New Ideas!

Dear friends,
I realize that i haven't been keeping up my storytelling blog as much i would have liked to, but i do believe that after last weeks National Storytelling Conference in St. Louis Missiouri that i will be incredibly inspired to share all about the tellers we have hear in Canada, with a focus on Toronto!

I met some amazing tellers and people and i do believe that i have made a few new friends for life! (You know who you are!)

So in the next few days do start to check out the updates on this site, as they will be weekly and interesting artists who are working in different aspects of the storytelling world.

I hope that all is well and everyone is wonderful!

Best,
Lisa Pijuan-Nomura

Blog TO writes about Speak!

Sameer at BlogT.O. interviewed us for this coming event. Check it out at www.blogto.com for great articles about events in the city! I cut and pasted it here, but do check out the blog, it's pretty great! Thanks so much Sameer!

I didn't know this week was the Toronto Festival of Storytelling until I went to the Toronto Poetry Slam — themed this month as a "story slam" — this past weekend, where I had the opportunity to meet several members of Toronto's vibrant storytelling community. At the slam, I also had the chance to meet Lisa Pijuan-Nomura and Ann McDougall, co-curators of a new monthly storytelling series in the city called SPEAK.

Taking place on the first Monday of every month at It's Not A Deli on Queen West, SPEAK features three storytellers of contrasting styles every month, and also includes an open story jam where audience members are welcome and encouraged to share their stories.

I decided to ask Lisa and Ann a few questions so that newcomers to the scene (like me) could learn a bit more about storytelling in Toronto.

For the uninitiated, what is verbal and visual storytelling?

ANN: Visual and Verbal storytelling means that we bring together artists who tell stories in different disciplines and mediums. The key here is work with a narrative element - which can occur in almost any art form. SPEAK has featured 'traditional', language-based storytellers alongside puppeteers, theatre artist, comedians, historic interpreters, musicians, dancers and performance artists. In addition, every SPEAK incorporates a Story Jam, a period when the floor is opened to the audience to share there stories. We do this to emphasize that storytelling is a universal medium, available to artists and non-artists alike, accessible by anyone at any time. And it's fun!

LISA: As artists who work in a number of different disciplines we were interested in working with story in a broader sense of simply words. We wanted to include a diverse mix of storytellers that pushed some of the boundaries of storytelling and create stories of words, images, sounds and movements. This way, we could create a new sense of story in the community.

Why was it important to start a series like SPEAK, and how does it fit into the larger storytelling community in the city?

LISA: My mentor Dan Yashinsky, who is the founder of the Storytelling Festival in Toronto came to me and asked where the Next Generation of Storytellers were? As the curator of RED, a multidisciplinary event, i felt that i indeed did know where the next generation of storytellers were. But they sounded different from the more traditional tellers who tell folktales and fairy tales. It's interesting to see that in French Speaking Canadian Communities, there is a huge revival in storyteller amongst some of the younger tellers and it isn't rare to go to events where the rooms are packed to hear some new edgy storytellers. That is what i am interested in having happen here in Toronto! We have a brilliant world of tellers who don't necessarily think of themselves as such! I went to Ann and Noah and posed the question to them and they were very interested in being my co-curators/partners in crime in this new storytelling series! We are an interesting mix coming from different backgrounds. Ann is a storyteller and a historical interpreter and much of her work is about true Canadian History, Noah is a puppeteer and a community arts practitioner, and i come from the world of Theatre and Dance...and so, as you can tell, we are a pretty mixed up bunch!

ANN: Toronto is really lucky to have a large and well-established storytelling community, who run wonderful events like the Toronto Festival of Storytelling and 1001 Nights of Storytelling. However, storytelling is still a fairly unknown medium, especially among younger artists. SPEAK aims to strenghten existing connections between storytelling and other artistic disciplines, and to forge new ones. It's also an opportunity to introduce storytelling to new audiences who will hopefully be inspired to further explore the storytelling world.

What can a first-timer expect to see and experience this Monday at SPEAK?

