Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011 1

It’s hard to believe that this year’s Festival has come and gone. I’ve lived with ‘The Seventh Genera-tion’ in some way, shape, or form over the past 18 months and feel that it has now become part of my own lexicon. It has

been a privilege to explore this principle through the guidance of Indigenous, Métis and Inuit teachers. I have been welcomed and enriched personally and professionally by these abundant and splendid communi-ties.

It was a pleasure to direct the 2011 To-ronto Storytelling Festival and equally as enjoyable to work with all of the volun-teers, contributors and partners. I am ex-ceedingly grateful to the Storytelling To-ronto Board of Directors, the ST Office Manager, the Festival Steering Committee, and the entire volunteer, marketing and production teams for making the festival such a wonderful success. Thank you to all of the tellers, curators and musicians who showcased their very best. I’d like to ex-tend my sincere gratitude to all of our partners who supported the Festival finan-cially and through donation as well as by helping to spread the word about festival events. I want to extend a special thank you to our financial supporters who have ensured the Festival’s growth and stability

over the past 3 decades. Lastly, thank you to all of you who came out to the over 50 concerts, workshops and seminars at the 33rd Annual Toronto Storytelling Festival. I

look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Wishing you a life full of stories, Debra Baptiste

Pippin

Vol.16, No.3 The Newsletter of Storytelling Toronto

The women of Spirit Wind chant their songs to the steady beat of their drums. On this, the final Saturday evening at the Walmer Road Baptist Church, the mystic

sounds sweep us into the night. It is the end of “Binding Tides”.

INSIDE

A Note From the Editor

Swept Up by the Moment A Festival memory

Storytelling Festival 2011.........1 A Note from the Editor...........1 Nota Bene ..........................2 Awards..............................6 Bool Nook...........................7

Stories Goin’ Round ................8 One the Road ......................8 Lorne Brown: Link in the Chain ...8 Listings..............................9-10

We have gathered together to cele-brate the power of stories that shape and inform our lives. We are the clan of tellers and listeners come together once again for the Toronto Storytelling Festi-val.

There are newcomers amongst us. I can feel them stirring with excitement as they discover for the first time the emo-tional expanse of the spoken word. The faithful have returned – those who do not tell but love to listen. And then there are the tellers who gather to celebrate each

(Continued on page 2)

Spirit Wind at Walmer Road Baptist Church — Photo by: Josh Garber

2 Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011

**NOTA BENE**

PIPPIN is the newsletter of Storytelling Toronto

The Storytellers School of Toronto is a registered, non-profit organization that provides a creative home for a community of storytellers,

listeners, and story-explorers. Our mission is to inspire, encourage and support storytelling for listeners, tellers and those who have not yet heard. Since 1979 we have been providing courses and workshops; holding gatherings, festivals and events to celebrate and present the art of storytelling; supporting the creative work of storytellers; and producing publications about storytelling and storytellers.

Pippin Editor Deborah Dunleavy

kgp@ripnet.com

Design/Layout chris cavanagh

Listings Marylyn Peringer

Program Leaders Festival Director: Debra Baptiste

Resident Teachers: Marylyn Peringer, Lynda Howes Directory: Bruce Carmody

Legless Stocking: Lorne Brown, Catherine Melville STORYFIRE: Catherine Melville

Website: Bruce Carmody webmaster@storytellingtoronto.org

Board of Directors 2010-2011 Karen Blair June Brown Cesar Polvorosa Jr. Paul Robert Qaid Silk Hildy Stollery Molly Sutkaitis Tasleem Thawar

Office Director

Gail Nyoka

© Storytelling Toronto (formerly Storytellers School of Toronto)

Ph: 416-656-2445 Fax: 416-656-8510

www.storytellingtoronto.org

601 Christie St., Suite #173 Toronto On M6G 4C7

admin@storytellingtoronto.org

www.storytellingtoronto.org

Every Friday night since 1978 storytellers and listen-ers have been gathering in downtown Toronto. Each

evening is hosted by an accomplished story-teller. Anyone is welcome to tell a story.

Every Friday night is unique.

Suggested donation: $5.00

Time: 8:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Innis College Café 2 Sussex Street, Toronto.

(corner St. George, one block south of Bloor St. W.

St. George Subway - St. George St. exit)

www.1001fridays.org

other, to hear old stories spun in a new way, and to see long time friends who carry the stories in their hearts and minds.

