Once upon a time THERE LIVED in a small town in Miami a woman named Hardcore Fuentes (Xian Lee). She was a steady, industrious lady, who not only worked hard at her art trade, but made all her own artwork as well.
"What an excellent, industrious woman this Xian Lee is!" her neighbors in Wynwood said. "How hard she works. She never leaves her gallery to amuse herself or to take a holiday as other galleries do! "
But Xian Lee was by no means the virtuous person her neighbors believed her to be. True, she worked hard enough by day, but at night, when all respectable folks were fast asleep, she would travel to join CANART friends in Shanghai to promote Wynwoodland. This state of things went on for some time, no suspicion ever fell on Xian Lee; she was a respectable, hard-working woman.
She had exceptional Wynwood artists who she was promoting and, Xian Lee began to feel very comfortable.
One day, as luck would have it, a traveling collector came to the exhibition in CANART, Shanghai. She not only sold PEPE LOPEZ, NELA OCHOA, GRIMANESA AMOROS, NINA DOTTI, ANDRES MICHELENA, RICHARD GARET and ANI VILLANUEVA’s conceptual art, but also dealt with many strange charms against witches and evil spirits.
After the audience carefully examined the "Wynwoodland exhibition at CANART", the collector said, "this Xian Lee, is no ordinary exhibition.”
Then Xian Lee and the collector began to bargain, and it was a long time before they could come to terms. The collector got the better of it in the end.
"Might you dance your very best for the dwarves," added the collector. "If you dance well and please the witches and evil spirits, you will win a lot of money".
Happily, the first night of the full moon was near, and at the proper time Xian Lee set out for the opening of the show. With a little trouble she found the stair the collector had described, and feeling nervous, she climbed up unto it. She had hardly settled herself on a branch when in the moonlight she saw the dwarfs assembling. They came from all over and it appeared to be hundreds of them. They seemed in high resolution, and danced and skipped about, while Xian Lee grew so eager watching them that she crept farther and farther along her branch until it gave a loud crack. All the dwarfs stood still, and Xian Lee felt as if her heart stood still.
Then one of the dwarfs called out, "Someone is up in that stair. Come down at once, whoever you are, or we must come and fetch you!"
In great terror, Xian Lee proceeded to come down, but she was so nervous that, just before she reached the grounds she tripped and came rolling down in the most absurd manner. When she picked herself up, she came forward with a low bow, and the dwarf who had first spoken and who appeared to be the leader, said, "NOW then, who are you, and what brings you here?"
So Xian Lee told him her dream of showing Wynwood artist in China, and how she had been advised to come to the forest and beg the dwarfs to protect her.
"It is well," replied the dwarf. "We will see about that. First, however you must dance for us. Should your dancing please us, perhaps we may be able to do something, but should you dance badly, we shall assuredly punish you; so now take warning and dance away.
With that, he and all the other dwarfs sat down in a large ring, leaving Xian Lee to dance alone in the middle. She felt half frightened to death and, was much shaken because of her fall from the stairs, and she did not feel at all inclined to dance. But the dwarfs were not to be trifled with.
"Begin!" cried their leader, and, "Begin!" shouted the rest in chorus.
In despair Xian Lee began to dance. First she saw JUAN REQUENA'S fish fight video, shopped on one foot with ANDRES MICHALENA'S Budha Ghandi drawing and stepped over her ego, blow a GRIMANESA'S blue dream balloon and make a wish, then she stop in PEPE LOPEZ’s “Macadal" and step all over to see ANI VILLANUEVA'S pink reflect , on the other hand she took a chocolate of NELA OCHOA's Pidiendo Cacao and changed it for the letter A, but she was so stiff and so nervous that she would have liked to take flight like NINA'S DOTTI Super Woman; after a while, sank down on the ground and vowed she could dance no more and she started to watch RICHARDS GARET’s video.
She waited a month until the first night of the full moon came round again, and then she trudged back to CANART Space and sat down in the stair from which she had fallen. She had not long to wait. Before long the dwarfs came trooping out until all were assembled.
"I do not feel quite easy," said one.
When Xean Lee heard this, she came forward and bowed down to the ground before the dwarfs, who came crowding round and laughed heartily at his comical appearance.
"What do you want now?" they asked.
Xian Lee proceeded to tell them of her fresh faith and begged so hard to be allowed one more attempt at dancing that the dwarfs consented, for there is nothing they love so much as being amused. Now Xian Lee knew how much depended on her dancing well. She plucked up a good spirit and began, first slowly, then faster by degrees, and she danced so well and so gracefully and invented such new and wonderful steps that the dwarfs were quite delighted with her.
They clapped their tiny hands and shouted, "Well done, Xian Lee, well done. Go on, dance some more."
And Xian Lee danced on and on until she really could dance no more and was obliged to stop.
Then the leader of the dwarfs said, "We are well pleased, Xian Lee, and as a recompense for your dancing your exhibition will be shown. Farewell."
With these words he and the other dwarfs vanished, and Xian Lee, was proud and had great joy that everybody learned about the exhibition. The way home to Miami seemed short and smooth, and she went to sleep happy, and resolved to go to China every year.
Next day, all of Wynwoodland knew of the news of her success. Her neighbors questioned her but could get nothing from her except that she had discovered a wonderful place named Shanghai.
Thereafter, a rich collector came and offered Xian Lee a large sum of money if she would tell him how she got to Shanghai. Xian Lee consented on the condition that the neighbor would swear to keep the secret. She did so, and Xian Lee told him of the dwarfs and their dances.
The collector went off, carefully obeyed Xian Lee's directions, and flew to Shanghai. Then another and another came to Xian Lee to beg her Secret, and from each one she extracted a vow of secrecy and a large sum of money. This went on for some years, so that at length Xian Lee became a very wealthy woman and ended her days in peace and prosperity trading conceptual art from Wynwoodland in China.