ANN: Monday, April 2nd is going to be a great session for first-timers! The evening will feature Mike Serafin, a senior historic interpreter from Discovery Harbour and St. Marie Among the Hurons in Penetanguishene, Paul Hutcheson, a comic actor who will be performing excerpts from his autobiographical one-man show On Second Thought..., and Elizabeth Stevens, a photographer and performance artist who will be recounting her time in Africa in words and projections. After the featured tellers have performed and a short break, we open the floor to the audience for a short Story Jam, a time in which anyone can come forward and share a story. The jam is always, fun, welcoming and full of surprises!

LISA: Not to mention some great art on the walls of the gallery at It's Not a Deli and some yummy sandwiches.

SPEAK
Monday, April 2 @ 7pm
It's Not A Deli (986 Queen West)

March 5th!

Monday March the 5th brought us an exciting and eclectic lineup curated by Noah Kenneally. First we were treated to a haunting set of narrative songs by singer/songwriter/spoken word artist Evalyn Parry, who touched on bear wrestling, bottled water and much much more (P.S. Evalyn's latest CD, Small Theatres, was just released). Next came Marianne Apostolides who, though she claimed to be a writer and not a storyteller, kept the room spellbound with the story of a grad student investigating brothel life. Finally, Celia Lotteridge treated us to a funny, image-rich folktale about a put-upon weaver with a magical sister-in-law. After a quick break, there were no shortage of Story Jam volunteers from the packed audience . A folktale from Newfoundland, a South American mugging and a ghost story rounded out the evening. Looking forward to the next SPEAK on April 2nd, featuring Paul Hutcheson, Michael Serafin and Elizabeth Stevens!

Stories to Keep us Warm!

And so, it was a cold cold night last night, but alas, about 40 people braved the cold cold temperatures to be warmed by the wonderful stories last night.

The night started with Ann McDougall telling a story that she created based on songs that she found in a music book for ukuleles! The story of a young man in the wild raised by gazelles. It was truly beautiful. But what made it extraordinary was that she used a shadow box and painted parts of the story as she went along. It was really spectacular!

Audrey Dwyer continued the night was a piece called "Burying Auntie Miranda" which was a personal tale about going to Jamaica with her mother and aunt for her grandmother's funeral. Audrey has a lovely way of introducing us to some unforgettable charachters including her Jamaican Jewish Uncle from New York, the Gold Toothed Air Attendants and her many many aunts!
As someone who grew up in Winnipeg, it was great to hear this tale of her revisiting her family in Jamaica, and being "forn" ..or foreign. Audrey shared such sweet stories, we look forward to more!


And then Dan Yashinsky told a short story of his Grandmother and how she had married 3 men and one named Mr. Blank when she was about 70! He then went into a beautiful folk talk of Bolobek and Danishdan (I am sure that i am getting the names wrong!) and how she was the wisest woman in town. Dan is one my storytelling mentors and listening to stories from him makes me feel like a young kid, sitting at the foot of a wise one, weaving a magical web! It was a story of riddles. It was amazing.


At the break, everyone had some great food and drink from the guys at It's Not A Deli. Alfred and Eduardo are two great guys who make everyone feel like they are home. My personal favourite sandwich is the Canadian with a side of bean salad. Mmmm...yummy.

The second half was a story jam that proved to be equally as entertaining!

We had Noah Kenneally, Celia Lotteridge, Howard Kaplan, Meagan O'Shea , Alison Broverman and her mom Sue tell some great stories. Sue actually did a tap dance which was a nice surprise!

All in all, a great night!

The next Speak is on March 5 and the featured tellers are Jeffrey Canton and Evalyn Parry.

Keep on looking for updates on Toronto Storytelling Events!

Best,
The Speak Collective (written by Lisa Pijuan-Nomura)

Speak

An evening of visual and verbal storytelling

Curated by Noah Kenneally, Ann McDougall
and Lisa Pijuan-Nomura

Speak is a new storytelling series that happens the first Monday of every month at our new home at It's Not A Deli in the Queen West Neighbourhood.

Each evening will feature three tellers of contrasting styles and will include an open story jam where audience members are welcome to share their stories.

2007 Winter/Spring Dates

February 5
Featured tellers are Dan Yashinsky, Ann McDougall, Audrey Dwyer
March 5
April 2
May 7

It's Not A Deli
986 Queen Street West (at Ossington)
416-532-4748

Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Admission: $5 to $10

We are always looking for more tellers!
If you want any more info please do contact us at speakcollective@yahoo.ca