Toronto, ON – Young People’s Theatre (YPT) is thrilled to premiere its brand new online Storytelling Series, spotlighting Indigenous and non-European oral storytelling traditions. The video series launches on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7PM with the first of four storytellers, Anishinaabemowin educator Barbara Nolan. Her recorded stories, told over three days on Oct. 15, 21 and 28, will be presented in Ojibway with English subtitles.
The first video will premiere online here, and is recommended for ages 4-8. Storytellers Gail Nyoka, Louise Profeit-LeBlanc and Pamela Mordecai will also be featured throughout the 2020.21 season.
“The times we’re in encourage us all to be creative,” says YPT Artistic Director Allen MacInnis. “While a ‘story’ is always part of a play, storytelling is also its own, time-honoured practice. So we are thrilled to be able to invite four experts to offer their unique stories for YPT’s online initiatives this season.”
Barbara helped create one of the first NSL (Native as a Second Language) programs in Ontario and has developed her own Nishnaabe-language translation app called Nishnaabemdaa. Read more about Barbara and her work with storytelling at barbaranolan.com.
The Storytelling Series is also available to schools. For educators interested in pre- and post-show workshops for their classes please contact Molly Gardner, Education Manager, at mgardner@youngpeoplestheatre.org
Barbara Nolan:
Nesdotmookiid (“Causer of Language Understanding”)
Barbara Nolan is grateful to have survived the attempts by Canada’s Indian Residential Schools system to take her Nishnaabe language from her. As a vibrant first-speaker of Nishnaabemwin, Barbara has spent several decades working with a variety of organizations to revitalize the Ojibway/Odawa language, her most passionate method is through storytelling. She also delivers presentations on Community Wellness that addresses the impacts of the Indian Residential School System including Healing and Laughter Workshops. Barbara is a proud Nishnaabe-kwe, formerly from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, who now resides in Garden River First Nation.