I for one am reenergized, inspired and renewed by coming to the festival. It is my community after all – this clan of rag-tag tellers. We are geographically wide spread but we have the love of lore that binds us together.

The magic that rises up out of the festival is a result of long planning, hard work and tireless commitment. With Ar-tistic Director Debra Baptiste at the helm

all the behind the scenes efforts come into fruition with a spectacular array of workshops and performances by so many wonderful international and local tellers. The crew of volunteers, lead by Dinny Biggs, are well organized and they ensure that the events run smoothly.

I greet old friends in the hall way; we exchange news about our story lives. I meet young enthusiasts swept up in the momentum of discovery; they tell me about their dreams. The festival vibrates with a reawakening to the spoken word. Long may it live.

(Continued from page 1)

Swept Up by the Moment — cont’d

Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011 3

FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS

It takes a special kind of patience and com-mon sense to be an effective volunteer at a Festival event. Sometimes the pace is slow with little interaction with people, other times it is hectic with inquiries coming at you quickly from lots of people. No matter how well training is carried out, there will always be that moment when a question or problem arises that wasn’t covered. This is when the 2011 Toronto Storytel-ling Festival volunteers shined best and I heard nothing but positive feedback about this year’s volunteer support. Not enough chairs; a parent missing; signage falling down; coffee not ready; not enough sur-veys? Situations like these and others were handled well and efficiently by Festival vol-unteers. Twenty-eight of the forty volun-teers were new to Storytelling Festival participation.

A sincere thank you to the all Festival 2011 volunteers introducing tellers; moni-toring doors, refreshments, ticket sales and display tables; setting up rooms and collecting surveys; greeting participants and helping with directions; assisting with clerical work, transportation and billeting out of town participants; and all the other

‘tasks’ that help a Festival to run smoothly. All jobs were well done and much appreci-ated! With thanks to Connie Fenton, Ivette Vega

and June Brown sharing their photos, and to Storytelling Toronto for the great T

shirts! A Special thanks to Cathy, Gail, Dan and the Board of Directors of Storytelling Toronto who all helped in different ways to make my job easier, and to Debra Baptiste,

Festival Director for her leadership and

endless patience to see this all through. Dinny Biggs,

Volunteer Coordinator

TELLING THE STORY FROM THE INSIDE

Gail Fricker is clear about one thing – the line between theatre and storytelling is not well defined. Originally from a theatrical background Gail offered up some valuable techniques to aid in discovering the depth of character – a technique that is most useful when taking a story beyond the page. There may have been some who were not comfortable with this approach; they might have been more traditional in their storytelling ways. But for others it was a stimulating and creative way to enhance the relationship between teller and the tale.

In the workshop Gail demonstrated how to distinguish between being the narrator to then becoming a character who speaks in the first person. By adding a simple prop or costume the teller steps into role. Or, as she explained, it could be as simple as hav-ing your back to the audience and then turning to face them.

We were invited to sit and close our eyes. We were asked to see a character from one of our stories. How does the character sit? What is the character wear-

Storytelling Festival Volunteers at Harbourfront Centre April 3rd

Storytelling Festival Volunteers at Central Neighbourhood House Mar 27th

Storytelling Festival Volunteers at Harbourfront Centre April 3rd

4 Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011

ing? What action or movement might the character be doing? We were then invited to move about the room as if we were the character. Finally we were invited to say a line in role.

Many newcomers to this theatrical technique found it challenging; others seemed to grasp it right away. I discovered that this was an approach I had used be-fore but had somehow neglected to call upon it lately. In this workshop Gail opened up an old door to a new way for me. My sto-rytelling will benefit greatly.

Review by Deborah Dunleavy

BELANGER WINS HEARTS OF HER AUDI-

ENCE Métis storyteller and comedian Maureen Belanger performed for a full house at the Annette Street Public Library on Friday, April 01. Maureen Belanger aka Ernestine had a room full of students and story aficionados tee-tering on the edge of their seats with laughter. Speaking in a spontaneous yet re-hearsed mix of Cree and broken English she recounted many of her life stories of grow-ing up in Ile-a-la Crosse, Saskatchewan.

At the beginning of her presentation Ernestine teased the students, calling them her “grandchildren” in Cree. Her costume was a worn and faded cardigan that she wore over top of a flowered shift. Beaded moccasins, cat rimmed glasses and a hand-kerchief knotted about her head completed Ernestine’s Métis fashion statement.

