How to Survive a Poison Apple
Revisionist Fairy Tale folk Rock Opera
Description of the Folk-Rock Opera:
Mindy Dillard’s revisionist fairy tale folk-rock opera one-woman show How to Survive a Poison Apple debuted in June 2012 in Portland, OR. She weaves her original songs and abstract autobiographical storytelling between metaphors and characters from the world of fairy tales. She leads us on a journey from her start as an underfed and perfectionist acting student to a growing singer-songwriter who’s finding her voice and her fullness with imperfect grace. She will be singing songs from Poison Apple in conjunction with leading a creative writing and art installation at the National Eating Disorders Association’s conference in Chicago in September 2016. She performed at the 2015 iaedp symposium (international association of eating disorders professionals) in Phoenix, AZ for over 600 eating disorder treatment professionals from around the world. During the summer of 2014 she performed at the Santa Cruz and Vancouver fringe festivals as well as mounting 5 independent productions in Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Oakland, Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. She has also performed selections from the piece at the Seattle, WA and Portland, OR NEDA walks and she attended the 2010 NEDA conference in Brooklyn, NY. Add text
Eating Disorder Awareness & Advocacy through Music and Art Events including:
concerts
art exhibits
songwriting workshops
creative writing workshops
media literacy workshops
In addition to being an award-winning singer-songwriter, Mindy Dillard is also a body image activist. She performs, speaks and leads creative writing and songwriting workshops at eating disorder treatment centers, colleges, schools and other places that people are struggling and healing from eating disorders and addictions. This webpage details her revisionist fairy tale folk rock opera, How to Survive a Poison Apple (about her eating disorder recovery) read, watch and listen below.
“Thank you to Mindy Dillard How to Survive a Poison Apple, for a wonderful evening of music, humility and an invitation “to the table” for sharing stories and inspiring fearlessness, adding your beautiful voice to the recovery chorus.” – Nan Shaw, Program Director, The Healthy Teen Project (Los Altos, CA)
Additional information, videos, brochures, curriculum and rate are available via e-mail. Please contact Mindy directly.
Check out this gallery of Poison Apple Medicine events in Spokane, WA in October 2016 at Gonzaga University and at the October 2016 NEDA conference in Chicago, IL.
Performance and Workshop Locations:
National Eating Disorders Association 2016 Conference (Chicago, IL)
Eating Disorders Center of Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM)
The Healthy Teen Project (San Jose, CA)
International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals 2015 (Phoenix, AZ)
Studio 1398 (Vancouver, BC 2014)
The Interplayce (Oakland, CA 2014)
United Congregational Church of Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa, CA, 2014)
The 418 Project (Santa Cruz Fringe Festival, Santa Cruz, CA 2014)
The Sugar Space (Salt Lake City, UT 2014)
The Source (Albuquerque, NM 2014)
The Old Church (Portland, OR 2014)
Kala Gallery (Astoria, OR 2012)
The One Festival (Portland, OR 2012)
Hipbone Studios (Portland, OR 2012)
Organizational Partnerships:
Eating Disorders Center of Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM)
The Healthy Teen Project (San Jose, CA)
The International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP – Pekin, IL)
Eating Disorders Center of Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM)
Volunteers of America (Salt Lake City, UT)
The Lotus Collaborative (Santa Cruz, CA)
Interplay (Oakland, CA)
Front Porch Spirit (Sebastopol, CA)
Looking Glass Foundation (Vancouver, B.C.)
National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA, NY, NY)
Booking
Mindy is available to perform Poison Apple (or excerpts from it) and to speak about her journey to recovery through finding her passion for songwriting and music. She speaks at eating disorder treatment centers (for clients, alumni, families, staff, etc.), colleges, schools and more. She offers creative writing, songwriting and art installation workshops to accompany her engagements. Different packages are available and Mindy is happy to collaborate with therapists and community organizers to figure out what would be best for each community. Mindy Dillard holds a Master of Fine Art in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College. Her current CV and recommendations from Eating Disorder treatment professionals are available on request. For questions or to book an engagement please Contact Mindy.
