STORYTELLING – THE SPOKEN WORD – THEATER
“Since we gathered in the dark caves long 'go we are a people have been retelling stories to one another. The Irish known to be the greatest at the art of conjuring a tale into life while bringing the listener into another time and world often leaving them there as they slip out the back door. As the old Irish Proverb says, Bíonn siúlach scéalach, 'Travellers have tales to tell' and the Irish have always been great wanderers of this world. There are two types of Storyteller, the Scéalaí and the Seanchaí the former who recounts the urban legends and the latter the teller of international traveling folktales and Sagas, which by all accounts in the days before television and the modern attention span, would go on for three days and three nights.
Nowadays, though, all Irish storytellers are known as the Seanchaí!
Who's telling tales now?”
- Máirtín de Cogáin
STORYTELLERS
Tracy Chipman - I am a Storyteller - Lover of beginnings middles & ends,
a Listener, Story Carrier, Myth Maker, Aural Alchemist, Truth Teller...Folklorist,
a Dancer with the Ebb & Flow and most at home in the Wild. This dance with
storytelling began with a great love for the Celtic Myths, and from there my
travels took me throughout Ireland, Scotland & Wales. In the 1995 research
with The Hebridean Folklore Project brought me to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides islands.
There my apprenticeship with the oral tradition bearers of the Island began. Those
connections with the good folk, the evocative landscape and the rich stories of the
islands still sing in my heart and are told to those who listen in.
A native of Wisconsin, I have been listening, wondering, gathering, spinning &
telling tales around the US and beyond since 1995. My repertoire is a wild and
wide open global collection of folklore, wonder-wisdom tales, myth, Celtic lore,
personal narrative and original material. I share the magic of storytelling in schools,
libraries, cafes, at festivals, retirement communities, in living rooms (& house concerts),
bookstores and in the deep woods around cozy fires. Everyone loves a good story well told!
Tracy Chipman, Menomonie, WI though travels far and wide, (715) 292-1513, tlchipman@gmail.com
www.listentoatale.com and
www.facebook.com/pages/Listen-to-a-Tale-Storyteller-Tracy-Chipman/479944548733645
Michael Cotter - third generation, Southern Minnesota farmer, dad, and storyteller.
He is a combination of pride in straight corn rows and concern for a healthy
environment. His Irish-Catholic heritage gives him the gift of compassion and
understanding, blended with a little blarney; and his gentle nature invites his
audiences to look deep within themselves to find their own stories. He believes
in farming, in people, and in the healing power of storytelling.
Michael’s storytelling journey started in a workshop at St. Catherine's College
when he was asked to tell a personal story. He told about having gotten
45 ton of potatoes through a government program as feed for 300 cattle.
During the story, it occurred to him that his Great-Grandmother, a widow,
in 1850 left Ireland and came to America because they had no potatoes.
Therein he saw the magic of storytelling.
Michael Cotter, Albert Lea, MN (507) 373-4748, cotter6@q.com
Máirtín de Cógáin
With two All-Ireland's under his belt and generations of storytelling handed down
to him, Máirtín gets no more joy out of life than the telling of stories. In his unique
style, Máirtín gives examples of some of the different genres of Irish Storytelling
which he studied in University, with an emphasis in folklore, including
The Ulster Cycle, The Fenian Cycle, 12th century writings, the International
traveling folktale and the urban legend.
Máirtín is also available for workshops. If there is an opportunity to give multiple
workshops, Máirtín demonstrates deeper and teaches the idea of the
Mask of the Storytelling, which is a crucial element in delivery, and also
imparts how to make a story your own, along with discussions about important
nuances in storytelling such presentation and cadence of speech.
Solo Performer - Storytelling, songs in English & Irish, Bodhrán playing
Mairtin lives in California, travels to Minnesota often and is willing to travel all around (310) 447-4839
mairtinmusic@gmail.com
www.MairtinMusic.com
www.Facebook.com/MdCProject
John Dingley
John Dingley and the Biggest Pack of Lies You Ever Heard
John's one-man show is a unique collection of embellished personal experiences,
humorous insights and a Welsh song or two by the Dingley-est Welshman of them all.
John is available for all sorts of storytelling in all sorts of settings.
John Dingley, Twin Cities, MN - (651) 280-7232, John.Digley@gmail.com
David McCullough Zander
David was born in West London, obtained a teaching certificate from
the University of London, taught in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean before
coming to Minnesota to study Anthropology. He taught cultural anthropology
at Inver Hills Community College and worked for fifteen years at the state
capitol on refugee and immigrant issues as a researcher for the
Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. His interest in storytelling is
embedded in both his earlier training in English Literature and in
Cultural Anthropology. He is co-founder and coordinator of the
Asian Storytellers Alliance and is a storyteller of the old
Irish stories of CuChulain and Finn McCool at Irish Fair Minnesota.
For example, David tells his version of Fionn in Search of His Youth
(Recorded about 1930 from Peig Sayers, Blasket Islands, Dingle,
County Kerry). This tale belongs to the mythological cycle of the
Fenian warriors, led by Fionn MacCuhaill (Finn McCool), who are
believed to have flourished in the third century A.D. Scholars were
astonished to find that the old wonder tales had been handed down
in Gaelic in the oral tradition for nearly two thousand years.
David Zander, Minneapolis, MN – (612) 529-8964, davidbzander@gmail.com
Northstar Storytelling League is a Minnesota nonprofit serving storytellers
and listeners throughout the state. Northstar sponsors regular storytelling
events in the Twin Cities, including an annual all-day Tellabration! festival at
Open Book in Minneapolis. Events are open to the public, and
Northstar membership is open to all.
http://northstarstorytelling.org/
STORYTELLING EVENTS
Word Ninjas is the Rockstar Storytellers monthly open mic night,
held the 2nd Tuesday of every month at Kieran’s Irish Pub.
Suggested $3 donation at the door.
Sign-up begins at 8pm, and the show starts at 8:30pm.
In true open mic fashion, everyone who signs up gets
5 minutes to do ... whatever they want! Unjuried, uncensored
(within reason, people) and unpredictable. Stand-up, slam poetry,
storytelling, traditional poetry, folk tales, monologue, literary readings -
if words are your weapons, we want you on our stage.
Each show is hosted by one of our very own Rockstar Storytellers,
and another Rockstar typically does a feature set somewhere in the line-up.
Word Ninjas also features special touring guests and the occasional surprise local celebrity!
Kieran's Irish Pub, 601 North 1st Ave., Minneapolis, MN
Updated information is posted at http://slammn.org/calendar
IRISH THEATER
The Celtic Collaborative is a cultural and performing arts troupe dedicated to animating the drama, poetry, fiction, music, and dance of the Celtic world, both past and present.
Since 2011, the Celtic Collaborative has produced six original collage shows: Nobel on Yer Bicycle: Ireland's Nobel Laureates (2011); Scenes from the 1916 Easter Rising (2011/2012); Scenes from a Celtic Album (2012); Scenes from Dracula's Celtic Album (2013), Monsters and Demons: Scenes from Dracula’s Celtic Album, and 1,000 Years of Irish Poetry (March 2014), and The Harp and the Loon: Literary Bridges Between Ireland and Minnesota (November 2014).
Performances have been held at venues including: the Celtic Junction, the Black Dog, Brits Pub, the Irish Fair of Minnesota, the Rochester Irish Festival, and the historic Cass Gilbert designed Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Visit the Collaborative on their website: www.celticcollab.org
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