Her tall tale hunting stories set the mood and it kept everyone wondering what would she come up with next? Her humor-ous account of how she met her husband and the adventures of cooking and eating neck bones were speckled with unusual coinages of language. Diabetes was “sugar-by-jesus” and cell phones were “cellulite” phones. At all times both men and women were called “she”.

Throughout the program the audience was continuously lured in, either by direct invitation, teasing or questioning. One could see in the eyes and smiles of the students that they were completely absorbed by this character whose lack of language skills reminded so many of them of their own grandparents who too would have had to learn how to speak English when they first arrived in Canada.

At the end of the program Maureen, still in the persona of Ernestine, recited a poem that was written by the sister of Louis Riel. The last words that Ernestine left the audience with, was “Be yourself; be proud of who you are.”

Review by Deborah Dunleavy

13 YEARS OF QUEERS

Once again the immensely talented trio of Ricardo Rodriguez, Clare Nobbs and Jef-frey Canton polished their quills to bring us unique tales of queer identity and queer culture.

Rico started the set with a chilling ex-ploration of the darker side of human na-ture. In Prayers from a Bathhouse he took us into the mind of a conflicted priest with a grim secret, proving that sex and religion can be a volatile mix. The first-person nar-rative made for toe-curling listening, but as a testament to Rico’s storytelling abilities, the character was compelling. Prayers from a Bathhouse is the third in Rico’s brilliant trilogy exploring themes of queer Latinos in Toronto. Clare lightened the mood with Meg of Harlequin, an original fairy tale about a woman (Meg) in her tower, lusting after Astrid, the blacksmith’s beautiful daugh-ter. Meg, partial to leather, is full of dis-tain for the foppish lads who would have

Picture of Dinny Biggs & Debra Baptiste — Photo by: Josh Garber

Melanie Belanger as Ernestine at the An-nette Street Public Library — Photo by: Elaine Freedman

Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011 5

her, not to mention the nasty villain, Earl Full of It. Clare’s comedic timing and joie de vivre made this tale a pleasure.

With The Last Time I tried to go Straight, Jeffrey transported us back to the awkward dating days of university, and the (sometimes) painful exploration of self-identity. (Well, transported back for me, and for the teller, but for many listeners they are still right there, trying to figure it all out.) Jeffrey really shines when he tells personal tales. He says that the chal-lenge is to be both “self-deprecating and to see the humor in the story, but not to make people uncomfortable.” The Last Time I tried to go Straight is a universal tale about finding love and self-acceptance - and a great way to end the show.

Over the past 13 years I have been at many Queers in Your Ears events. Whether the tales are personal or fictional, they are always filled with incredible honesty. It is this emotional truth that resonates deep within me and the trio’s many fans, bringing us back each year. You will not hear these stories anywhere else.

Review by Shawna Watson

DUDINSKY TELLS BILIN-GUAL STORIES

On Sunday March 27th I attended the “100 Years of Neighbours” celebration at Central Neighbourhood House. Among the events that day was a bilingual concert given by my friend Donna Dudinsky.

I have often heard Donna tell and I al-ways enjoy her delightfully relaxed and friendly style whether performing for adults or children. Her animated face and voice always draw me into her stories and her sense of humour often adds a cheeky bit of fun to her tales. However, I had never heard her tell in French before.

The concert was attended by a mixed audience of Francophone, Anglophone and bilingual adults. Before the concert started, Donna made friends with the audi-ence and got to know how much French they could speak and then tailored the pro-gram beautifully so that everyone could enjoy her stories.

She told “Ti-Jean et le paris” (Ti-Jean and the bet) a hilarious story that had eve-

ryone laughing. She also told “Le Petit Coq et Le Diamante” - com-plete with beautiful rooster sounds – the telling delighted every-one. She very compe-tently translated as she told so that no one in the audience got lost. Donna started her set with a Quebec version of a humorous bilingual ballad “I went to the Market” and she ended it with a lovely ballad “Blanche Comme La Neige” well suited to her rich, mellow voice. It was very pleasing to book end the concert with music in this way. My only complaint, (one often heard at the festival this year) I

wanted more time with her.

Review by Joan Bailey

IF I TOLD YOU ONCE

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you twice, I’ve told you a thousand times!” On a sunny, Saturday afternoon at the Walmer Centre, a large group of eager lis-teners gathered to hear Sandra Carpenter-Davis, Joan Bailey and Donna Dudinsky. The three storytellers shared personal and tra-ditional stories that had a common thread of old sayings that we’ve all heard from childhood.

