March of 2021 when I was about four month pregnant I was wondering what I will be spending those last couple of month before delivery. I started to show so much that no other rule than 'the pregnant woman' was suitable anymore, so I though I shall find some artistic way to share my experience of this time when I came across an application by the Bethlen Theater, where they were expecting applications of duos from different generations and performance experience. That was ideal, I felt the call, this is something for us: I'm pretty sure the baby growing incide me will belong to another generations and I bet she will arrive to this world with slightly less stage experience than me. So I wrote the synopsis, invetnted her a CV with a bunch of nonsense and scripted a (non)Agreement for her and signed it by photoshopping her heartbeat under. Luckily the jury took it with a fitting sense of humor and agreed that we/ I fit the requirements as a duo. There we go, this is how you get artistic funding before beeing born.

We created a nearly 45 minute long solo - duo - trio newcircus experience about my most honest pregnancy experience. I wrote texts, daramturgy, created choreographies, turned my hormonal brain inside out and presesented my beating heart in my seven and a half month pregnant whale body. I had a friend, Bea Egyed who visiting me during several rehearsels and motivated me to dare to move on, to do it, say it, simly as I feel it, as it is all happening to me, honestly, seriously but not taking myself seriously. It took me weeks to say my words out load without getting red and correcting myself with giggles and ticks when a sentence didn't come out the right way. By the way it was a circus show after all: I created a contact staff number with a microphone, an aerialhoop act and we had kind of a partneracro act with my partner and one intire handstand too.

I think who saw it, liked it, at least they laughed, with me, at me, at us. We presented it three times end of June and nine days later on the 6th of July Natas was born exactly one month ahead of time... I guess she misunderstood me saying at the end of the show: "Mommy, Mommy, I'm ready!"

Sophie Zoletnik