CHARACTERS
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Rainbow Crow is the most beautiful bird in the world with colorful feathers. She is also the most brave of the animals. The Great Sky Spirit admires her wonderful singing.	The Great Sky Spirit is the creator of the world and all the animals.	Snow Spirit makes all the snow that covers the earth. Snow Spirit stops making snow when it is springtime.	Wind Spirit makes the wind that blows the snow around, and that carries Rainbow Crow to the Snow Spirit.

STORY
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Before the two-legged walked the earth, the animals were always warm and happy. Then one day it began to snow. At first the animals had fun playing in the snow, but soon it became so deep that the smaller animals were almost buried!

Rainbow Crow, the most beautiful bird in the world, bravely volunteered to fly to the Wind Spirit to ask him to stop blowing the snow. The Wind Spirit was unable to help Rainbow Crow, because blowing the snow was his job. So Rainbow Crow flew on the Wind Spirit's back to see the Snow Spirit.

The Snow Spirit was also unable to help Rainbow Crow. So Rainbow Crow, who was by now very tired, flew for 3 more days to visit the Great Sky Spirit. The Great Sky Spirit was very moved by Rainbow Crow's great beauty and offered to give her a gift. Rainbow Crow asked the Great Sky Spirit to stop the snow and the wind, but the Great Sky Spirit could not do that. Instead, he gave Rainbow Crow the gift of fire. But the fire would not last forever, so Rainbow Crow had to hurry back to Earth with it.

On the first day of flying, soot from the fire blackened Rainbow Crow's tail feathers. On the second day, the smoke and fire made Rainbow Crow's beautiful voice hoarse and crackly. On the third day Rainbow Crow's colorful feathers were completely black. When Rainbow Crow returned to Earth, the animals were completely covered with snow. She flew close to the snow with the fire and melted it all away from his friends. Then she flew away and cried. The Great Sky Spirit came down from the sky to see why Rainbow Crow, now just Crow, was crying.

The Great Sky Spirit told Crow that the two-legged would soon come to the Earth and take the fire and rule all the animals. But because of Crow's great bravery and the sacrifice she made to save her friends, she would be free from the two-legged. The two-legged would not want to hunt her because Crow's meat would taste like smoke and fire. And the two-legged would not want to capture her because her voice was no longer beautiful. The Great Sky Spirit told her that her black feathers would reflect all the colors of the Earth. Crow looked and saw thousands of tiny rainbows reflected in her feathers, and was happy again.

WILD SWAN THEATER

Wild Swan Theater has been delighting family audiences since 1980 with performances that blend storytelling, movement, and music into magical, accessible experiences. Premiering productions in its home base of Ann Arbor and touring them throughout Michigan and the Midwest, Wild Swan has enchanted hundreds of thousands of playgoers of all ages in theaters, schools, libraries, and museums of all sizes. Wild Swan Theater is nationally known for its ingenious artistry, its innovative audience accessibility program, and its projects for participants with disabilities.