Tuesday, 20 April 2010

Storyteller on the Road: An Ottawa Postcard

I'm travelling for a few weeks, doing a series of storytelling events, and am just finishing up in Ottawa. It has been a great week! My storytelling show (part of the Speaking Out/Speaking In series at the NAC's 4th Stage) sold out a week ago (woot!) and I had a lot of fun with those of the Ottawa storytelling community who turned out to my day long workshop on historical storytelling at Library and Archives Canada.

I spent two days on the lake out near Almonte, Ontario with Jan Andrews, Jennifer Cayley and Ellis-Lynn Duschenes. It is always fabulous to see them, and I had great long walks, and chats with Jan and Jennifer about the state and future of performance storytelling in Canada and abroad.

Then I hung out today with Ruthanne Edward, who is our SeƱorita del Slam for the first Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada story slam in July. The poetry slam stuff happening here in Ottawa seems to be exciting, and it would be great to see some of that energy in contemporary storytelling.

Tomorrow I head off to Toronto, where I'm doing two workshops for the fabulous Emily Pohl-Weary. Stay tuned! Props to Jason Brophy for lending me his house while he is ash-bound in Italy, poor unfortunate that he is, and to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, who are making my trip to Toronto and beyond possible.

Links:

Ottawa Storytellers
http://www.ottawastorytellers.ca/


St. John's Story Slam
http://www.sc-cc.com/conference/2010/2010-storyslam.html

Monday, 22 March 2010

Sharing Stories in a Digital World

Spark is CBC's weekly audio blog of smart and unexpected trendwatching. As its website states, "it’s not just technology for gearheads, it’s about the way technology affects our lives, and the world around us."

ICH Development Officer Dale Jarvis spoke with Spark host Nora Young about the digital shift in cultural fieldwork, and how we are using digital technology in Newfoundland and Labrador as a tool to better record, share, safeguard and transmit our province's stories.

You can find the Spark blog entry at:
http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/03/spark-106-march-21-23-2010/

Or you can download the podcast as a MP3 directly from:
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/spark_20100321_29504.mp3

Sunday, 17 January 2010

The Ghostly Ballerinas of Gower Street



Stories of true encounters with the paranormal continue to be told to this very day in St. John's, Newfoundland. In this podcast, storyteller and author Dale Jarvis shares a story of ghostly ballerinas that dates back to the years of the Second World War. In the tale, a young girl receives nightly visitations from phantom dancers, as well as a black-haired lady in a black dress. When the girl's mother finds an old photograph at the bottom of a drawer, the mystery deepens.

The story is taken from the author's book "Wonderful Strange: Ghosts, Fairies and Fabulous Beasties of Newfoundland and Labrador" published by Flanker Press.

Download the story as an MP3 at:
http://tinyurl.com/ydnromw

Or listen to a streaming audio version of the tale at:

Monday, 2 November 2009

NL Storyteller featured artist in ArtsSmarts annual report

ArtsSmarts is a dynamic approach to teaching, learning, doing and thinking that has been changing the lives of students, artists, educators, and entire schools and communities since 1998. ArtsSmarts generates and sustains innovative school partnerships centred around the arts to push the boundaries of learning, redefine the environment of schooling and re-imagine student success.

I've been involved with a storytelling ArtsSmarts project at Holy Cross Elementary, with fellow storyteller Mary Fearon, for the past 3 years, and for the 2008-2009 ArtsSmarts Annual Report, I was chosen as the featured artist! How cool is that?

Download the excerpt here:
http://www.scribd.com/document_downloads/22018241?extension=pdf


Or the full ArtsSmarts annual report here:
http://www.artssmarts.ca/media/17807/annualreport2008-09_web.pdf

Monday, 10 August 2009

Dale Jarvis on the Voices of the Past Podcast

According to its website, "The purpose of the Voices of the Past netcast, podcast and accompanying website is to help inspire the advancement of heritage values in our society using the new form of communication called social media."

Director Jeff Guin writes: "With Voices of the Past, you will find a new type of journalism using the heritage preservation community as its focus. It retains the news gathering techniques and production values of traditional media as familiarized by six o’clock television news programs across the country. But it also integrates social media tools to help viewers understand how to communicate heritage values in the new Web 2.0 world."

This week, your friendly neighbourhood folklorist, Dale Jarvis, is the featured guest on the podcast, talking about how he uses social media for intangible culture heritage work and for storytelling.

