the part of “Wise Lotus One“. I made it with silk by hand and when you put a light behind it it shone like a stained glass window.I also designed the Dancing Flamingo and Banana Man costumes. Costume designer Tree Newson designed the Elemental Dodo costume for the show which was so colorful and she was so talented. I (Della Burford) designed the other costumes.
Discovery Theater is a source for live performances that celebrate the rich diversity of their region and our world. We felt so honored to be chosen to perform there. Many young people were brought from schools to see our performance. In the poster they called it “like a trip to the Wizard of Oz” I was so happy to be able to visit Washington and look around the Museum after to see the heritage, science and culture in a memorable way. I was open to the adventure as my dream before going told me to be so. The ‘Journey to Dodoland’ show was a “fun” performance for all. Though this performance was ages ago Smithsonian Institutes’s Discovery Theatre are still doing performances today in 2020 and are alive and well
Create a Dream, with Della Burford 