Sandra shared a heartwarming story of a friend’s mother who, when celebrating a special birthday, asked her friends not to bring a gift, just to bring a penny. Each one shared a story with her and gave her a penny. Her mother collected these story pennies as memories and eventually San-dra’s friend inherited them, each with a special story. Maybe we should all collect pennies, instead of so much clutter…

“If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing

Gail Fricker in her workshop "Telling the Story from the Inside"

6 Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011

properly, so do it right!” Joan told a won-derful story of her childhood in Lancashire. We were transported back to her village at the edge of the moors, preparing for the Guy Fawkes Bonfire. All the neighbours, the food, the shops and the lanes were real for those few minutes. The children’s hard work almost paid off, but of course, there was a little mishap. You’ll have to ask Joan what happened, I don’t want to spoil the hilarious surprise.

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!” Donna continued the session with her lovely telling of Gluskabi and the Wind Eagle. We all sang along with Gluskabi while he paddled, and enjoyed hearing about how Gluskabi outwitted the Wind Eagle, but then learned a valuable lesson about the natural order of things.

Joan, Donna and Sandra each shared some songs, riddles and rhymes, both poignant and funny. Joan’s song, ‘The Old Armchair’ left everyone with smiling faces: How they tittered, how they laughed, How my brothers and my sisters chaffed, When they heard the lawyer declare, Granny’s only left to you the old armchair!

Review by Wendy Tinkler

WOMEN OF THE KLONDIKE

Goldie Spencer transported a full house of listeners back to the days of the gold rush in her one woman storytelling performance, Women of the Yukon. From the treacher-ous ascent up the Chillakoot Pass to the endless panning for gold at Bonanza Creek Goldie introduced us to some of the most daring and adventurous women in Canadian history. Using simple costume props – hats, boas and shawl – Goldie took on the personalities of several memorable women who were part of the gold rush frenzy. We met Kate Car-mack a Tlingit woman and Emilie Tremblay a prospector’s wife from Chicoutimi, Quebec. There was the industrious Belinda Mulroney who opened a lunch counter right in the middle of the gold fields and from there went on to become the proud owner of the Fair View Hotel and eventually the richest woman in the Klondike.

It was a story listener’s treat to meet the infa-mous Klondike Kate a famous dance-hall enter-tainer, known as The Queen of the Klondike. As Goldie explains in role Klondike Kate wanted to be remembered as "Kate - the Belle of the Klon-dike - the Sweet-heart of the Sourdoughs".

As Goldie introduced us to each character it was quite the mental pic-ture that she painted for us – especially the image of Martha Black, a society woman who grew bored with her life and wanted adventure. I can still see her wearing her high-heel boots, a skirt five yards around and trussed up in a corset" as she rode through Miles Canyon and Whitehorse Rap-ids to Dawson City.

The amount of research and writing

that goes into a storytelling performance such as this is immeasurable. Remembering it all is a feat in itself and Goldie held onto every moment without missing a beat. She embraced the language of more than a hun-dred and fifty years ago using terms such as a “soiled dove” to describe the dance hall girl known as Dutch Kate.

Review by Deborah Dunleavy

Goldie Spencer performed in Women of the Klondike

On the Friday evening at the festival three Storytelling Toronto members shared in two awards. Jan Andrews shares the Anne Smythe Travel Award with Heather Whaley. Both tellers are using the funds from the award to offset their work abroad. Jan writes, “I hope what will come from this (project) will be a book of African stories, the result of a long-time project I have been involved in with Malian-Canadian drummer and storyteller, Yaya Diallo. These are tales he has collected from the village of his birth and translated into French (described by him as his first “colonial language”). My task is to com-plete the translation into English and help the book find its shape. For me, it’s fasci-nating because the stories are so un-European, so unlike anything else in my experience. I’ll keep you posted as to how it all goes on.”

Heather is invited by the Fundación El Libro to perform and conduct workshops in

Buenos Aires, Argentina at the 16th Inter-national Storytelling Festival which will take place during the 37th International Book Fair, on April 29th, 30th and May 1st 2011.

