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Welcome to African StagesRecent Productions:
Symposium- October 27th, 2011 – Is Storytelling A dying ArtThe Symposium took place at the Round House Mews, Vancouver BC. This symposium targeted professionals, educators, parents, teachers and students and potential funders alike. It was a forum to generate collaborative art forms and develop a network of skilled artists. The day started off with an inspiring guest speaker from the Ojibway tribe of the Canadian First Nation. This was followed by an awe inspiring Panel of discussants who motivated us with their talks and debates exploring the rich potential of Storytelling and reinforcing the fact that Storytelling is not be a dying art but a strong tool to transmit our positive values and build a strong and healthy community. Topics evaluated include, oral storytelling versus reading, the impact of storytelling on family values, storytelling as a tool in developing communities. In addition, four different Workshops were held. Leading workshop facilitators were invited such as James Murray. Dr. Quist Adade of Kwantlen Polytechnique University, Lina De Guevara founder of Puente Theatre, etc. Workshop topics included: Story dancing, Storytelling as an art form, Link between storytelling and visual art, and how to tell stories in an interactive way. Music was provided by Berensanke musical troupe and Jackie Esombe and her dance troupe. It was indeed an awe inspiring day. Audience Demography This project allowed positive community awareness by exposing citizens of British Columbia to African Art and heritage. We had many visitors from the island, such as Victoria, Gibson’s Island, Bowen Island, Salmon Arm, and Kamloops and all over the Greater Vancouver area. Our objective was to have everyone leave with a message and this was achieved when the resonating message from our audience was that they are going to spread the word from this festival experience. It was an honour to be a part of this whole event. As a presenter, I think I learned more than anyone. Well done, please do this again. I am both inspired and excited to tell my next story - James Murray I feel inspired, validated, in community, in solidarity. I am ready to build more, organise together, foster discussion and expand. I look forward to our next weaving of words and energies. - Naomi Steinberg, Executive Director, Vancouver Society of Storytelling. Thank you so much for awakening the spirit of storytelling and warming the spirit of humanity too. Let’s do this again please. - Helen May The Symposium African Stages organised was inspiring and helped me to discover ways in which I can channel my interest in Storytelling so it can become an even more powerful tool in community development and education. Sincerely, Lina de Guevara - Founder of Puente Theatre, Victoria BC. October 28, 2011 I definitely learned a lot from the experience at the festival. I liked how interactive the storytelling was. Having the audience play characters in the story really helped them stay engaged. Through the workshop I could see how effective African storytelling is in teaching children and bringing people together. Publicity: We had media coverage from our local community such as the Ghanaian Community, The Cameroon Community, the Nigerian Community, The Coop radio, CBC radio and Shaw Cable TV. This project was aired on Shaw cable on November 4th, 2011 at 3pm, 6pm and 10pm. It can also be viewed on YOUTUBE This huge amount of success was due to funding made possible from organizations such as the British Columbia Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts who have also been a strong supporter of African Stages projects in the past.
Hut Tales Festival – October 26th, 2011The Hut Tales festival was put in place to ensure that the arts and cultural community in British Columbia thrive. The festival was even more grand and colorful than the previous years. Tohio – Hut Tales exposed its audiences to interactive stories from all over the map and told folklore stories that have withstood the test of time, Story dancing with major audience participation and a showcase of different costumes from all over the map. And the very favorite of the audience was the drumming workshops. The festival began with face painting and crafts-making for the younger children. There were a lot of performing artists, for instance we had an incredible dancer from South Africa who showcased her heritage through dance and costumes as the audience sat entranced by the quick movements of feet and the spinning of the South African beads. The very intense Guinean dancer did not fail to captivate the audience with his periodic warrior and hunter performances as well as teaching of dance steps in between the storytelling workshops. With Comfort Ero
Saturday, November 26, 2011 @ 7:30pm |
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