A busy day in the life of your friendly neighbourhood storyteller

I'm in an airport! It is hardly news to anyone who follows me on twitter that I'm writing from yet another airport, but it is true. I'm in Ottawa, having just finished a speaking engagement last night for Memorial University Alumni. It was a great turnout, with some familiar faces in the crowd, which is always a plus for me. Here is the interview done by Dean Verger at the event.

I'm off to Halifax, for another talk and storytelling session tonight at the Elephant and Castle Pub. Last night I was telling ghost stories, Jack tales and some oral history material from Newfoundland. Who knows what tonight will bring, through there will definitely be some ghostly tales, and perhaps the appearance of a sea monster or two.  It has been a great mini-tour so far, and I'm delighted that Memorial University, and their sponsors Johnson Insurance and the Elephant & Castle pubs, have been so supportive. It is great to get storytelling out to new audiences, and introduce Newfoundland stories to new (and old) listeners.

I went out for breakfast this morning with Ottawa's Ruthanne Edward, who was host of the St. John's Storytelling Festival's first story slam earlier this year. It is always great to get to hang out with fellow storytellers, to talk about what is happening in the storytelling community. We talked about how it is that storytellers so often work in isolation, working individually on personal projects, without a lot of opportunities for some of us to collaborate, critique, grow and converse about our art.

I head back to St. John's in the morning, taking every chance I get along the way to run lines for Ghosts of Signal Hill which opens this Friday night at 8pm! Zounds!

Something wicked this way comes! Ghosts of Signal Hill coming soon

I've been working on an exciting new ghost story project, and its launch date is coming closer and closer! This summer, as part of the fourteenth season of the St. John's Haunted Hike, I've created a new show, in partnership with Parks Canada and Signal Hill National Historic Site: Ghosts of Signal Hill.

Daring escapes, murdered pirates, ghost ships, buried treasure, tragic drownings, and headless phantoms: it is all in a night’s work at Signal Hill National Historic Site.

Ghosts of Signal Hill will be an evening of ghost stories, historical tales and strange adventures. Join the dashing Lieutenant Ranslaer Schuyler by lamplight inside the historic Queen’s Battery, and find out what happens on Newfoundland’s most historic hill, after the lights go out.

The show will run every Friday night this summer at 8pm, from June 3rd to September 16th. Tickets will be $15, $10 for kids 12 and under, and price includes admission to Signal Hill National Historic Site Visitor Centre. The role of Lieutenant Schuyler will be played by yours truly, with Jedediah Baker performing the role on alternating nights.

Seating is limited. Tickets will be available for advance purchase at the Signal Hill Visitor Centre. Check the website, and I'll let you know when tickets go on sale!

And, of course, you can like this on Facebook!

UPDATE: here are the promo photos!

Here Be Monsters! Encore Family Performance Sunday 2pm

It sold out its first show, and now the Monsters are back!

Sunday, May 15, 2 pm
Encore Family Performance
Here Be Monsters!
The Rooms, St. John's

In the ocean's depths lurk rarely seen horrors. From giant squid and whales the size of a house, to mind-reading mermaids and the most angry sea-horse you'd ever want to meet, the seas off the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador have seen it all! Join storyteller Dale Jarvis of St. John's Haunted Hike fame for tales of creatures from the deep. You may never want to dip your toe in the water again.

Tickets just $5 and free for Rooms Members.

The Menin Gate, and why you should vote #elxn11

Earlier this year, I had the great opportunity as a storyteller to take part in the wonderful Alden Biesen International Stortyelling Festival in Belgium. It was a great experience, and wonderful to see so many storytellers working and sharing in so many languages.

Since I was in Belgium, I took some time off to explore some of the country's great cities, and I made certain that I visited some of the sites that have entered our consciousness as Canadians, sites with names that resonate with those of us who have never even visited Belgium, names like Passchendale, Flanders, the Ypres Salient.

At Ypres, on an appropriately grey day, I walked around the imposing Menin Gate. The gate is a memorial to those soldiers whose bodies were never found, 55,000 of them, which was erected on the spot where the soldiers left the city for the frontline, never to return. Even today, they are still digging the bodies of fallen soldiers out of the Flanders clay.

