Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Storytelling: An Art



The Oral Tradition On Paper: Latino Writers in their Own Words.
Back in the day stories were memorized and passed down. The oral tradition of story telling is NOT a new concept. The passing on of history, religion, language and music orally through stories is how our traditions and cultures are preserved. All those stories that our mothers and fathers, abuelas and abuelos have told us about who we are and where we come from have been passed down orally.
The roots of where the tambor comes from in Palo Dominicano… the significance of bomba y plena in communicating with our ancestors through dance and drum. How gaga, originally Rara from Haiti, arrived to Hispanola that is celebrated today in the Dominican Republic.
The oral tradition is how we maintain our stories generation across generation.  The storyteller with her pen… takes the stories told orally and gets them on the page. Storytellers remind us of why it is important to document, write and perform our stories. Without storytellers our stories, our history and our culture would be lost.
How do we pass down what has been left for us? What are we leaving behind? What would happen if there were no storytellers? How will we preserve our language and history? Why is it important that YOU document, write and tell our stories?
Join us tomorrow for a wonderful conversation about Oral Tradition from the mouths of storytellers.
Wednesday, September 19th
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Address: 72 5th Avenue, New York
Room 321 Henry Cohen Conference Room



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