Ottawa Storytellers - Under the Palm Tree: Sankofa Stories

Ottawa Storytellers Presents: Under the Palm Tree: Sankofa Stories From Onyxstasia African Diaspora Productions February 22, 2018 at 7:30 pm at the Alan and Roula Rossy Pavillion of the National Arts Centre Come sit Under The Palm Tree as Kahmaria Pingue (B.Ed, OCT) and Hamid Ayoub (Musician and Visual Artist) make African-Caribbean Anansi the Spider stories come alive with interactive storytelling, drumming and African dance. THE STORIES Anansi, the spider, tales originated from the Akan people of Ghana. The Akan word Ananse means spider and Ananseme means spider stories. These stories, told in the oral tradition, travelled with through both the voluntary migration of African explorers and forced human trafficking, we now know as the transAtlantic slave trade. They spread to the Caribbean; to countries such as Jamaica, Suriname, and Sierra Leone where they were introduced by Jamaican Maroons (descendants of the Akan people). Anansi is characterised as a trickster in the form of either a man or a spider. He is clever yet always seems to have a lesson to learn. In Anansi Makes a Change, Anansi enjoys village life just as much as his neighbours, but sometimes forgets the importance of ubuntu; the way of African community life. Living in harmony with the land of our ancestors and leaving a legacy for generations to come should be second nature to Anansi, but will he choose to be obedient to ubuntu or selfish? THE STORYTELLERS KAHMARIA PINGUE Kahmaria Pingue is a OCT certified teacher (University of Ottawa, 2013) M.A. Ed candidate (University of Ottawa, 2018) and dancer who is passionate about African dance. Born in Jamaica, but has been a resident of Canada since the age of five. She has chosen to embrace her African ancestry in the rhythmic, and creative form of traditional African dance and storytelling in the Oral Tradition. She toured 12 Vancouver libraries as an Traditional African Oral Storyteller, (1999) and in Ottawa, Kahmaria has read at the Greensboro and, Centennial Public library (2015), also over the telephone for the Senior’s Centre Without Walls Program (2016). Recently, Kahmaria was featured at the Ottawa StoryTellers Children’s Festival (2016), where she utilized African Storytelling in the Oral Tradition to teach African culture and the history of African dance to young children. www.onyxstasia.comHAMID AYOUB Born in Sudan and presently living in Ottawa, Hamid Ayoub is a Bachelor of Arts graduate from the College of Fine and Applied Arts, Sudan University of Sciences and Technology, with a specialization in Textile Design. For him, art is ever present because we are surrounded by shapes and colours which are the pulse of any artistic creation. Every day sights and situations shape the work of the artist. Hamid Ayoub depicts the emotions of the human spirit through colour and movement. Different mediums are used to render the entire spectrum of life experiences. Hamid’s work has been exhibited in many venues in Sudan, Niger, France, Holland, England, the United States and Canada. www.hamidayoub.com For inquires, or to book an interview with the artists, contact: Allison Burns, Artistic Manager - Ottawa StoryTellers (613) 322-8336 | mad@ottawastorytellers.ca Tickets $22 Regular | $18 Seniors NAC Box Office | Online | 1 (888) 991-2787 THE REST OF THE 2017-2018 SPEAKING OUT SEASON: Thursday, March 22, 2018 at 7:30pm The Norse Gods: Battle, Betrayal and Death Colette Laplante Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7:30pm Tales and Tunes of Malicious Enchantment Betty Bennett and Angelica Ottewill Thursday, May 24, 2018 at 7:30pm The Tour: A Trip Through Ireland Bob Woods, Mary Wiggin, and Niamh O'Brien Thursday, June 21, 2018 at 7:30pm Utsän Män – Old Woman Lake Louise Profeit LeBlanc