Events

Storytelling Festival

Saturday, February 7, 2009
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

KEEPING THE ORAL TRADITION ALIVE

Storytelling Festival

Saturday, February 7, 2009, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm will mark the eighth annual Storytelling Festival, Keeping the Oral Tradition Alive, a joint endeavor between the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History and Fred Motley and the Cultural Arts Ensemble.� Sponsors for this event include The Danville Public Library, Opera Ebony, the NAACP Pittsylvania County Branch, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Barry Koplen, and Zachary Hairston, MD.

This annual event, free and open to the public, draws hundreds of local and regional residents to the Museum for a day of participating and listening to stories by professional and local storytellers that specialize in the legacy of the “keeper of the word” within the African-American culture.

This year guest storytellers are The Healing Force of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Fred Motley of Danville Virginia. In addition, the much anticipated traditional drumming and dance will by performed by Patricia Hall’s Kuumba Dance Company. Cultural Arts Ensemble members Brenda Harris, James Harris, Catina Jones, Rene Hicks, Ruby Ellis, and Margaret Foster will be joined by Portia Fitzgerald in the swapping circle to spin yarns and weave words.

As part of the festival, several local African Americans who, through their careers and their community activism have inspired social and economic progress toward the quality of life within Danville will be honored. This year honorees are Curtis D. Gore, Jr., Nannie Geary Armstrong, Rhonda Poteat Womack, Theodosia L. Briggs, Deloris F. Crews, C.G. Hairston Sr., and Essic Gregory Hairston. Certificates of Recognition will be presented by Mayor Sherman Saunders.

Keeping the Oral Tradition Alive, celebrated during Black History Month, is a family-oriented, multi-cultural event, meant to inspire and bring together the entire community, Black and White. The hope is with each annual Storytelling Festival, participants will learn more about their heritage, which will instill greater pride in Danville.

For more information, call 434.793.5644.