A STORY WITHOUT BORDERS
Storytelling: the Listener's Ear.
Date
22 December 2012
Venue
Casa del Lector
Location
La Nube.
Price
Free entrance, limited seating.
Category
Institution
Casa del Lector
We all know the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and Tom Thumb, but very few people know that many of these stories have been told for centuries in different countries and in different languages. They are tales without borders, and we don't only find versions of them in Arabic, Chinese, and Danish, but also in Galician, Catalan, and Basque.
To tell us these tales and many more, storytellers from around the world are coming to Casa del lector, beginning with Boni Ofogo, from Cameroon, and Ana García-Castellano, from Spain, who, hand in hand, will reveal to us all the stories they know, showing us that, if there is something universal and common to all the world's cultures, that is the desire shared by children and grown-ups alike to listen to and tell stories.
Ana García-Castellano was born in Madrid one autumn morning. She was fascinated by books and the written word as soon as she discovered the wonders they are capable of doing for us. That's why, later, she couldn't do anything else but tell stories. And so she began to write down these tales. University gave her three things: the certainty that nothing is certain, the privilege of creating good theatre, and a degree in Law. She trained in the Theatre Hall at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where her first plays debuted. Her eagerness to find answers saw her visiting Nigeria and Congo, and marginalized Hispanic communities in United States. It has also led to collaborations with institutions like Proyecto Hombre. This is how she understood that the most powerful weapon for fighting war is non-violence. And she dediced to tell it, often, loud and clear, in her travels as a storyteller. She also tells it loud and clear in writing: she has published several books for children and yound people, articles, and tales for adults, and she's seen her plays produced. She has been awarded by the Universidad Autónoma and with the Hucha de Plata award for stories.
Boni Ofogo tells us the following about himself:
«I am the product of an oral tradition, because I was born and raised in an interior village in Cameroon, where the oral tradition was the only way of getting any kind of education or knowledge. Although my academic studies and my life experience have led me to discover the written word, the primarily oral nature of what I grew up with is still my main point of reference in my work as a storyteller.
I came to Spain in 1988, and since 1992 I've dedicated my life to the age-old work of the storyteller. It started out as a game, by accident, at University. Now I can't stop telling stories. Besides being decent and increasingly recognized work, telling stories for me is a way of looking for my roots. I tell stories for schools, for libraries, and for NGOs. I've told stories for senior citizen centres, for language school, at bachelorette parties, at weddings, etc... I always use stories from an oral tradtion that have some educational or moral value, that offer cultural contrast, or that are really funny.
I don't mind passing on, thorugh my stories, some values that today's world is missing. Through my stories I want to convey the spirit of Africa, that continent that is so close yet so misunderstood».
To tell us these tales and many more, storytellers from around the world are coming to Casa del lector, beginning with Boni Ofogo, from Cameroon, and Ana García-Castellano, from Spain, who, hand in hand, will reveal to us all the stories they know, showing us that, if there is something universal and common to all the world's cultures, that is the desire shared by children and grown-ups alike to listen to and tell stories.
Ana García-Castellano was born in Madrid one autumn morning. She was fascinated by books and the written word as soon as she discovered the wonders they are capable of doing for us. That's why, later, she couldn't do anything else but tell stories. And so she began to write down these tales. University gave her three things: the certainty that nothing is certain, the privilege of creating good theatre, and a degree in Law. She trained in the Theatre Hall at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where her first plays debuted. Her eagerness to find answers saw her visiting Nigeria and Congo, and marginalized Hispanic communities in United States. It has also led to collaborations with institutions like Proyecto Hombre. This is how she understood that the most powerful weapon for fighting war is non-violence. And she dediced to tell it, often, loud and clear, in her travels as a storyteller. She also tells it loud and clear in writing: she has published several books for children and yound people, articles, and tales for adults, and she's seen her plays produced. She has been awarded by the Universidad Autónoma and with the Hucha de Plata award for stories.
Boni Ofogo tells us the following about himself:
«I am the product of an oral tradition, because I was born and raised in an interior village in Cameroon, where the oral tradition was the only way of getting any kind of education or knowledge. Although my academic studies and my life experience have led me to discover the written word, the primarily oral nature of what I grew up with is still my main point of reference in my work as a storyteller.
I came to Spain in 1988, and since 1992 I've dedicated my life to the age-old work of the storyteller. It started out as a game, by accident, at University. Now I can't stop telling stories. Besides being decent and increasingly recognized work, telling stories for me is a way of looking for my roots. I tell stories for schools, for libraries, and for NGOs. I've told stories for senior citizen centres, for language school, at bachelorette parties, at weddings, etc... I always use stories from an oral tradtion that have some educational or moral value, that offer cultural contrast, or that are really funny.
I don't mind passing on, thorugh my stories, some values that today's world is missing. Through my stories I want to convey the spirit of Africa, that continent that is so close yet so misunderstood».