News and Events

Selection: Choice of two 1 ½ hour sessions  Friday, May 26, 2017

1.) KAIROS FIRST NATION BLANKET EXERCISE, 1:30 - 3:00 & 3:30 - 5pm

with Glenda Bristow

Please join me in this interactive role playing session to learn about the history of the First Nations, Metis and Inuit People from pre-European contact to present. This is an easy, practical strategy/teaching tool to share the historic and contemporary relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples of Canada. The Blanket Exercise can be used in classrooms, group counselling sessions and staff professional development to create a sense of welcome, belonging, awareness and understanding. Participants will participate in the blanket exercise and sharing circle. Think of this as a one-hour intense interactive exercise on the important timeline/events/impacts on First Nations, Metis and Inuit people from pre-contact to now. The Adult Script will be used for this session. There is also a Youth Script available.

Bio – Glenda Bristow

Tânsi, Glenda Bristow nitisîyihkâson, Ayîkis Sâkahian ohci. Hello, my name is Glenda Bristow. I am Cree from Frog Lake First Nations. I presently work as the Director of Technology/Programs for St. Paul Education Regional Division No. 1. and have been a part of this education family for 15 years. Within my role, I manage and supervise Division Technology, First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education, Division Career Counselling along with various other duties. Prior to working at central office, I spent several years teaching at the primary level at both the provincial and federal level, and worked as a Director of Education for Frog Lake First Nations. Being a Cree Woman and working in education has many positives and challenges but at the end of the day, it’s knowing that we made a difference in the lives of many students which makes working in the field so rewarding. 

2.) RIGODON - TELL, DANCE, SING AND PLAY WITH THE VOYAGEURS  1:30 - 3:00pm

with Andrea Haddad

*This workshop is replacing the originally scheduled Voyageur Song and Dance with Gilbert Parent 

Voyageur Training Course 101...without the baggage! Hear tales told about and by voyageurs on their excursions into the heart of Canada and join in singing their songs en français! There will also be participation in voyageur dances and games that kept them busy and in shape during the long winters at the outposts. 

Bio  - Andrea Haddad

Andrea has been singing, dancing, telling stories and playing the spoons with french students both as a teacher and a performer with the roots-based organization Mariposa in the Schools in Toronto. She is the author of Rigodon, a program that enables French teachers to bring traditional North American French culture into the classroom through music, and seasonal celebrations and legends. She has conducted many workshops for teachers and librarians from Vancouver to Halifax. In addition, her group Bourée à Trois animates popular social dancing from France called balfolk with unusual instruments such as the hurdy gurdy button accordion, and French bagpipes.

3.) VOCAL  CARE 1:30-3:00pm

with Mary Hays

As a storyteller your ‘instrument’ is your voice. Learn the fundamentals of caring for the speaking voice, identifying trouble signs and doing exercises for vocal ease.  

Bio  -  Mary Hays

Mary Hays, from Olds, Alberta, is a full time storyteller who enjoys telling stories that tickle the funny bone and touch the heart.  She enlivens storytelling sessions and workshops with puppets, rhymes and a range of stories from folktales, to stories of Alberta history.

Mary teaches storytelling at the post-secondary level, coaches’ public speaking and tells stories in schools, libraries, senior’s homes, tipis and cemeteries.  Storytelling anytime, anywhere! Mary is trained in Speech Arts and Drama from the Royal Conservatory and the Mount Royal Conservatory.  Her training included a study of vocal production and performance.

4.) ALL  TOGETHER  NOW:  CRAFTING AND TELLING AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION TALES 3:30 – 5:00pm

with Mary Hamilton

You’ve seen it happen.  An audience joins in - chanting along, singing along, and helping tell the story. But what makes it work? Come learn methods for adapting stories to increase participation, methods for inviting participation, and strategies for facilitating participation.  Like many tellers, at first I could only tell the audience participation stories I had learned as participation stories (either from other tellers or from reading them in books of participation tales). With lots of trial and error and lots of observations of my storytelling colleagues, I have learned how to adapt stories for participation without needing to “find them” already in that form. It is this skill I teach in the workshop.

Bio – Mary Hamiliton

Over thirty years of enjoying storytellers, telling stories - many with lots of audience participation - and marvelling at how storytelling works undergird Mary Hamilton’s performances and workshops. This year she won the 2016 National Storytelling Network, National Distinguished Service ORACLE Award.  Mary resides in Frankfort, Kentucky, USA.

5.) FM STORYTELLING RADIO PRODUCTION  3:30 - 5:00pm

with Danica Lorer and David Merleau

This is an interactive and hands-on workshop designed to explore the traditions of oral storytelling through the art of radio.  We will turn events, heroes, villains and fools of our favourite Alberta and Canadian historic tales and happenings into fun fodder for a Storytellers’ News Radio Broadcast.

This workshop is crafted to bring out the best of every participant.  You may find yourself on the ‘news’, ‘traffic’ or ‘weather’ team or maybe in the sound effects and music department.  But whichever the case, your skills as oral storyteller and performer contribute to a truly unique and deeply collaborative work of radio.

Bio  - Danica Lorer

Danica Lorer's last name lives in the word explorer. She follows the highway as a ribbon tying her to the amazing sky, clear water, words on the wind, and beautiful people. Over the past 18 years as a professional storyteller, Danica's favourite listeners and workshop participants have been 0-103 years old. She believes in the power of the story. Danica is an active volunteer with SC-Radio-CC, the host of the Saskatchewan literary arts cable television program 'Lit Happens', and a freelance writer.

Bio  - David Merleau

David Merleau is a storyteller and radio producer with ‘postapocproductions.com’.  He has worked with CBC, VOBB, CKUU and CKDJ.  He is currently the radio project manager for SC-Radio-CC and the host and producer of ‘Up On A Time: Your Storytellers News Magazine Show’.