Of Ice and Fire: Stories from Norse Mythology

Jennifer Cayley, Daniel Kletke, Johanna Kuyvenhoven, Marie Victoria Robertson and Anne Schmitz, and musician Kluane Takhini with Of Ice and Fire: Stories from Norse Mythology

Sunday, February 25, 2024 2:00pm - 6:00pm ET | Blackbox Studio, Arts Court (2 Daly Ave) and On Demand. Tickets $33.

Walk with Odin and Thor and Loki as these quarrelsome gods travel the rock-strewn pathways of the nine worlds. Meet giants, norns, dwarves, and an eight-legged horse.  Look high into the branches of Yggdrasill, the World Tree. See how the sound of a cat's footfall and the roots of a mountain are woven into the strength of an unbreakable binding rope. Live for a time of deep and extended listening in the confounding world of ancient Norse mythology, a world still vividly present in the contemporary imagination.

Refreshments will be available for purchase during the performance breaks.

On Demand Ticket Holders
Of Ice and Fire: Stories from Norse Mythology will be recorded and made available on YouTube starting Monday, February 26. Ticket holders will be able to enjoy the performance for one week. This allows you to watch (or re-watch) the event at your leisure! A link to the recording will be sent to on demand ticket holders on Monday, February 26.

About the Storytellers

Jennifer Cayley has been telling stories for more than three decades now, anywhere people want to listen. Venues have included the National Arts Centre, a community centre in mid-Wales, a tiny club in Melbourne Australia, a garden in Hawaii, festivals and schools all over Canada and beyond. The traditional folk and fairy tales, along with the foundational myths and epics, are Jennifer’s particular passion. She loves the image-filled silence a powerful story can create in the space between the teller and listener.

Daniel Kletke is ever on the hunt for a good story. He experienced his first taste of traditional storytelling at Rasputin’s Folk Café in Ottawa one wintry night many years ago when local storytellers were performing selections from Homer’s Odyssey. Daniel was instantly hooked. And so began a great journey as a listener and, eventually, as a storyteller in his own voice. Now a veteran of the old epics, Daniel has participated in the grand 12-hour performances of the Odyssey and the Iliad at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage (co-produced by Ottawa Storytellers and 2 Women Production) in 2012 and 2014 – shows described by the audience as “Brave!”, “Bold!” and “Amazingly compelling!” Daniel lives and works in his hometown of Ottawa.

Johanna Kuyvenhoven (Jo), a founding member of Storytellers of Canada, has told and listened to stories across the continent and beyond. Author of In the Presence of Each Other: A Pedagogy of Storytelling, she has worked globally for every child’s right to stories in school, loosed from the page. Being an education and literacy specialist do not interfere with her deep belief in Magic, the power of hope, and in love that sees beyond the surface of seeming. She tells the traditionally dark as well as the light folktales; stories that expand classrooms; and ridiculous family stories.

Marie Victoria Robertson is a theatre performer who is now deeply immersed in storytelling. She brings her boisterous performance style to myths and legends and enjoys nothing more than to make the audience chuckle and gasp. In fact, she was voted Audience Favourite at Pittsburgh TELL’s Folktale Fight 2022. A member of Ottawa StoryTellers since 2018, Marie hosted (un)told from 2021 to 2022 and currently hosts StoryTelling Open Mic. She has performed at the National Arts Centre, the Shenkman Arts Centre, numerous Fringe festivals across Canada, Children’s Festivals, and even the occasional pub. This is her second Signature Series show after 2022's "Something Wicked This Way Comes”.

Anne Schmitz thought that she was a writer and that the world is a story, but could not quite feel the story live in her pages. In 2011 she joined Ottawa Storytellers and found that pages are not necessary. Anne supposes that stories are how humans learn and shape our world with both good and ill will. In her telling, sometimes she uses the ingredients of her varied life experiences or her family’s history; sometimes, she likes to make word pictures of the oldest of tales. Anne works to ignite in others her love of the spoken.

About the Musician

Kluane Takhini is an award winning, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer. He plays a multitude of percussion instruments, guitar, bass, harmonica, flutes, keyboard, and many more from his exotic collection. He has played and recorded in international settings across Canada, USA and Europe from local pubs to 500,000 person festivals (Berlin).

He has toured and recorded many “world music” albums (before it was called that), playing in unique artistic venues as diverse as grand churches, water reservoirs under Munich, an island where 100,000 doves were released at the climax of the performance and the first-ever “simulcast”, live satellite, intercontinental concert. To find out more about Kluane, visit www.kluanetakhini.com