As well Heather shared the Alice Kane Award with Deborah Dunleavy. Deborah has used the funds to create a DVD for TELLING HANDS - A Storytelling Photo-graphic and Audio Exhibition on at the Arthur Child Heritage Museum in Ganano-que until July 31. During her residency in 2010 at the mu-seum Deborah collected over 30 hours of stories from people who recalled the years prior to 1945. At the same time she pho-tographed the hands of the people who shared their true life experiences. The audio recordings in this social/cultural installation have been edited down to just over one hour. Two audio listening stations allow the visitors to hear the stories while they look at the photographs of the tell-ers’ hands.

AWARDS GIVEN OUT

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Once again our festival was graced with the many books hauled and lugged in by Norm Perrin. Every year, I pick up a few gems for my own little storytelling library. Thanks Norm for making the special effort to save those books from the recycling bin and for making sure they find a new home.

We do not have any intellectual re-views this time around. In fact we don’t even have a simple review. What ARE you all reading? Share it with us. Pass along your pleasure or lack thereof. Let us know what books we could be feasting upon. Just think - low – cal reading!

HOT OFF THE PRESS

RUDE STORIES by Jan Andrews, Tundra Books ISBN 978-0-88776-921-4

Jan Andrews has a new book out. “Rude Stories” is published by Tundra. Meet Mr. Mosquito, drawn from a Gypsy story. He's cantankerous and nasty enough to raise belly laughs along with the eyebrows of the polite. In a story inspired by Australian bush tales, we meet Ella and Bella, two hi-larious (and flatulent) sisters. Angelina's earthy wit is memorialized in a story from Swahili tradition.

The eight stories in Rude Stories have roots from Japan to Canada, from Africa to Eastern Europe, but they all share a sense of irreverence, and, because they are the work of a true storyteller, they beg to be read aloud, told aloud and shared. Francis Blake's hilarious askew art brings the characters to life in this spicy stew of international stories to satisfy every child’s appetite for the deliciously

absurd. NEARLY NONSENSE – Hoja Tales

from Turkey by Rina Singh, Tundra Books ISBN 978-0-88776-974-0

Rina Singh, author, and Farida Zaman, illustrator, have new release entitled “Nearly Nonsense – Hodja Tales from Turkey”. Nasrudin Hoja was a mullah (teacher) in Turkey. He was a busy man - he worked in a vineyard, gave sermons at the mosque, and was sometimes even a judge. He did all of this with a nagging wife, a constant stream of uninvited visi-tors, and many animals. Although Hoja's life wasn't easy, his heart was always light and his observations about life held a witty twist. For instance, when his don-key got lost, his neighbors offered sym-pathy, but Hoja found the bright side: "Imagine if I were riding the donkey at

the time. I'd be lost too!" Though the ten Hoja stories presented by Rina Singh and richly illustrated by Farida Zaman are funny, each one contains such insight into human nature that Sufi teach-ers use them to illustrate their teachings. Traditional Turkish Hoja stories are much-loved throughout Asia, and Nearly Non-sense brings them to a North American readership sure to enjoy them and, through laughter, to learn from them.

Book Nook

Norm Perrin and June Brown

8 Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011

ON THE ROAD Harriet Xanthakos went on the road as one of our storytellers in the schools. She shares with us her poetic impres-sions:

desboro, kincardine, ripley, lucknow a new world for me and i got lost only once twenty-one sessions in five days three b and b's oh what a week it was wonderful listeners wonderful teachers great hosts would love to do it again

It has been a busy time for storytel-ling folks. Here goes!

Brenda Byers and Hildy Stollery teamed up on February 19 to host a day of storytelling workshops and concerts in Bur-lington on February 19. Featured tellers included: Barry Rosen, Diane Halpin, Mary-Eileen McClear, and Lorne Brown.

Sally Jaeger was invited by the Early Childhood Music Association to present “From Song and Rhyme to Storytime!” on February 27.

On March 15 Ottawa teller Ruth Stew-art-Verger presented “Iron Horses: Riding the Rails into Canada’s Past” at the Water-loo Region Museum in partnership with The Story Barn.

Members of the Baden Storytellers’ Guild presented Water Stories at the Wa-terloo Regional Museum on March 19 to celebrate World Storytelling Day and then performed “Ships Tides and Transforma-tions” on March 20 at the Story barn in Baden.

Also celebrating World Storytelling day were the 1000 Islands Yarnspinners who took “River Magic” to the Iroquois Public Library on March 17 and the Prescott Pub-lic Library on March 19.

