Listeners
from two to eighty-two came to their local public libraries,
the Albany Public Library, or The Egg to hear stories that
spoke to their experiences. Performing storytellers also spanned
a wide age range, several as young as ten.
Eight
Albany and Rensselaer Counties libraries hosted performances
on Thursday evening. People came out to enjoy an evening of
stories close to home
in
these communities: Altamont, Castleton, Petersburgh, Ravena,
Rensselaerville, Stephentown, Troy, and Voorheesville.
As eight
storytellers in eight different places were beginning to spin
their tales Thursday evening, an early spring ice storm rumbled
into the Capital Region. This storm pelted the area with freezing
rain, sleet and ice throughout the Festival weekend. Driving
was hazardous, and walking outside was a reminder of why rubber-soled
boots and umbrellas were invented.
The weather
forced cancellation of area schools on Friday, which meant
cancellation of the storyteller performances at schools that
were part of the Riverway Festival lineup. As the day wore
on and the weather worsened, we reluctantly made the decision
to cancel the family performance scheduled for Friday evening
at WAMC Linda Norris Auditorium.
Saturday
morning’s activities at Albany Public Library began promptly
at 9:00 a.m. when excited student storytellers from four schools
met one another for the first time.
At 9:30,
the storytelling technique workshops began. Students, teachers,
librarians, and storytellers took part,
learning
how to improve their effectiveness in telling stories and
also how to work with funders and administration to bring
storytelling into their schools or libraries.
At 11:30,
variously nervous or ebullient student tellers performed in
four locations around the library to genuine acclaim.
Following
lunch, a free family performance by J.Gilliam Brown and Felix
Pitre
filled
the large auditorium with appreciative parents and kids, many
of whom came to the library just for this event.
The daytime
activities ended with a master class by world-renowned storyteller
Laura Simms.
The
Egg
was the venue for Saturday evening’s performance for adults.
Storytellers
Fran Yardley, Jim Bruchac, and Laura Simms
told stories
of fathers and losses, Adirondack humor, war and peace, and
the search for love to an audience of ranging from teens to
septuagenarians.
Total
attendance at Festival events exceeded 550, a heartening number
for a first-time festival on a weekend when the weather made
leaving home a chancy proposition. Had all scheduled events
taken place and the weather not precluded some registrants
from coming, we expect attendance to have approached 2000.
A hearty
round of applause to Riverway's audiences, storytellers, volunteers
and sponsors who joined together to create and enjoy the first
annual Riverway Storytelling Festival!
Riverway
Storytelling Festival is a charter member of the Hudson
Valley Storytelling Alliance.
