Big West Festival. Tango Tangents. November 16 2011

I'll be having fun in the Big West Festival. Alison Richards and I met at NIDA in 1974 and we are still creative buddies.

TANGO TANGENTS

Presented by the Sunset Sisters.

photo: Ponch Hawkes

Alison Richards, Faye Bendrups and Jackie Kerin are divas of the Melbourne stage and together they light up the night. Their supreme command of song and story will bring a fresh set of tastes to your jaded palates. Tango Tangents explores Tango culture from a woman’s point of view with a cocktail of original songs by Faye Bendrups, Alison Richards and Melbourne’s ‘Queen of Cabaret’ Ella Filar, together with classic ‘Euro Tango’ songs like Jealousy, the work of Argentinian writer Luisa Valenzuela and the voiceplay Last Tango in Braybrook. This is something special, darlings – drink deep.

CREATIVE TEAM: Alison Richards, Faye Bendrups, Jackie Kerin with special guests Guillermo Anad and Dave Evans

VENUE: Bluestone Performance Hub
10a Hyde St Footscray

DATES: Wed 16 Nov, 7pm

TICKETS: $20 / $15

BOOKINGS: here

FURTHER INFORMATION: Big West

The Village Festival 3 - 6th November. Edinburgh Gardens Nth Fitzroy

Music, dance, magic, storytelling and more ...

click on poster to enlarge

Creative collisions all around.

I've been taking stories to The Village since 2008. Always a joy. There are people I only ever meet at The Village - the children are growing taller.

Last year my friend Matteo and I told stories in a beautiful Mongolian yurt, this year I will be back in the little circus tent. I love this little tent. Ten people and I have a full house and we can enjoy stories on an intimate level.

The Village is a place of hope and optimism, joy and beauty.

Call in and say 'gidday'.

Storytelling: Saturday Nov 5 midday- 5.00

Learn more about The Village and its creators here

Kamishibai swap library with UK collaborator - Derek Carpenter

The internet is a wonderful thang!

Here I am in my study in Melbourne Australia chatting via skype with Derek Carpenter (aka Bo the Clown and a dozen other characters). Derek is in his office in the UK in Newcastle.

Derek and I share a love of kamishibai and a passion for sharing stories and building repertoire.

This has led to the Kamishibai Library of Swaps. Kamishibai is a hungry beast and requires a good collection of stories. By swapping you can build your collection and help someone else build theirs. Put a story in - get one out! The world is a big place. Living in our separate hemispheres we're not concerned that our material will overlap. The stories listed have been created by us or inspired by stories out of copyright.

Learn more about Derek Carpenter here

Library of Swaps here

and here

Making original artwork for Kamishibai storytelling

The house is looking like a confetti bomb exploded and there is no room to eat at the table. But it's all in a great creative cause.

Inspired by the beautiful animations of Lotte Reiniger, I thought I would try my hand at making pictures by cutting up paper. This series illustrates the old folk tale about the cracked pot whose flaw meant the earth was watered and flowers could bloom amongst the stones.

The pictures are A3 size and I will have them printed for my kamishibai and keep the originals safe.

Experimenting with this kind of storytelling has been the highlight of my year. I have made new friends across the globe and am relishing using whatever visual art skills I have lurking in the back brain.

Kamishibai friend in the UK, Derek Carpenter and I, have set up a swap library on his website. It's a work in progress - the idea is ... you put a story in, you get a story out. Of course you must have copyright or permission from the author/artist to be a contributor.

Kamishibai Library of Swaps

It was Derek who introduced me to Lotte Reiniger. Please enjoy an example of Lotte's work and be inspired also.

The Carrum Sailing Club. Claire Saxby and Christina Booth

Yesterday I had the pleasure of pedalling my bike to Yarraville - a pretty little precinct in the inner west of Melbourne. With narrow streets, petite wooden Victorian cottages built close to the footpaths and tangled gardens reaching through picket fences - yes ... riding is the best way to enjoy.

Friend and writing buddy, Claire Saxby, was launching her latest picture book for young children. Yarraville's social life centres around the the art deco Sun Cinema, the Sun bookshops and the coffee shops. A fabulous place for a book launch.

While my preoccupation is telling stories to children rather than reading, I still need texts to work with. Claire's previous book, There was and Old Sailor (illustrator: Cassandra Allen) with its rhythmical language and rhyme is a staple in my repertoire. The Carrum Sailing Club is a story with strong sensual appeal. We are invited to feel the sand, get wet and eat. We're invited to dance, fly, hide and explore.

Its a skill and a half to pack so much into 32 pages and with minimal text. There's no doubt, Claire's knowledge and experience of poetry gives her an edge when it comes to writing for the very young.

With beautiful Illustrations by Christina Booth, I reckon this book is a winner.

The Carrum Sailing Club by Claire Saxby and Christina Booth.

publisher: Windy Hollow