Storytelling Festival Sept. 26-28

Back by popular demand, Danny “Slap Jazz” Barber, body percussionist extraordinary for the twenty-second Annual “Signifyin’ & Testifyin’” Black Master Storytelling Festival September 26 – 28, 2013.

 

     Black Storytellers Alliance celebrates its 22nd Annual Black Master Storytelling Festival, “Signifyin’ & Testifyin’” in the Minneapolis metropolitan area with a line-up of world renown Master storytellers, September 26 – 28, 2013.  Joining “Slap Jazz” are: 

Mitch “Gran’Daddy JuneBug” Capel, Fayetteville, NC	Toni Simmons, Dallas, TX
Antonio Rocha, Grey, ME	Elisha “Mother” Minter, Charlotte, NC
Oba William King,            Chicago, IL	Janice Curtis Greene, Baltimore, MD

 

    

     “Signifyin’ & Testifyin’” is a family-friendly exposition of the power of the oral storytelling tradition as practiced by African people in the Diaspora.  BSA presents this free, three-day edutainment opportunity as a part of its mission to maintain the art of storytelling as a primary source for positive instruction and reinforcement of the rich beauty embodied in the telling of “the story” to residents of the Twin Cities Greater Metropolitan area.  As part of this effort, BSA invites the entire community to join us each day starting with the Opening Ceremonies Storytelling concert - Thursday evening, September 26, 2013 to be held at the Capri Theatre on West Broadway in Minneapolis.

 

On Friday, September 27 from 9AM to 1 PM, BSA features storytelling concerts for students and their teachers.  These concerts are hosted and co-sponsored by Macalester College at Kagin Hall in St. Paul; and the University of Minnesota UROC in Minneapolis.  Teachers sign-up online at http://blackstorytellers.com/schoolconcerts.html for a specific time and venue, bring their students and enjoy – free of charge. That Friday evening at 7 pm, Ames Elks Lodge will co-host and sponsor the infamous “Liar’s –Tall Tales – Contest” at 1601 Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis. 

 

Saturday evening September 28, 2012 at 7 PM, is the Grand Finale at Perpich Center for the Arts 6125 Olson Memorial Highway in Golden Valley.  All events are free of charge and open to the public!

 

     Black Storytellers Alliance is able to produce this festival through great collaborations and co-sponsorships; individual and corporate donations; and a core of the greatest volunteers in the world including the Board of Directors for Black Storytellers Alliance. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.