Glenna Janzen and Caroleigh Wheking spun “Grand Tales” on March 19 at the O’Keefe Cottage Café, again for World Storytelling Day.

Sandra Car-penter-Davis per-

formed at the Mosaic Storytelling Festival on March 30 at the Parish Hall, St. David’s Anglican Church in Toronto. And on April 3 Aubrey Davis celebrated April Fools’ Day at the same venue.

Also on April 3 Rina Singh celebrated the release of “Nearly Nonsense: Hodja Tales from Turkey” at Nicholas Hoare Books in Toronto.

Bernice Gei-Ying Hune told stories for family day at the Varley Art Gallery in Markham on April 3.

Mariella Betelli and Charly Chaiarelli joined Paola Balbi and David Bardi in a tour to several destinations in Ontario this April.

Fabled City kept the post festival feel-ing alive with “Riot on Yonge Street: Mackenzie Returns” with tellers Iona Mac-kay and Robert Walker, The performance took place at the Mackenzie House on April 12. On April 13 Fabled City featured story-teller Ann McDougall in “Constance Hamil-ton: A Rebel with many Causes”.

The 1000 Islands Yarnspinners in Brockville hosted “Only Fools Rush In” at the Brockville Museum on April 18 and “Of Gods and Goddesses” on May 16.

Lynda Howes offered her course “First Steps into the Art of Storytelling” May 6 – 8 at the Lillian H. Smith Library.

FOOL – Festival of Oral Literature wel-comes storyteller Phillipe Sizare all the way from France on May 15.

LORNE BROWN: A LINK IN THE CHAIN

StorySave, a program of our na-tional storytelling organization SC-CC, works to save and record the voices of elders in the storytelling community. This year's recording will be of Lorne Brown, who is a "Singer of old songs - Teller of old tales." It's entitled Lorne Brown: a Link in the Chain.

On Sunday June 5 The Backseat Balladeers and The Ballad Project will perform a fundraising event called “Come and I will Sing You”. All funds collected this evening will be contrib-uted to StorySave to help with produc-tion costs. Entrance is by donation and StorySave will provide tax receipts for donations of $20 and up.

Lorne has been active in the story-telling community for many years: he is one of the co-founders of Storytelling Toronto and 1001 Friday Nights of Sto-rytelling and is the artistic co-director of the long-running Legless Stocking series. Lorne will be one of our tellers in the first half of the evening, and we are planning a full program of other tellers who have learned from and/or worked with Lorne. We will have sign-up sheets for pre-ordering the Stories of Lorne Brown CD set, which will launch at the SC-CC Annual Conference in Yellowknife at the end of May.

The concert takes place Sunday, June 5 from 7:30 – 9:30 at the Wychwood Theatre, Artscape Wychwood Barns. Suggested donation: $20.

Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011 9

GATHERINGS

PERFORMANCES

Dan Yashinsky, Storytelling Toronto’s sto-ryteller-in-residence hosts Bread and Sto-ries most Saturday mornings 10-12am at the Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St. Look for the red tent on the west side of the Barns. Open to storytellers, listeners and those who like to “talk” story. Come and be mentored as you try out new or familiar stories. Info:dan_yashinsky@hotmail.com Storytelling Circle every Tuesday at 2:15-3:15pm, 6 St. Joseph St., led by Molly Sut-kaitis. Open to all. (416) 239-1345 mollysut-kaitis@hotmail.com 1,000 Friday Nights of Storytelling con-tinues every Friday evening at 8pm at the Innis College Café, Sussex Ave. and St. George St., Toronto. Suggested donation $5. Open to all who wish to listen or tell. (416) 656-2445, www.1001fridays.org Stories Aloud meets the lst Friday of the month, September through June, 8:00pm, at The Story Barn, in Baden, 89 Snyders Rd. W. http://thestorybarn.ca. Mary-Eileen McClear, maryeileen@thestorybarn.ca. Suggested donation: $5 The Baden Storytelling Guild meets on the third Friday of the month, 7:30-10pm at The Story Barn, 89 Snyders Rd W. Info: Mary-Eileen McClear, maryei-leen@thestorybarn.ca The Ottawa Storytellers meet for their Story Swap on the first Thursday of the month, 7pm at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St, Room 156, free admis-sion. Info: info@ottawastorytellers.ca The Ottawa Storytellers also sponsor Sto-ries and Tea every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at The Tea Party, 119 York St., Ottawa, 7pm. Suggested donation: $8 or pay what you can. Info: info@ottawastorytellers.ca The Dufferin Circle of Storytellers meets the 1st Thursday of the month, 7:30pm. Info: Nancy Woods, (519)925-0966. The Brant Taletellers Guild, welcomes tellers and listeners to its monthly gather-

