A week ago I wrote about the NEA Heritage Fellows Concert - but submitted to DCMETROTheatre.com a bit late so he could not publish it. You know "old News"." Rather than scrap it I am posting here thinking there may be some storyteller folks that would want to read about it.
NEA Heritage Fellows in an
Extraordinary Evening at Lisner Auditorium
By Ellouise Schoettler
“For one night each year, the
National Endowment of the Arts invites recipients of the nation’s highest honor
in the folk and traditional arts to share their art forms with the public at
the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Concert.”
From NEA Press Announcement. The
event is open Free to the public.
Last Friday evening as I left
the concert at Lisner Auditorium I
heard a woman say to her
companion, “it was an extraordinary evening.” His reply, “It always is.”
This year nine extraordinary
artists in the folk traditions were selected from a wide feel of nominees as
2013 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows. They are Sheila
Kay Adams, Ballad Singer. Musician and Storyteller, Ralph Burns, Storyteller of
the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Veronica Castillo, Ceramicist and Clay Sculptor,
Seamus Connolly, Irish Fiddler, Nicolae Feraru, Cimbalom Player,
Carol Fran, Swamp Blues
Singer and Pianist, Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez, Chicano Musician and Culture Bearer
and Pauline Hillarie, Tradition Bearer, Lummi Tribe.
Friday night the Fellows
appeared “In concert” at Lisner Auditorium, Washington DC with Nick Spitzer,
Host of the weekly radio program American
Routes was Master of Ceremonies. Find
bios along with audios and videos of all the Fellows HERE. http://arts.gov/lifetime-honors/nea-national-heritage-fellowships/2013-nea-national-heritage-fellowships-concert
Only large color panels
defined the space on the stage. The
performers were the main focus and one after the other they performed in top
form before an audience who appreciated the traditional arts and they did not
hold back on their enthusiasm.
Of the nine performers I was
most touched by two women, ballad singer and storyteller Sheila Kay Adams and
Swamp Blues singer Carol Fran.
I do have to tell you. Not
only am I a fellow storyteller, I too like Sheila Kay Adams, am a North Carolina native . Also I have seen
her perform in a tent packed wall to wall by up to 2,000 people at the National
Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee where story-lovers love her.
Friday night she did herself proud as she shed her light on traditional ballad
singing, storytelling and her home state.
She was not on stage specifically
to tell a story but she’s a Tar Heel through and through so she couldn’t help
herself. Her causal patter with the
audience about her hometown of Sodom in Madison County, NC evolved into a bit of
a story. Her 7 generation deep-root connection with traditional music passed down
through her family became another bit of a story. Her explanations that ballads are songs that tell
a story added to the story quilt she was piecing.
She sang two ballads, the
first accapella and the second she accompanied herself with the bango. Her
voice was clear and crisp and the beautiful melodies were true as she sang the
stories in her songs. Her ballad singing
and her songs took the audience back more than 200 years to experience the
purity of the tradition. It was a moment. More about Sheila Kay Evans
HERE.
A stranger to me, Carol Fran,
is a Swamp Blues singer from New Orleans, La. She and a back-up group of jazz
musicians closed the concert by bringing the audience to their feet.
Her red sequined dress
glittered about her as, using a cane, her pianist gently assisted her to the
center of the stage. As soon as she accepted the microphone she took charge .
Her deep, resonant voice belted forth a song.
Carol Fran is called the
Sarah Vaughn of New Orleans. She showed the audience she is still in command of
her voice in both English and the French of Louisiana. Her eyes were shining and her face smiling as
she sang. Her body swayed gently with the music and her feet that had needed
help coming on stage were slightly dancing.
She came to life in her music and inspired the audience.
“I am 80 years old this
year.” She declared proudly to the
audience and a wave of applause roared back to her.
More information about Carol
Fran HERE.
It was an extraordinary
evening. Don’t miss it next year. It is Free to the public. You can sign on to
the Lisner Auditorium web page HERE. They will keep you informed.
2 comments:
Sounds amazing, Ellouise!
Hello ,
I heard about a great MOOC (free university online courses, for everybody) entitled "The future of storytelling", and I wanted to share the good news with everybody interested in storytelling.
The MOOC will be about :
• storytelling basics,
• serial formats (on the TV, web and beyond),
• storytelling in role-playing games,
• interactive storytelling in video games,
• transmedia storytelling,
• alternate-reality gaming,
• augmented reality and location-based
storytelling,
• the role of tools,
• interfaces and information architectures in current storytelling.
The course starts on October 25th, 2013, so don't waste time to enrol and don't forget to share the good news with your friends :)
You can follow this URL to to discover the course and/or enrol : https://iversity.org/courses/the-future-of-storytelling?r=14bd5
May be I'll meet other readers of this blog in the MOOC?! :)
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