Storytelling Workshops
Youth Storytelling workshop (click here) - Starting Jan 13, 2024
Children’s Storytelling Workshop- in English (click here) - Starting Jan 13, 2024
Children’s Storytelling Workshop- in French (click here) - TBD
Youth Storytelling Workshop
Location: Fairfields Heritage House, 3080 Richmond Rd, Ottawa (near Bayshore Shopping Centre)
Time: noon - 1:15 pm
Dates: Saturdays, January 13 – March 02, 2024
Age of participants: 13-15 years
Maximum number of participants: 12
Cost: Free
Everyone has a story. Some of us have 1001 stories! Brad Denys and Jacqui du Toit will introduce you to the art of storytelling. How do you tell your story in a way that others want to listen?
Goals for youth participants include: improving active listening skills, expanding creative imagination, developing tools to effectively convey their story, enhancing self confidence and public speaking skills.
The culmination of the workshop series will be participation in a storytelling concert.
JACQUI DU TOIT is an international acclaimed storyteller, multi-award-winning actor, puppeteer, dancer and playwright. She is well known for her work with Ottawa’s youth and her mentoring of emerging performers.
Jacqui has her degree in Theatre and Performance from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and is bilingual in English and Afrikaans. Jacqui the Creative Director and Storyteller at 8th Generation Storytelling Performance and is co-owner of The Origin Arts Community Centre.
Jacqui has performed with Ottawa Little Theatre, Rock the Arts children’s puppet company, the Niyamah Collective, a Company of fools, Gladstone theatre, and Ottawa StoryTellers.
In April of 2017 - after performances at the Origin Arts Community Centre and The Gladstone Theatre - Jacqui’s show The Hottentot Venus-Untold was produced by Counterpoint Player’s TACTICS Festival. She then traveled across Canada performing in Montreal and Edmonton with her show.
Recent acting credits include Swan River, Skeleton Key Theatre, 2018, The Drowning Girls, GCTC, 2018, and Darrah Teitel’s The Omnibus Bill, TACTICS, 2019, Being Coloured/ful in a Black and White world, Uncurrents 2021 and Springworks 2021, Hamlet, A Company of Fools 2022 -2023.
Jacqui serves on the Board of Directors for GCTC(2017 - present), Ottawa Storytellers (2020 - 2021 ) and Tactics Indie Theatre festival (2020 -Present)
Brad Denys quite literally ran away to the circus – and he travelled around the world with Cirque du Soleil. Brad has performed as an actor, dancer, clown, musician and storyteller. He has been a choreographer, a stage manager and a stage performance-coach.
Walking a winding long path, Brad has been performing around the world for the past 30 years with the likes of Cirque du Soleil, Philippe Decoufle, Cavalia, Film Festival of Cannes and Carbone-14. He has performed in over 37 countries and has gained quite a few stories along the way. He is now on a new adventure as a Storyteller with the Ottawa Storytellers.
A big fan of folktales and adventures Brad is thrilled to share his unique style of telling stories with you.
Children’s Storytelling Workshop
Brad and Jacqui will lead this in-person, 8-part workshop series for children ages 8 to 12. Participants will hear stories, tell stories in a safe space and will learn to convey their experiences, values, and culture.
Goals for child participants include: exploring stories from diverse cultures, using different techniques to learn a story, enhancing observation skills when listening, providing supportive feedback to other tellers, and developing their own unique way of telling. Participants will build skills and confidence through participation in the Oral Art of Storytelling.
The culmination of the workshop series will be participation in a storytelling concert. Participants will present tales to their learning circle and invite a friendly audience.
Location: Fairfields Heritage House, 3080 Richmond Rd, Ottawa (near Bayshore Shopping Centre)
Time: 10:30 am - 11:45 am
Dates: Saturdays, January 13 – March 02, 2024
Number of sessions in series: 8
Age of participants: 8-12 years
Maximum number of participants: 12
Cost: Free
Jacqui du Toit
JACQUI DU TOIT is an international acclaimed storyteller, multi-award-winning actor, puppeteer, dancer and playwright. She is well known for her work with Ottawa’s youth and her mentoring of emerging performers.
Jacqui has her degree in Theatre and Performance from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and is bilingual in English and Afrikaans. Jacqui the Creative Director and Storyteller at 8th Generation Storytelling Performance and is co-owner of The Origin Arts Community Centre.
Jacqui has performed with Ottawa Little Theatre, Rock the Arts children’s puppet company, the Niyamah Collective, a Company of fools, Gladstone theatre, and Ottawa StoryTellers.
In April of 2017 - after performances at the Origin Arts Community Centre and The Gladstone Theatre - Jacqui’s show The Hottentot Venus-Untold was produced byCounterpoint Player’s TACTICS Festival. She then traveled across Canada performing in Montreal and Edmonton with her show.
Recent acting credits include Swan River, Skeleton Key Theatre, 2018, The Drowning Girls, GCTC, 2018, and Darrah Teitel’s The Omnibus Bill, TACTICS, 2019, Being Coloured/ful in a Black and White world, Uncurrents 2021 and Springworks 2021, Hamlet, A Company of fools 2022 -2023.
Jacqui serves on the Board of Directors for GCTC(2017 - present), Ottawa Storytellers (2020 - 2021 ) and Tactics Indie Theatre festival (2020 -Present)
Brad Denys
Brad Denys quite literally ran away to the circus – and he travelled around the world with Cirque du Soleil. Brad has performed as an actor, dancer, clown, musician and storyteller. He has been a choreographer, a stage manager and a stage performance-coach.
Walking a winding long path, Brad has been performing around the world for the past 30 years as a dancer, actor, and clown with the likes of Cirque du Soleil, Philippe Decoufle, Cavalia, Film Festival of Cannes and Carbone-14. He has performed in over 37 countries and has gained quite a few stories along the way. He is now on a new adventure as a Storyteller with the Ottawa Storytellers.
A big fan of folktales and adventures Brad is thrilled to share his unique style of telling stories with you.
Children’s Storytelling Workshop in French
Location: Online
Time: TBD
Dates: TBD
Number of sessions in series: TBD
Age of participants: 8-12 years
Sylvi Belleau
Maximum number of participants: 10
Cost: Free
Do you like stories? What if you told them?
Become an APPRENTICE-STORYTELLER
Virtual workshops for children aged 8 to 12
Participate in the 3rd workshop in French offered by Ottawa StoryTellers (OST).
With Sylvi Belleau and Capitain Bonnefemme
Sylvi Belleau: Storyteller, playwright, trainer and actress, Sylvi has been sharing her passion for storytelling with young audiences for over 30 years. She founded Festilou, a youth storytelling festival, in 2010 and has directed the Théâtre de la Source since 1985. She has written a dozen professionally produced plays for young audiences. With La Culture at school, she has been leading workshops in schools since 1995. Her book Grindel et le bouc de Noël was published in 2013. A doctoral student in performing and screen arts at Laval University, she holds a master's degree in drama from UQAM.
Captain Bonnefemme
Captain Bonnefemme (Nicole Fournier): Her years of experience on ships largely inspire Captain Bonnefemme (Nicole Fournier) to create her tales. She tells them in schools, festivals etc. She also offers workshops of one to three hours, in French and English and is listed in the "Répertoire de culture à l'école" of the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, Québec.