|
The third annual Riverway Storytelling Festival is strictly for kids, according to Kate Dudding. Kids of all ages, that is.
"I really enjoy listening to storytellers and watching the audience," said Dudding, a member of the
Story Circle of the Capital District. "You look at the faces of the elderly people, and they look like children. It's like magic, because the storyteller is taking them back to their own childhood."
The third annual Riverway Storytelling Festival begins at 7 p.m. Monday night, April 4, with events at the Pine Hills Branch of the Albany Public Library and at the Petersburgh Public Library, and concludes Sunday, April 10, with headliner Susan Klein performing at the William K. Sanford Town Library in Colonie.
In all, there are 30 storytellers and 23 different events making up the seven days of performances in Albany and Rensselaer counties. Along with Klein, the Riverway Festival has attracted another nationally known storyteller in Derek Burrows.
Burrows and Klein will share the stage at The College of Saint Rose's St. Joseph's Hall at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 9, in a program titled "Laughin' Night: Stories That Make You Giggle and Grin."
Caribbean Tales
"I just saw Derek Burrows in Boston a few weeks ago and he's a warm, talented guy who's just fascinating to listen to," said Dudding. "He's a musician from The Bahamas, but he also does American folklore and myths and legends from Africa."
Klein, meanwhile, often tells stories about people falling in and out of love.
"She's a storyteller from Martha's Vineyard, and if we do have one program designed for adults and kids above 12, it's here," said Dudding, one of the organizers of the festival as well as one of its performers. "She talks about love and mistakes, which obviously go hand in hand."
On Saturday, April 9, at the Albany Public Library, a series of workshops throughout the day will give amateur storytellers a chance to get up and perform in front of an audience. For anyone considering the opportunity, Dudding has some advice.
"Storytellers tell a story from the heart, not by heart," she said. "It's a bit like a one-person play but you don't memorize anything, and the performer talks straight to the audience. There is no fourth wall that separates the teller from the listener."
For more information, call 732-4212 or visit www.riverwaystorytellingfestival.org.
Copyright 2005, The Daily Gazette Co., Schenectady, N.Y.
| 
