News and Events

Saturday June 3 Workshops

All artist biographies can be found here.

On Saturday we are offering a full day of workshops. In the morning you can choose one long workshop from set 5. In the afternoon, you can choose one long workshop from set 6.

SET 5 | 9:00am-12pm

5A: Linda Lord- Embodied Storytelling

Language: English

Level: All levels

Participants will learn about and engage with a variety of embodiment techniques for adding an element of dramatic theatrics to their telling. Participants will learn how to focus energy within the body to best represent characters and how to stand, walk, and talk as 'other.'

THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL. A WAITLIST IS AVAILABLE 5B: Jennifer Cayley & Jo Kuyvenhoven - Drawing from the Roots

Language: English

Level: Intermediate

Through discussion, telling and response and other focused participatory exercises, participants will dig deep into some of the foundational oral material of storytelling, explore how working with this material can enrich and strengthen any story they tell and grapple with some of the challenges the old stories pose for contemporary audiences. 

5C: Cindy Campbell-Stone - The Wondrous World of Folklorist, Dr Helen Creighton

Language: English

Level: All levels

Learn a ghost story, a sea chantey, create a song or poem for a story, and discover the joy and importance of folklore and collecting oral history. This participatory workshop will explore a wee bit of the vast works of Dr.Helen Creighton and the importance of community tradition bearers.

5D: Alexandre Matte - Ouvre ta boîte: conter à un auditoire virtuel

Language: French

Level: Tous niveaux 

Le nombre et la fréquence des événements virtuels ont explosé en 2020. Nombre de conteurs et conteuses ont adopté ce nouveau médium, mais d'autres résistent ou hésitent encore à faire cette transition. Et même si les événements en personne ont depuis repris, avec un public physiquement présent, on s'attend à ce que les activités en ligne poursuivent leur croissance en raison de la demande. Ne restez pas à la traîne! Rejoignez Alexandre Matte, spécialiste reconnu des présentations en ligne, afin d'accroître votre niveau de confort et vos compétences en matière de conte virtuel.

SET 6 | 1:00pm-4:00pm

6A: Judith Poirier & Clara Dugas - Bilingual storytelling: exploring and experimenting with various approaches

Language: Bilingual

Level: All levels

Bilingual storytelling: exploring and experimenting with various approaches

This multilingual workshop, based on sharing experiences, will offer performances from storytellers recognized for their bilingual ways of telling. These tellers will also describe their approach and what they observe when they are telling. The portrait of these diverse approaches will also be enriched by the experiences of each participant. Together we will identify the similarities between the approaches, the contexts that facilitate the use of certain ones, the main challenges that are encountered, basic elements that can guide experiments, etc. During the second part of the workshop, each participant will experiment with some of the approaches presented and have access to the resonance of the other participants (acting as listeners).

THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL. A WAITLIST IS AVAILABLE. 6B: David Novak - WURDZ! The Feelings of Language

Language: English

Level: All levels

This workshop introduces participants to the dynamics of spoken language with exercises in ear training, phonetics, text analysis, rhythm, and silence. Participants will learn the dynamic spoken word music of the storyteller. This program takes as its premise the following:Speech is a form of movement; Words are sounds; Storytellers involve the hearts and minds of listeners with skillful combinations of

verbal form and content; Storytellers use the interplay of words, sounds, and silences to create a telling experience.

At the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Identify and use oral/aural dynamics in spoken word;

• Increase and improve fluency for read-aloud;

• Expand their performance vocabulary;

• Make effective use of silence in performance;

• Enhance their storytelling experience with greater command of language.