September 18, 2002 – The Chronicle, Montreal’s West Island community newspaper

Anyone want to hear a really good story?

BY BARBARA LAVOIE

Everyone enjoys a god story. Storytelling, one of the oldest forms of human communication, is enjoying a comeback.

Two organizations, UNICEF Canada and the Quebec Centre for Literacy, are using storytelling and learning, as an educational tool to promote and encourage literacy. September was proclaimed International Literacy Month by UNESCO, a committee of the United Nations dedicated to improving basic education and literacy in their efforts to promote peach in the global society.

Dan Yashinsky, 51, one of Canada’s most well known storytellers and authors, explained.

“A well-chosen story told at the right moment can leave the listeners with new understanding. It engages the head, the heart and the hands,” he said yesterday during a Beaconsfield visit sponsored by UNICEF Canada.

Students, teachers and parents at Beacon Hill elementary school giggled and squirmed with delight yesterday as Yashinsky engaged everyone’s attention in quick-witted riddles, a scary Halloween story and a tale from China.

Every story became an animated exchange between Yashinsky, the storyteller, and his listeners. He actively encouraged the children to think and to use their imagination when he asked for ideas and suggestions for the characters in the story. Quoting a traditional Portuguese proverb, “First you listen, then you speak,” Yashinksy encouraged the children to retell the stories they heard, and added, “This is how to learn to become a storyteller.”

Yashinksy, was appointed appointed UNICEF Canada`s storyteller-in-residence in 2001. He is in Montreal as part of his cross-country tour to promote the organization’s online educational program, Global Schoolhouse, a program providing teachers with educational materials and resources on the use of storytelling.

In an interview yesterday, Yashinksy, who has been telling stories for more than 30 years, recalled his younger days. “I fell in love with stories as a kid at summer camp,” he said. “By the time I grew up and became a camp counsellor, I knew I wanted to tell stories for a living.”

Storytelling for and by adults is one of many local activities being offered by the Quebec Centre for Literacy all this month at its second annual book sale at Marché de L’Ouest in Dollard des Ormeaux.

The centre is opening a series of workshops and events on storytelling, writing and theatre production for children and adults throughout the month of September. Two workshops are planned specifically for adults. Tomorrow, people can register for a free evening session that covers the basics of the art of storytelling.

On September 26, Angie Zawada, a member of the Storyteller’s Guild of Montreal, will take participants on a one-hour imaginative journey into folkloric tales of universal wisdom, humour and spirituality. The workshop is titled Timeless Tales – Spoken Secrets of Sages & Sillies: Storytelling for Adults.

Zawada, 28, a Grade 5 teacher, said she simply loves to tell stories. “I like to capture the spirit of the story and get inside their imagination,” she said.

Although she enjoyed stories as a child, Zawada only recently became a storyteller. “I believe my goal as a storyteller is to open hearts. And I feel I’ve done a good job if there is a heart connection between the story character, my listeners and me. My definition of a heart connection is that we may travel in different bodies, eat different foods, and take different journeys, but the experience is universal,” she said.

Zawada is currently completing an apprenticeship with master storyteller, Rosalyn Cohen, of the Guild. “As the teller, I watch the faces of everyone that listens to my stories. I see them become captivated and then transformed into another world through the story. And adults are no less captivated than children.” Kids 6 to 12 can be part of a theatre production this Friday and 8-to-12 year olds can attend a three-hour workshop Sept. 28 to learn how to write and share their own stories.

To find out more about UNICEF Canada and its programs, call (514) 288-5134 or visit its Web site at www.unicef.ca. For more information on the Quebec Centre for Literacy or to register for the workshops, call (514) 573-3225 or check its Web site at www.nald.ca/litcent.htm.