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)
1 comments:
Great stories all around! "It's Not a Deli," is a great new venue for Speak, and I look forward to seeing hearing many more stories there.
Post a Comment