A Review That Melts My Heart
Mary Hays and I travelled to Saskatoon on March 21 to take part in a weekend of World Storytelling Day Celebrations. What a warm welcome we recieved there even though roads were closed and there was snow piled up to the roof tops in some places. Storytellers are a resilient lot and all events went ahead as planned.
We had a little air time on Saskatoon CTV Arts at noon to promote the events and then gave our performance on the Friday night. Mary and I honed the eight hour saga of Grettir the Strong to a two hour taste and we offered it to our eager listeners with our hearts wide open. They gave us their generous listening ears in return and served us homemade Vinarterta to nourish us at the break. What a glorious evening we shared. Our key organizer and contact person was Chris Lindgren (whom I had met more than 25 years ago at a Storytelling Retreat weekend in the foothills of Alberta) She not only gave us food and shelter but followed it all with the gift of her kind words.
Hearing the Saga of Grettir the Strong was a very riveting and powerful experience for me. I loved how the story began with a mother’s song, how there were verses woven throughout. I was delighted with some of the humour, which I had not expected at all. There was so much to the whole performance that made it outstanding: the research, writing, preparation and of course the skillful performance. I did not want it to end. Even so, it was accessible for an audience that may have been new to storytelling. So many people willingly got up to dance at the end, all joining hands in a large circle, and in that moment, I felt that we were all joining hands with all those who had heard the saga or danced the dance over hundreds of years. I have never felt that quite so powerfully before. I find it hard to put words to what I was experiencing at the close of that evening. I shall never forget it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I know it was a lot of work for you both. I hope you know that it was appreciated.
– Chris Lindgren