Read the transcript at:
http://www.preservationtoday.com/2009/08/10/podcast-dale-jarvis-on-the-art-of-storytelling-on-the-world-wide-web/

or go directly to the MP3 at:
http://tinyurl.com/DaleJarvisVOP

Saturday, 1 August 2009

Call For Proposals: July 2010 Storytelling Conference

Call for Proposals
International Perspectives on the Art and Tradition of Storytelling
Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada National Conference and AGM
Wednesday, July 28 to Sunday, August 1, 2010
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

Join the Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada for a 5 day conference as part of the 400th anniversary of English settlement on the much-storied island of Newfoundland, with workshops, professional development, concerts, tours, story slam, and international symposium.
The 2010 Conference Planning Committee invites you to submit proposals for consideration in the following two categories:
1. Professional Development Workshop
2. Panel Discussion Participants

1. Professional Development Workshops (90 minutes)
Attendees at the 2009 SCCC conference listed workshops on Collecting Oral History, Newfoundland and Labrador Ballads, Stories behind the Storyteller (life stories and practical experiences of storytellers), Vocal Warmups, Storytelling and the Internet, and Storytelling in Education as their top choices for workshops for 2010. Other topics identified included Mask and/or Clown, Storytelling Techniques, Grant Writing, Press Release Writing, Stories with Music, Critiquing, Researching Stories, and Body/Movement workshops. The committee will be looking for innovative approaches, hands-on practical workshops for storytellers at different levels of their careers and workshops that will help tellers with the business of storytelling: addressing marketing, technology, and other tools for working storytellers.

Who May Apply:
We welcome proposal submissions from anyone. Presenter does not need to be a member of Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada(SC-CC). Non-members are strongly encouraged to join SC-CC if their proposal is accepted. Workshops will be funded to a total of $300 per workshop, and presenters are responsible for their own travel, accommodation, and conference registration costs.

2. Panel participants - International Perspectives on the Art and Tradition of Storytelling
As part of the 2010 Conference, one day will be devoted to panel presentations on international perspectives on the art and tradition of storytelling. The morning will focus on the oral tradition of storytelling, while the afternoon will focus on contemporary performance, art and use. We are seeking representatives of national, regional, state, or provincial storytelling organizations and academic programs who would be willing to address issues of current focus or concern to their organizations or areas.

Who May Apply:
We welcome proposal submissions from anyone, though official representatives of established groups are preferred. Presenter does not need to be a member of Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada(SC-CC). Non-members are strongly encouraged to join SC-CC if their proposal is accepted. Panel participants will be given an honorarium of $50, and participants are responsible for their own travel, accommodation, and conference registration costs.

Please include • a one-two paragraph description of your proposal
• a copy of your recent CV or artists profile
• complete mail, telephone and email contact information

Send to:
SCCC2010proposals@gmail.com
Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2009. Only successful applicants will be contacted, by mid November.

Tuesday, 14 July 2009

Ghost Story Panel: Coast to Coast Ghosts

John Adams (Victoria, British Columbia) and Pearl Ann Gooding (Wainwright, Alberta) join host Dale Jarvis (St. John's, Newfoundland) for a spirited discussion, recorded live in front of an audience of storytellers and lovers of a good spooky tale on Friday, 10 July, 2009, at the Storytellers of Canada - Conteurs du Canada 17th Annual Conference in Victoria, BC. All of these fine storytellers specialize in collecting and sharing true ghost stories; and both John and Dale have published some of their tales.

John Adams founded a company that conducts ghost and history walks in the City of Victoria. He is an excellent speaker and is at home in both formal and informal settings. His natural, lively, humorous and clear style makes his stories a memorable experience.

Pearl-Ann Gooding has been telling stories and recognized professionally since 1995. She travels extensively telling stories and teaching seminars on a variety of storytelling related subjects nationwide. Pearl-Ann runs the Wainwright Haunted Hike, and also has received grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts for support on a storytelling project for her hometown's 100th birthday, "A Walk Of Heroes."

Host and moderator Dale Jarvis is a performer who has been telling stories since 1992. Dale is the owner of the St. John's Haunted Hike in St. John's, Newfoundland, and has been running the popular ghost tour since 1997.

Streaming Audio:



Download the mp3 at:
http://www.archive.org/download/CoastToCoastGhosts/GhostPanelVictoriaBC2009.mp3