Endorsements for How to Survive a Poison Apple:
“Thank you to Mindy Dillard How to Survive a Poison Apple, for a wonderful evening of music, humility and an invitation “to the table” for sharing stories and inspiring fearlessness, adding your beautiful voice to the recovery chorus.” – Nan Shaw, Program Director, The Healthy Teen Project (Los Altos, CA)
“It is incredibly wonderful seeing someone who is so honest and genuine and, you know, human – and beautifully so. Your music and songs are fantastic and your presence is just so radiant and you are able to fully be yourself and shine despite all that “darkness in the wilderness”… you gave me hope.” – Anonymous client at treatment center
“Mindy Dillard is on fire! Her one-woman show How to Survive a Poison Apple is a blend of rare insight tempered by whimsy – the show feeds you in unexpected and profound
ways. Meanwhile her burgeoning singer/songwriter career is captivating audiences and winning awards. Her secret weapon is a musical theater background which underpins a fearless and powerful performance.”- Lisa Lepine, Creative Consultant (Portland, OR)
“Mindy’s humor and wit combined with artistic creativity was a fresh approach to the self exploration and working through of the recovery process. I highly recommend her show to anyone wanting another way to explore the healing process. It would be helpful for clients, clinicians, treatment programs, and anyone wanting to add another dimension to treatment. I am looking forward to Mindy’s performance for our clients at EDTC in Albuquerque as it will be well-received on so many therapeutic levels.” – Holly A. Finlay, Clinical Director/Founder Eating Disorders Treatment Center, Albuquerque, NM
“This is a compelling and powerful performance that has a unique capacity to provide a path to healing and hope for others. Mindy is incredibly vulnerable, creative, and expressive in her own journey. Through her truth, songs and storytelling she tells us what has been destructive and deconstructs the gendered fairytales and all the relational messages that have contributed to her relationship to food, body, self, and worth. We hear these internalized voices that have been traumatized and witness her find her incredibly powerful heartfelt triumphant voice on her path to healing.” – Karen Bradfield, LMFT
“I couldn’t stop clapping. Mindy’s mega-talents as a singer-songwriter,actress and storyteller lifted my heart. But, she didn’t stop there. She brought me eye to eye with the dark side of the princess fable and the poison apples in the mind and culture that can result in an eating disorder. She shares clues about how she broke the spell of her disorder enough to welcome a roomful of princess with zits, glasses, and beautiful spirits, a room where being real is a female birthright. I want her show to appear anywhere girls, women, mothers, dads, educators, clergy and medical people sense that a monster lurks, a monster that only a true princess can dispel.”- Cynthia Winton-Henry, Co-founder and Director of Interplay (Oakland, CA)
“It can be so difficult for preteen and adolescent girls and their families, friends, schools, and churches to begin the important conversations around issues of eating disorders, body image, and cultural expectations. Mindy Dillard’s funny, painful, and insightful one woman musical, How to Survive a Poison Apple, is a wonderful place to start. The show can be done in a church sanctuary, social hall, classroom, or even in a backyard or living room: anywhere people are ready to support each other in the journey of health for ourselves and our daughters.” – Rev. Lizann Bassham (Sebastopol, CA)
“Once again — you NEED to see this show. It is awesome! So beautiful to see how Mindy has come into her Fullness!”- Halelupe, Singer-Songwriter (Portland, OR)
“In her candid, entertaining and courageous play How To Survive a Poison Apple Mindy Dillard offers us an opportunity to explore critical issues that girls and women face–body image, acceptance, the search for love and the messages we receive from society about what it means to be beautiful. Using humor, music, compassion and honesty, Dillard offers us an opportunity to reflect on our own relationship with our bodies. Dillard’s work provides a heartfelt launching point for a discussion about eating disorders, shining a light on the struggles that girls and women face with these disorders.- Danette C. Haynes, LCSW (Portland, OR)
‘Poison Apple’ is “a riveting and redeeming synthesis of music, message, story and heart.”- Lisa Lepine, Creative Consultant (Portland, OR)