Aberdeen Storytelling Festival
 |
 |
Organised by the Arts Education Team at Aberdeen City Council, this festival is now in its seventh year, and is one of the biggest festivals of its kind for children, young people, communities and families. |
During last year's festival over 6,000 children took part in events across the city. The festival runs for six weeks from 14 February until 27 March with around 190 events taking place. There will be something for everyone, with the programme including a wide range of arts activities - literature, music and song, dance, film, theatre, illustration and puppetry. There are also storytelling events, competitions to enter and workshops to participate in.
An important part of the festival is the first ever Storytelling Fellowship for Aberdeen City Schools, funded by the Scottish Arts Council. This fellowship will span 14 months, running from the beginning of this year's festival through to the end of next year's festival. The Fellows are professional storytellers Margot Henderson and Cathy Low, who will both be available to city schools throughout the year.
|
Aside from the Storytelling Fellowship, storytelling plays a big part in the festival. Over 16 local and national storytellers will be taking part, incorporating tales from around the world, stories from different cultures, myths, legends, religious stories and traditional tales. |
|
 |
The storytellers will bring the stories to life through the use of song, props, costumes and dance, and children will often be encouraged to participate. There will be an educational element to the stories, with some storytellers bringing instruments and traditional dress from other countries, and others teaching the children about their local environment and the natural world through the medium of storytelling.
Many of the storytelling sessions are combined with educational tours of the venue, making the stories come to life. Some examples of the many venues taking part in this are the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, the Tolbooth and the Fire Station.
 |
|
Plans are well under way to convert a single decker bus into a mobile learning resource, travelling around the St Machar area visiting schools, libraries, playgroups, clubs and perhaps even supermarket carparks! The bus will be used before, during and after school, at weekends and during holidays, making it accessible to all. |
A Committee of ten pupils meets once a month at different business boardrooms and has its own campaign for fund-raising for the Reading Bus. The Committee is planning a storytelling extravaganza to celebrate World Book Day on 3 March, involving all schools in the Machar area. This will also promote the Reading Bus, helping to make more people aware of the campaign.
| In conjunction with Word '05, the University of Aberdeen's Writers' Festival, the Aberdeen Storytelling and Theatre Festival is sponsoring a short story competition for secondary school pupils. The winning entries will be published as part of a collection of short stories which will be launched as part of the 2006 Word Festival, providing a rare opportunity for school students to see their work in print. |
|
 |
Stories are welcomed from all Secondary School students in Aberdeen City Schools. Stories should be loosely based on the phrase 'the last thing I expected'. For more information and an application form, please telephone 01224 346361 or email Louise Baxter.
Citymoves Dancespace is holding an event which combines literature with dance, music and song. 'Oi! Get Off Our Train!' is a story about a little boy and his dream-time journey around the world, speeding through the night to far-off lands, meeting and saving endangered animals on the way. Many of the adventures and illustrations from this story will be encompassed through dance, music, song and storytelling in Aberdeen's Central Children's Library.
 |
|
The artists involved in creating and delivering the above sessions are leading a training session for pre-5 staff and parents. This will develop the skills and understanding needed to combine movement with storytelling. |
The session will have a practical, hands-on approach and comfortable clothing should be worn. For more details about session dates and times, please contact Annette Murray on 01224 346029 or by email.
Throughout the festival, Paul Foy, Education Officer at The Belmont, will be working with P7 children from Gilcomstoun, Scotstown and Walker Road schools, running storytelling workshops using film as part of the storytelling process. This will culminate in a screening at The Belmont of films produced by city schoolchildren. The Belmont's Kids Club will also be screening films which have either been adapted from classic stories, or have been made utilising some of the traditions of great storytelling.
Scottish Opera for All (SOFA), the education unit for Scottish Opera, has created a musical adventure for young pupils - 'Auntie Janet Saves the Planet', which will be performed during the Festival. The performance features four singers/actors who portray a range of characters representing several species of animals, currently listed as endangered species in Scotland. A combination of live performance and puppetry is used on an interactive stage set, taking the young audience on a journey under the sea and into the treetops to help the Song Thrush find her song and fly.
 |
|
A specially commissioned storybook has been designed to introduce the central characters to the children before the performance. |
A detailed teachers' pack linked to the curriculum has also been produced, as well as a CD to enable the children to learn a song in advance of the performance.
| Only some of the events taking place during the Festival have been outlined here. To find out more about any of the above activities or other events taking place, please contact Annette Murray, Arts Education Co-ordinator, either by telephone on 01224 346029 or by email. | |