Listings — Spring—Summer 2011 ings September to June, 7 – 8:45pm, on the first Wednesday at the Station Coffee House and Gallery beside the Brantford VIA Station. Visitors welcome. Info: Barbara Sisson, email taletellers@bizbrant.com or phone (519) 756-0727. The Durham Folklore Society meets every 3rd Thursday, 7:30-9:30pm in the Seniors Day Activity Room, Northview Community Centre, 150 Beatrice St. E., Oshawa. Info: Dianne Chandler, (905) 985-3424, story-teller@xplornet.com Cercle de conteurs de l’Est de l’Ontario (CCEO) se réunit aux soirées de contes libres une fois par mois dans diverses communautés de l’Est ontarien. Renseignements:Guy Thibodeau, guythibodeau@rogers.com, www.cceo.ca The Hamilton Storytelling Circle meets Thursday June 30,7:30-9pm at Temple An-she shalom, 215 Cline Ave N., Hamilton. Info: Barry Rosen, barrythestoryteller@gmail.com The Guelph Guild of Storytellers meets the lst Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm at the Cooperators Building, MacDonnell St., and the 2nd Wednesday at 8pm for Stories at the Boathouse, a tea room on the river, Gordon St. Info: Sandy, (519) 767-0017 The Montreal Storytellers Guild meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at the Westmount Library. Info: Christine Mayr, christine-mayr36@yahoo.ca The 1000 Islands Yarnpsinners host “Monster Bash!!” on Monday, June 20 at 7pm at the Brockville Museum, 5 Henry Street. Info: Deborah Dunleavy (613)342-3463 or kgp@ripnet.com

Storytellers for Children present their an-nual “The Great Big Enormous Afternoon of Storytelling” on May 28 at Riverdale Farm. All members are welcome to come and tell rhymes, stories and/or songs. The Brant Taletellers Guild hosts two cabarets: June 17, 7:30pm, Canadian Tales and Tunes with Lorne Brown and four Guild tellers; August 11, 7:30pm’ Michael Kusugak.

Performances at the Brant Park Inn, 19 Holiday Dr, Brantford. Dinner at the Inn (not included in ticket price) at 6pm is op-tional. Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at door. To reserve:(519) 756-0727 or email taletell-ers@bizbrant.com Dan Yashinsky and Laura Simms share a talk/telling as part of the Luminato Festival. Their host is Eli Rubenstein. June 19, at noon at the Ontario College of Art and De-sign. Free. Bernice Hune will be the featured story-teller at Black Creek Pioneer Village July 7, 12 noon and 1:15pm, telling Timeless Tales. Free with admission to the Village. 1000 Murray Ross Parkway, Toronto. Info: ber-nicehune@rogers.com Friends of the Waterloo Museum in part-nership with The Story Barn in Baden an-nounce their 2011-12 concert series on the third Tuesday of the month, September 2011through March 2012. Programs feature Bruce Carmody and aviation stories; Garry Sault telling aboriginal tales, Deborah Dunleavy with songs and stories of the Scottish settlers, Adwoa Badoe and stories of the black soldiers in the War of 1812, Evalyn Parry presenting songs and stories from her Spin show, and Mary-Eileen McClear telling tales of people caught up in the 1812 War. Purchase series tickets now and save! Info: (519) 748-1914, http://www.waterlooregionalmuseum.com. The Ottawa Storytellers continue their storytelling series, at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage, 7:30pm. May 19 and 20: My Words Fly Up: Stories from Shake-speare. with Gail Anglin, Daniel Kletke, Leah Sander. June 16: Under the Gun: Family Stories Shot From the Barrels of History, with Marta Singh and Alan Shain. Info:info@ottawastorytellers.ca, (613) 322-8336.