It brought the reality of that conflict home to me in a way that can only be described as emotional; and what struck me most as I walked through the impeccably kept graveyards of Flanders was how young all those soldiers were. 

I came home from Flanders to a country facing an election.  In a world where young people are dying every day to for the right to have a democratic say in their own futures, I think we all too often forget about all those young men and women who died to protect our freedoms.

I've already made my vote in advance, as I'll be travelling to Hopedale, Labrador, on election day. If you haven't voted, you should.  The democracy that people died for works when we all make it work, together. You can make a difference with your vote.

To you from failing hands we throw
       The torch; be yours to hold it high.
              - John McCrae, 1919

Haunted Waters reviewed on CBC Radio

Laura Cameron at Flanker Press was kind enough to send me this transcript of a review aired on CBC Radio, Corner Brook this morning. Here it is! - Dale

Haunted Waters: More True Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador

I've always admired folklorist Dale Jarvis for the way he treats stories of the supernatural and unexplained. Newfoundland and Labrador, as part of its history, is rich with stories and accounts of hauntings and paranormal phenomena.

Jarvis, with his academic background and solid reputation for doing high quality research, gives this aspect of our history extra dignity and credibility. His interest in this field is quite genuine and he treats it seriously – and not just because these events make for fascinating stories.

Jarvis's latest book, “Haunted Waters: More True Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador” is a follow-up to his popular collection “Haunted Shores.” Many of these stories were published previously in Jarvis's column in the Telegram, “Newfoundland Unexplained,” and in Downhome Magazine.

Jarvis takes an organized approach; “Haunted Waters” is sorted into sections dealing with specific types of haunting or disturbance. There are haunted houses and other buildings; apparitions; phantom ships, and animal spirits; there’s also a section on faerie folklore and local legends.

There seems hardly a corner of our province where Jarvis hasn't found something otherworldly or hard to explain. Many of the things recounted here relate to places in St. John's, but most deal with other places and readers won’t be able to help being impressed by this rich assortment.

The Town of Deer Lake, incidentally, has a ghost story of its own, and Jarvis supplies it here. The section on scaring off evil spirits relates specifically to Codroy Valley.

While our folk legend having to do with the sleep disturbance, known commonly throughout Newfoundland as the Old Hag, seems to have particular power to terrify, and Jarvis covers that one in this book as well.

“Haunted Waters” is an excellent collection –highly readable and enjoyable for adults and young adults – and not just those with a fondness for creepy tales. Readers interested in the folktales, superstitions, and history of our province will find much to admire about it as well.

For Newfoundland and Labrador public libraries, I’m Darrell Squires.
CBC Radio, Corner Brook, April 18, 2010

Two Storytelling Workshops with Clare Muireann Murphy

I want to give a plug for two workshops coming up next week with the fabulous visiting Irish storyteller Clare Muireann Murphy. How could you not love that face?

I met Clare through her work with FEST (Federation for European Storytelling) and I'm delighted that she is coming to Newfoundland.  If you have an interest in storytelling, performance, spoken word, or theatre, take one of these workshops!  There are two, one in Mount Pearl, one in St. John's, and they are for people with a wide range of backgrounds, or no background in storytelling at all.  You can read more about Clare at http://claremurphy.org/

“Introduction to the Art of Storytelling”
Tuesday, March 8th
Admiralty House Museum,
23 Old Placentia Rd, Mount Pearl
7:00 – 9:00 PM

The Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl is pleased to present storyteller Clare Muireann Murphy offering a workshop in the fundamentals of storytelling that will teach the essential tools for creating and telling stories. Pre-register at: storytellingstjohns@gmail.com
Aimed at: Beginners
Admission: $20

"Finding Your Voice" 
Saturday, March 12th
Gower Street United Church Hall
1:00 – 3:00 PM

Turn familiar stories into true treasures! Each storyteller is blessed with their own unique style. Having trouble finding yours? Treat yourself to this workshop and find your own voice! A workshop focused on how to make stories uniquely your own; how to discover and develop your own style of storytelling. Learn how to uncover your own voice, turning old or familiar stories into something beautiful and inherently yours.
Aimed at: Beginners / Intermediate storytellers
Admission: $20 Pre-register at: storytellingstjohns@gmail.com

Fantastic sea monsters invade St. John's!

