The Gift of Receiving
I am pleased to announce on behalf of E.D.E. that our Kickstarter for the Montreal Fringe was a success. We owe a huge thank you to all of our generous contributors; you are making this project happen! Also, a big thank you to everyone who supported the campaign by spreading the word.
Overall, my experience with Kickstarter was incredibly humbling. We launched the campaign out of necessity, a 9-day tour to Montreal simply wouldn’t have been feasible without outside support. Truth be told, when we first launched the campaign I was terrified. It’s uncomfortable asking people for money, especially when what you’re trying to fund isn’t a tangible good. But the response was overwhelmingly positive. Our donors spanned from friends and family, to fellow artists, to arts enthusiasts. Seeing so many people put their faith in this project has been an overwhelming joy.
After this positive experience, I had to sit back and ask myself where my initial fear came from? Amanda Palmer, song writer, crowd funding guru, and all around bad-ass, put it best in her recently published book “The Art of Asking:”
“From what I’ve seen, it isn’t so much the act of asking that paralyzes us–it’s what lies beneath: the fear of being vulnerable, the fear of rejection, the fear of looking needy or weak. The fear of being seen as a burdensome member of the community instead of a productive one.
It points, fundamentally, to our separation from one another.”
If anything, the response we got from our Kickstarter Campaign showed me not our separation from one another, but our inherent connection. I think too often separation and isolation is self-induced out of fear. When E.D.E. reached out, help reached back.
We are so excited to bring this production to Montreal. Through our workshops at Studio Bizz we are excited to share some of the generosity that’s been shown to us and offer young dancers unique performance opportunities!