The 8th annual festival of St. Marys Story-telling, Once Upon a Thames, takes place Friday June 3 and Saturday June 4 at Milt Dunnell Field, St. Marys. Free admission, donations welcome. Info: Carol McLeod, (519) 229-6468, events@stmarysstorytelling.org Storytellers for Children presents The Three Wishes Festival, Friday and Saturday, June 10 and 11, at Pegasus Studios, 361 Gle-beholme Blvd., Toronto. Friday morning 10 –

FESTIVALS

10 Pippin - Winter/Spring 2011

The Storytellers School of Toronto gratefully acknowledges the support of the following government agencies:

THE CRYSTAL – For those of you who love the art of radio program-ming listen for The Crystal with sto-ryteller and host Deborah Dunleavy on North Country Public Radio. If you are out of broadcast range or miss a program you can catch it on the internet. Go to: http://www.ncpr.org/thecrystal

TELLING HANDS – A Photographic and Audio Exhibit by storyteller Deborah Dunleavy opens at the Ar-thur Child Heritage Museum in Ga-nanoque on April 23 and runs to July 31. Located at 125 Water Street, Gananoque. Call: 613-382-2535

STORYTELLING TORONTO EVENTS

Info: (416) 656-2445 www.storytellingtoronto.org, admin@storytellingtoronto.org The Catalyst Centre offers Comeuppance—

Storytelling and Tricksters: Speaking Truth to Power, a workshop led by storyteller chris cavanaugh Friday, May 27, 9:30-4:30pm, in the Bloor-Bathurst area. Fee: $150 or pay what you can, based on Catalyst policy. Info: www.comeuppance.blogspot.com, www.catalystcentre.ca

Deborah Dunleavy leads a week-long course,

WORKSHOPS

Storytelling Stepping Stones, July 18-22 at St. Lawrence College, Brockville Campus. Discover the magic of your own voice and how to spin a good yarn. At the end of the week participants may wish to tell their stories to invited guests at a local café. Material fee: $5 to instructor. Fee: $268.20 Discount: 25% , senior (65 +). Reg-istration: 1-866-276-6601 (press 3), www.stlawrencecollege.ca/summerarts Col-lege accommodation available: 1-877-225-8664or email bresidence@sl.on.ca or www.stayrec.com/brockville

The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program is sponsoring a two-day training workshop Fri-day September 30, 9:30-4:30 and Saturday October 1, 9:30-3:30pm, at the CSI Annex, 720 Bathurst Street, Toronto with instruc-tor: Sandra Carpenter-Davis. Course in-cludes philosophy and objectives, program material with examples of rhymes, songs and stories, and logistics of how to run a PCMG program. Cost $320 ($280 if registered by Aug. 30). Info and registration: mgoose@web.net, www.nald.ca/mothergooseprogram/workshop.htm#on or (416) 588-5234, x21.

This newsletter is made possible in part by a grant from the Ontario Arts Council’s Literary Festivals and Organizations Operating Funding.

11am, Marylyn Peringer shares rhymes and stories with a French-Canadian flavor for pre-school, SK, JK, and grades 1-4. Friday afternoon, 1:30-2:30, Garry Sault gives an interactive and participatory concert fea-turing Aboriginal stories for children, JK, SK and grades 1-6. Schools must register in advance: (416) 699-2608. Saturday morn-ing, 10-11:30am, Marylyn Peringer gives a workshop for adults interested in storytel-ling with children. $25 or non-members $30. Info: storytellersforchildren@gmail.com FOS FESTIVAL OF STORYTELLING takes place in historic downtown Brockville on September 23 -24. Kelly Russell of New-foundland presents “Tales from Pigeon Inlet” and tunes up his fiddle for a toe tap-ping evening. Also joining in with a concert and workshop is Story Enchantress Sally Jaeger. Members of the 1000 Islands Yarn-spinners host “Ghosts, Ghouls & Goblins” a costumed event for youth. All events are at the Brockville Museum, 5 Henry Street. For information contact Deborah Dunleavy at (613) 342-3463 or kgp@ripnet.com. More information about the Festival of Storytel-ling can be found on facebook.

What’s new in your storytelling circle? Have you dis-covered a gem of wisdom in a story that relates to

your own life? Did a child share some wisdom and wonder at one of your telling events? Do you have a new book or CD to celebrate? Do you have a gripe to pick with unethical presenters? PIPPIN is your sounding board and we’d love to hear from you. Next deadline: AUGUST 1, 2011 — Send to Deborah at kgp@ripnet.com

WHATS UP?

Summer School Intensive 2011: led by Marylyn Per-inger. At the Church of St. George the Martyr, To-ronto, July 7-10. Fee: $375

ON THE AIRWAVES

STORIES ON EXHIBIT