Well, I'm getting stoked. There is nothing I love better than a giant squid (with the possible exception of a cloned wooly mammoth). My new sea monster storytelling show "Here Be Monsters" is coming up quick, at The Rooms on February 27th.

The event is part of a travelling exhibit at The Rooms called "Fantastic Sea Monsters" running February 12 - June 19 on Level Two.

Here is what The Rooms website says about the exhibit:

Fantastic imaginary creatures? Amazing but real marine life? Either way, stories of ocean and lake monsters have fascinated us since the dawn of time. Seafarers were convinced that the oceans were the devil's kingdom, a place of terrifying monsters eager for shipwrecks, the home of sirens, krakens, whales, sea serpents, and giant sharks. Early naturalists were fascinated by the strange creatures of the deep. This bilingual exhibition will take you where the fantastic intertwines with reality.

The exhibition is produced by the Musée du Fjord, in partnership with The Rooms Provincial Museum Division, the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, and Océanopolis (France). I'm going to check it out this week, and will report back!

In the meantime, you can visit the exibit website at:
http://monstresmarins.ca/en/home.html

The Drawer Boy - friendship, storytelling and remembrance

While learning about farming from a couple of ‘old fellas’, a young city actor stumbles upon a decades old mystery. The Drawer Boy is a funny and heart-warming play that weaves a tale of friendship, storytelling and remembrance.

This modern Canadian classic by Michael Healey is directed by award-winning director Danielle Irvine and runs in the Basement Theatre of the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre.

Opening Wednesday, February 2nd, The Drawer Boy starring veteran actors Bruce Brenton (The Tempest and Sound of Music) and Steve O’Connell (Republic of Doyle and Woman in Black) and up and coming young actor Brad Bonnell (Diary of Anne Frank and Troilus and Cressida).

Show time is 8pm Wednesday through Saturday and closes with a Sunday matinee at 2:00pm. Tickets are $22.00 and $10.00 for students.

Feb 2-6, 2011
Basement Theatre
St. John's Arts and Culture Centre

(Click here for box office info)

Facebook event listing here

Haunted Shores now available as Kobo ebook

Haunted Shores: True Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador by Dale Jarvis is now available as an ebook through Kobo and chapters.indigo.

From the northern shores of Labrador to the south coast of Newfoundland, there are as many ghost stories as there are bays and inlets. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is rich with tales of ghost ships, mysterious lights, sinister spectres, tokens of impending death, headless pirates, and murdered loves. From legends of phantom loggers to stories of possessed teapots, Haunted Shores: True Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador is an eerie exploration of the phantom-filled nooks and crannies of the province. Why does a mournful lady ghost return to Arnold's Cove every November? Do ghostly submarines still sail the waters of Trinity Bay? What is the most haunted street in St. John's? Drawn from both archival sources and first-hand accounts, the stories herein weave together anecdote, oral tradition, history and folklore to form a rich tapestry depicting a rarely explored side of Newfoundland and Labrador. Read the ebook, if you dare…

Storytelling Circle Events for 2011

Happy New Year! A new season of storytelling is upon us, and we've got most of our hosts lined up for the 2011 Storytelling Circles at the Crow's Nest. We've got some old favourites, and some new ones, including a special visit in July from Massachusetts storyteller Karen Chace. We're also talking with the Folk Arts Society about co-hosting a Story Slam in March, so stay tuned.

Our first night in January is a bit later than usual. We've had to shift the date to January 20th, so mark that on your calendars.

Our first host of the year, Crystal Martin, is a multimedia graduate who grew up in a tiny fishing village and enjoyed many Newfoundland traditions including storytelling. Today Crystal's hobbies includes gathering information on her family history, and preserving the memories of home with interviews, film, and restoring old photographs of relatives. She has also performed in numerous drama productions including the play "No Man is an Island", and has taught the piano during most of her teenage years. Crystal has been telling stories at the storytelling circle since fall of 2009.

You can see who will be hosting for the rest of the year at http://www.storytellingstjohns.ca/circle.html. We'll be adding other hosts as they are confirmed.

See you at the Crow's Nest on the 20th!