I can hardly believe that the 18th annual Storytelling Conference of Canada International Perspectives in St. John’s Newfoundland is over. My heart felt thanks to the guild for the opportunity to attend the conference. It was 6 full days of stories, music, panel discussions, workshops, dancing and exploring the rocky coastline with 150 delegates from across Canada and internationally. Bus loads of storytellers went to Cape Spear and Bay of Bulls, Cupids – an English settlement celebrating 400 years - and a neighboring harbour community called Brigis.
Here is an excerpt from my journal: “Not sure what day it is, don’t care J I am up on a windy warm outcrop of stone overlooking the sea and a tiny harbour community called Brigis. Sounds of a waterfall splashing down close by and the wind buffeting my ears. Norma yelling, “Hello Diane!” from a higher stony elevation. She’s heading to the lighthouse. Thinking about Tofino and Brigis – both emerald green, wind bossed, mountainous, surrounded by cold sea and sheltered coves and islands. How I have had the opportunity to see both places and be with such wonderful people, I am grateful.”
It was hard to choose between great workshops, running concurrently. I attended Illinois storyteller, Jim May’s presentation on Personal Narrative, Culture and Myth and Irish storyteller, Liz Weir’s workshop on Storytelling and Conflict Resolution. Both were excellent but I found a 1.5 hour workshop way too short for the expertise each of these people traveled far to offer.
Here is an excerpt from my journal dated July 29th: “Today Margo and I had supper at a Mexican restaurant near the university where Yoel Perez from Israel told us an Arabic version of Snow White called Pomegranite Seed. Yoel trained and worked as a biologist and then a computer scientist before becoming a storyteller.”
SC-CC Provincial Reports
Some interesting highlights from SC-CC Provincial reports include:
- The Newfoundland Department of Education is embracing storytelling in school curriculum
- Ontario is combining storytelling with different artistic mediums such as dance and digital media
- Ottawa has hired a managing director and artistic director for their festival and they are going for more headline storytellers
- Francophone tellers in Quebec have a monthly coaching day for members with Michelle Faubert
- Saskatchewan is preparing for World Storytelling Day
- Alberta storytellers produced a fairytale CD and are active telling in cafes and restaurants
- Vancouver tellers are using myths and memories in senior’s homes and Kira Van Deusen is retiring from organizing the epic weekend
SC-CC Job Openings
Jobs opening in the SC-CC include: Editor for La Raconteur, Vice President and Office Administrator.
SC-CC Working Groups
Five working groups were organized to brainstorm, discuss and problem solve core SC-CC issues and projects such as Communications, Funding, Local Happenings, House Concerts and Storysave. You can read the full reports of the working groups on the SC-CC website.
I participated in the Storysave working group as I value recording elders stories. This year’s Storysave CD launch was Alice Kane and is available in the Rootcellar. In the liner notes Alice is quoted as saying with regards to telling stories to children in the poorest neighborhoods of Toronto: “If they don’t hear of these heroes, how will they, in their time, stand up against the mighty powers that contend against us?” The compilation of stories on the CD is entertaining and moving. And her voice is wonderful to listen to but I had to turn the CD off when I was driving with Margo across the island to Gros Morne National Park because I was falling asleep at the wheel!
In the working group we established a protocol for nominating the next voice and an application deadline of October 31st of each year. People in the nominated tellers home community are responsible for the production, fundraising for production costs and sale of the CD. The SC-CC also auctions a quilt at each conference to raise money for this project. At this conference the quilt raised over 2,000 dollars. The next voice for 2011 is Lorne Brown.
My summary of the working group reports would be this: the foundation for all the working groups and the SC-CC as a whole is communication. The SC-CC needs to use it’s communication effectively to form national networks and partnerships, to write grants with those partners, to find sponsors and to increase the use of technology to advance this ancient art and draw more young people.
For me the most controversial idea put forward was that storytelling needs stars like athletic stars or pop stars in order to draw more people to the art.
The conference officially ended with Labrador Inuit Throat Singing. Here is my journal entry for August 1st: “The music of the throat singers raised goose bumps on my skin. Their breathing created natural sounds, the breath of daily life and nature itself – water, gulls, a saw, an ulu inuit knife. The two women singers faced each other, holding each others forearms, looking into each others eyes, call- answering in a playful competition that sped up and ended when one of them laughed. Such fun, innocence and incredible skill.”
The next conference is being held in Yellowknife in late May 2011. The focus will be on First Nations and Inuit storytellers of the north. It sounds wonderful!
