Shape Shifting and Wild Dreaming: The Mabinogion, A Celtic Treasure Trove
Sunday, March 5, 2023 2pm-6pm | Shape Shifting and Wild Dreaming: The Mabinogion, A Celtic Treasure Trove (Blackbox Studio, Arts Court and On Demand)
The Four Branches of the Mabinogion, with their extraordinary imagery and uncanny narratives, are luminous jewels of Welsh Celtic literature. This experience of deep and extended listening will take you into a magical landscape where you will meet a woman who always rides just out of reach of her pursuers, a mouse threatened with hanging, two conniving brothers cursed to live as wild things, a dynamic severed head, a doomed woman created all of flowers and encounter all manner of illusion and revelation.
Refreshments will be available for purchase during the performance breaks.
Top row L-R: Ellis Lynn Duschenes, Daniel Kletke. Bottom row L-R: Jacques Falquet, Johanna Kuyvenhoven.
About the Storytellers:
Ellis Lynn Duschenes, a founding member of Ottawa Storytellers, has been telling for almost half a century. As a creative and dynamic primary teacher, she also brought her passion for stories to the classroom. The old traditional stories have always been the foundation of her work, with Homer’s Odyssey holding a particularly special place in her repertoire. Over the years, the strength, the wisdom and the beauty of the old tales have often served her as valuable guide posts along the way.
Jacques Falquet Living in Quebec, but born from a family where each generation moved to a different country, Jacques Falquet has roots in Canada, France, Ireland and Poland. His repertoire is accordingly eclectic. Whether he develops his own or adapts traditional material, he plays with emotions, humour and wisdom. Jacques has been featured at OST’s The Fourth Stage Series at the NAC, notably in The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as the Toronto Festival of Storytelling and at FOOL-Festival of Oral Literature.
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.
Harpist Mary Muckle
About the Musician:
Mary Muckle is a harp teacher, performer and composer. She is the director of The Ottawa Youth Harp Ensemble and the harp accompanist for the Welsh penillion ensemble, Cantorion Cerdd Dant. Her compositions and arrangements are published by Afghan Press. The most recent, "Harp and Soul", is a tutor for a harp ensemble, a collection of pieces she has written for her students over a period of 25 years of teaching in Ottawa. www.mucklemusic.com