African American Stories, Games, and Songs

This program highlights children’s games and playtimes, rhythms and rhymes from African American Culture and tradition. Enjoy participating in the African Oral Tradition in fun interactive folktales, rhythms, and rhymes from African American culture. Tricksters and rascals fill the imagination with ingenious rouses to fool everyone – that is until they get caught. Repetition, call and response, playful language, riddles and conundrums make this adventure ever so much fun. All ages.

Length of program: 1 hour – Appropriate for: ages 6-12; families and children, school groups

Brave Children: Stories from around the World 

This is a storytelling program of traditional stories about remarkable children from North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. These tales are told to inspire strength and character, tolerance and understanding of all people. Many of the tales are interactive and use the audience to help tell the story. All ages.

Length of program: 1 hour – Appropriate for: ages 6-12; families and children, school groups

Brer Tales

This collection of trickster tales have been passed down from generation to generation oozing up from the deep south. Brer Rabbit is resourceful, ingenious and cunning. He is joined by many other folk from the Pee Dee River Swamp, like Brer Bear, Brer Opossum, Brer Rattlesnake and Brer Turkey Buzzard. They are filled with life lessons with a chance to learn from each other’s mistakes. Guaranteed to enchant and delight. All ages.

Length of program: 1 hour – Appropriate for: ages 6-12; families and children, school groups

Trickster Tales from West Africa – Anansi

These tales are told in the African Oral Tradition. Find out how Anansi got his name and why all the stories belong to him, and… how did he get such a narrow waist? He is clever, he is cunning, he is greedy and full of life. He causes such mischief, and he can be a scoundrel, but he always brings everyone closer to the truth and each other. Laugh and cry with Anansi because he is a lot like us. All ages.

From Compere Lapin to Ti-Jean

This program salutes the trickster and hero figures in the African diaspora. The interchange of cultures which created a creole language in folktales.  Enjoy the lessons from Compere Lapin in Louisiana to Petit Jean in Haiti and the clever women of South Western America. Wherever people go, they take their culture with them. Stories cross pollinate and shape themselves to new lands. All ages.