Inspiring Women : November 2020

I’m a Little Duckling Not
an Ugly One!
JOAN M. BENTSEN
Member: American Women’s Club of
Copenhagen
From: Westport, CT
Lives: Copenhagen, Denmark
My Life Journey
I grew up in Westport, CT, a suburb of New York City, in the 1950s
and 60s. My Mom took me to see every play and every musical on
Broadway. I was transported by the magic and power of the theater.
She also sent me to modern dance lessons from the age of nine, so I
grew up with a physical discipline that has influenced me greatly
throughout my life.
In high school, I sang in the choir and was in the theater group, where
I learned through hard work how to create something with others,
that was bigger than ourselves. The Vietnam War was also a huge
influence since all the males in our families and all the boys in our
class were eligibile to be drafted, while all we girls could do back then
was worry and protest. The
feminist in me was born
during those years. We were
all against the war, and that
often meant being against
our parents, teachers and the
government. It was a choice
to try and do the right thing.
We channelled our passion
into creating theater that reflected the world we wanted to
live in.
I left home when I went to Wellesley College in 1971. While
there, I took a semester exchange program in Waterford,
CT, at the National Theater Institute, where NTD (the
National Theater of the Deaf) was in residence. There, I met
many backstage Broadway theater people: David Hayes,
dancer Daniel Nagrin, director Larry Arrick. I also met two
amazing Deaf actors, Ed Waterstreet and Linda Bove (who
was later on Sesame Street for many years) and learned
some ASL (American Sign Language).
After graduating from Wellesley in 1975, I joined a three
year acting program in Stamford, CT at the renovated
64
Playing Jumping Mouse at the Hartman Theater in
1977