Tales of Scheherazade at 2015 Fringe
Nazareth College Alumna Brings Silk Road Storytelling Home

 

     Pittsburgh, PA  – Kristin Ward of Pittsburgh -based Moquette Volante Theatrical Middle Eastern Dance Company will perform in the 2015 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival (Sept. 17-26) on Saturday, September 19 at 12 pm at Writers and Books, 740 University Ave.  Advance tickets are $12 online at www.rochesterfringe.com.  Remaining tickets will be available at the door beginning one hour before curtain.

     Kristin Ward, a Victor native who graduated from Nazareth College in 2000 with a BA in Theatre Arts and French, founded Moquette Volante in 2008 with the idea of conjoining a new found love of Middle Eastern (belly) dance with her more theatrical roots.  

     “Pittsburgh has a huge belly dance community, and I wanted to be able to offer something unique that could not only set me apart, but make use of the performance and production skills I learned in college as well,” Kristin states.  

     So far, Moquette Volante has brought over a dozen tales to life, mostly adapted from 1001 Arabian Nights as well as other Silk Road folklore.  Creating and producing these shows has challenged Kristin in every skill set, from script writing to building props and costuming.  Fortunately, she has a great base of Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council resources, fellow performers, and creative acquaintances to draw from.  Recently, a night out with a talented visual artist friend turned into a brainstorming session on the best ways to make a genie appear.

     While Tales of Scheherazade is a more intimate one-woman version of the 1001 Nights, Moquette Volante has also presented larger collaborations, performing at the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival this past May with a show that featured Hakan, Pittsburgh’s premiere masculine belly dancer, and Egyptian Surf Rock band Amun Raqs.  Kristin has also performed as a solo artist for several years as part of the Pittsburgh International Children’s Theatre Festival as well as the Three Rivers Storytelling Festival.  This will be her first time performing at the First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival.

     “I’m really looking forward to it,” Kristin declares.  “The Fringe staff and the folks at Writers and Books have been fantastic to work with, and my family (most of whom reside in the Canandaigua area) is really excited to be able to catch one of my shows locally.  My mom has been sending me newspaper articles about the Rochester Fringe Festival since it began, hoping I would take the hint and apply. She must have found a genie to grant her wish!”