Join me for Storytelling Sunday. Discover the stories that shape and design our lives. How do these stories craft our personalities? Do you enjoy the character stories?
This is a small grass-roots festival hosted by the Newport Fiddle and Folk Club and managed by a small army of volunteers. It's a festival from the heart, that kicks above its weight and that opens its arms wide to embrace the broader community in a celebration of song, story and dance. The weekend offers workshops and performances with something for everyone.
The storytelling part of the program is rich and varied and largely supported by Storytelling Vic members and associates.
SATURDAY 29th June The Newport Scout Hall
12.00 pm: The Amazing Case of Dr Ward and Other Stories
Musician Sarah Depasquale and storyteller Jackie Kerin ask the Question: when you bite into a pear and the juice dribbles down your chin, or spread a picnic rug under a shady elm or smell a rose, do you ever ask yourself: how did these plants come to be in Australia?
Passionate gardeners, Sarah and Jackie originally developed this set of stories for the Williamstown Botanic Gardens but have gone on to share the tales at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, Stone the Crows in NSW and botanic gardens around Victoria.
4.00 pm Bush Poetry and Stories
Join Dave and Alan Davies on a journey back in time to the days of swaggies, shearers, stagecoaches, squatters and spielers. With Australian poems and stories from the nineteenth century, they'll take you back to the days when the bush was wild, the tracks were long and the tales were tall.
7.00 pm Fabled Nights
Come and enjoy a curated evening of spoken stories and story in song, served up with soup and chai around a crackling fire. Our wordsmiths promise to enchant with stories to suit all appetites.
Our storytellers and musicians are: Susan Hall, Matt McArthur, Ed Marshall, Dee Palanisamy, Kate Lawrence, Dharma, Sarah Depasquale, Jackie Kerin, Dave Davies and Alex Kharnam. And our MC guiding us through the evening is the wonderful Cameron Sharp.
Fabled Nights is a monthly gathering in Newport hosted by members of Storytelling Australia Victoria.
* For more information about the Newport Folk Festival, the location and how to buy tickets on line, visit their website HERE
The Newport Folk Festival has invited us to curate a night of story and *songs on the Saturday evening of the Festival - June 29 in the old Scout Hall.
*Our singer is Dharma Picking from the Newport Fiddle and Folk Club.
In past years we've offered an open board but this year the Festival want the Fabled Nights crew to show their chops.
As part of the evening we will offer (as we have done in past years) soup and bread and chai.
While not set in cement - a plan might look like this:
4 stories and a song
break (soup)
4 stories and a song
chai
So please if you wish to participate, come along to Fabled Nights on May 17 sign up and lets plan:
the story you wish to tell - let us hear it
strictly 10 minutes or less (we will ring a bell)
think about the atmosphere of the festival: fun, inclusive, around the fire
this is an all generations festival - so be aware children may be present
think about the balance of the evening
We'll also need need help Mcing, setting up the room, serving, welcoming people and tidying up.
We have another Fabled Nights on June 21 so you will get two chances to practice and refine your story.
*If you are keen as beans to participate but can't make Fabled Nights, please contact me and let me know. Jackie 0412 210 098
WHAT IS FABLED NIGHTS
Fabled Nights in Newport is an open-hearted space for people who
want to learn to craft true tales, traditional stories, tall tales and
yarns; heart to heart and without notes. We welcome beginners and
experienced folks. So come and strut your stuff, share what you know,
try out a new story or tell a tale for the first time.
There's
room for around 10 storytellers and we ask that stories be no longer
than 10 minutes, give or take. We ask that stories be said not read.
We reserve 2 - 15 minute places for people who want to try out longer stories.
Let
kind hearts and commonsense prevail: racist and homophobic stories hurt
people so please don't bring them to Fabled Nights.
NEXT FABLED NIGHTS
WHEN: Friday 17th May 7.30pm - 10.00pm WHERE: Newport Community HUB 13 Mason Street, Newport COST: $5.00 or $3.00 (Storytelling Vic and Newport Fiddle and Folk Club members). No Booking required.
