The St. Louis Storytelling Festival Brings Tales to Life for Families

When kids are little, they look forward to hearing their favorite stories read by their favorite people. Whether it’s their teacher or local librarian leading them on an adventure through imaginary lands or Mom and Dad breaking out the funny voices to become Llama Llama or Pinkalicious, they truly become part of the story.

But as they grow older, those same kids are less likely to crisscross applesauce on the reading rug or snuggle with their parents over a good book. However, during the St. Louis Storytelling Festival (SLSF), kids, teens and adults alike can escape the everyday for the trip of a lifetime – at least for an afternoon.

From May 2-5, the 39^th annual SLSF, the largest free storytelling festival in the world, will bring together locally and nationally-renowned storytellers for a series of events that honor and celebrate this ancient art. Through folklore, poetry and humor, artists will not only entertain festivalgoers, but also educate them about life around the world and throughout the ages.

According to SLSF director Lisa Overholser, it’s this engagement between performer and audience that makes live storytelling so special, “The beauty of oral storytelling as we highlight it is that it’s a deeply personal, nuanced and engaging art form, both as a listener and as a teller. There’s no intermediary, no external device like a book or film strip or whatever it may be - it’s simply one person telling a story to another person, face to face. It’s a form of communication that existed before any other form of storytelling, out of necessity and out of tradition.”

She added, “I think that’s important today, to have that access as humans to other human beings. In oral storytelling (or storytelling performance, as I like to think of it), the body, the voice, is really the medium. It’s a deeply human form, and a humanizing element that is badly needed in today’s world.”

Engaging performances for every member of the family

The festival kicks off on Wednesday, May 2 with storytelling events for local schools and free workshops for educators and the public during the day before the Opening Ceremony and Concert at the .ZACK Theater at 7:30 p.m. From Thursday through Saturday, storytellers will grace the stages at locations throughout the area for free or low-cost performances, including those suited for all members of the family as well as oral histories and personal shows geared toward adults.

In addition to a lineup of regional artists, the SLSF hosts seven featured storytellers, including:

• Peter Cook – a deaf performing artist, Cook blends together American Sign Language, pantomime, acting, and movement for a remarkable performance.
• Regi Carpenter – Carpenter’s “tender but terrible” tales honor four generations of family members raised on the Saint Lawrence River in New York.
• Bobby Norfolk – this master storyteller and local favorite takes listeners through imaginative stories that excite and enthrall.
• Gayle Ross – a descent of John Ross, principal chief of Cherokee Nation during the Trail of Tours, Ross honors her rich heritage through this timeless art form.
• Alton Chung – Chung shares Asian folktales from around the Pacific Rim as well as explores the Japanese American experience in World War II.
• Donald Davis – born in the Appalachian Mountains, Davis weaves together stories filled with tradition, heroics and history.
• David Gonzalez – the cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department, Gonzalez has brought his stories to the national stage and festivals around the world.

Overholser noted that the overall goal of the SLSF is to help festivalgoers understand that storytelling is a useful skill even in today’s modern age. “Storytelling can be entertaining to listen to, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But it can also be educational and engaging in a way that I think is undervalued and useful in so many different types of settings. There is a range of oral storytelling styles, and we’ve tried to program the Festival this year to also show that range of style and talent.”

To learn more about the SLSF and to see a full schedule of performances and workshops, visit  www.extension.missouri.edu/storytelling/home.aspx.