*WHEEL CHAIR ACCESS
* FABLED NIGHTS is an inter-generational event. Children welcome at parent/carers discretion.
Fabled
Nights in Newport is a partnership event with Hobsons Bay Libraries
and is supported by the Newport Fiddle and Folk Club.
PARKING:
There is free parking at the rear of the building. Coming from Mason
Street, turn left at Durkin Street then left into the car park. Entry to
the HUB is from the park.
A Bundle of Sticks is the musical story that celebrates the birth of democracy in Australia.
Written and performed by Jan 'Yarn' Wositzky - Bushwackers Band co-founder, musician, and renowned storyteller - in collaboration with director and writer Sue Ingleton - APG, Australia You're Standing In It, Dimboola - it's a lively, heart-felt, fun and rebel-rousing show that tells of the hitherto unknown 15,000 strong 1851 Monster Meeting of Diggers on Forest Creek (Chewton, Castlemaine).
It was Australia's first mass political protest. They created a democratic movement that won the vote and led to the 1854 bloodshed at Eureka.
I'm re-posting our photos and videos from World Storytelling Day as I've received feedback that some of you could not access the videos.
I experimented with embedding them from Facebook - clearly that does not work for everyone, so now I've uploaded them to Youtube. I hope you can all see them now.
World Storytelling Day is our most ambitious event in the calendar. It
seems to grow every year. This year the subcommittee who pulled it
together was Anna Manuel (WSD Kids) and Durgah Devi Palanisamy (Adults)
with Daniela Bücheler-Scott and Jackie Kerin. The decision to run two
events came about as a result of your feedback last year. We listen!
Hosted at The Dock, we kicked off at 11.00 am with World Storytelling
Day for Kids. We had a full house of children with their adults in tow.
The team of specialist early childhood storytellers entranced,
enthralled and excited babies, toddlers and primary age children.
This video will give you a glimpse of the fun.
I'm also going to share this video with you as is shows the entire
Acknowledgement of Country led by Dani and Tamia. Several of you have
contacted me asking to see this. You could have heard a pin drop.
At 2.00 pm the celebration for adults launched with a video story
especially recorded for us by Kamini Ramachandran from Singapore. One
of the reasons we like The Dock is we can share stories from around the
world in this way.
Kamini Ramachandran
Kamini is the creative director and founder of Storyfest,
an International Storytelling Festival held annually in Singapore. The
program will be launched any day. Keep and eye out and if you are
travelling north, Storyfest is a terrific opportunity to connect with
international tellers from afar.
Anthony snapped in action
Please visit our Facebook page and enjoy the photos taken of the
storytellers. We are blessed to have the support of so many talented
friends and supporters. Anthony Cheung, once again gifted the tellers with glorious images.
And finally, a thank you Rex Smeal
who joined us for the second year in a row. Rex is a digital artist who
has gifted us an animation of the day. Rex also created the image for
Fabled Nights 2019.
HUGE thanks to Anna, Dee, the committee, and the storytellers for a stupendous day of story.
Dani, Anna, Dave, Dee, Sarah, Alex, Kate, Jackie, Imogen (Missing from the line-up: Matteo, Roz Quin and Susan Hall)
Anna Manuel is the special guest at the Garden on April 7. With her arrival in Australia 18 months ago, Anna brought with her a fresh vision and energy. She has boosted enthusiasm and awareness for bilingual storytelling, become a key member of the Australian Kamishibai Association, taken on a committee role for Storytelling Australia Victoria and oragnised the recent World Storytelling Day for Kids.
Anna is heading to Bangkok for a while (she will return). This is your chance to meet Anna before she goes or say your farewell.
Bring a story to tell or ears to listen.
This month Daniela Bücheler-Scott is our host.
WHEN: Sunday April 7
TIME: 12.00 pm - 3.00 pm
WHERE: 325 South Rd Brighton East
NO BOOKINGS required, pay at the gate.
COST: $15 (for the Garden and our special guest)
*April 7 END OF DAYLIGHT SAVING
REMINDER FABLED NIGHTS
There will be no Fabled Nights in April as it falls during the Easter break.
We'll be back on May17th. So plenty of time to think about your stories!