The majority of Griot Chinyere performances are between 45 and 60 minutes long. Staying fit and healthy is paramount to keeping the dynamics of the storytelling energy constant and focused during perfomances. Here are some of the storytelling events she have been involved in during the last couple of months.

Nne Agwu Afrakan Storytelling Festival 2015 (August)

It was a 3-day annual event taking place in Epping forest, which encourages inner-city urban families to reconnect; with the natural environment, their heritage through storytelling and their self-esteem. I worked as one of the team of storytellers and musicians, who created performances, told ancient and contemporary tales, designed and delivered workshops for the duration. My 1-hour solo repeat x 3 performances took place in marquees, amongst the trees and around the fire to an audience of 90. The audiences began from 2 years up to 70 years old. The majority of the audience members were family groups.

Black History Studies Maya Angelou film festival 2015 (September)

It was a 6-day event over 3 weekends. I was commissioned to perform, this time with a musician an original story for family groups in St Anne library Seven Sisters, Tottenham. My performance preceded the documentary film about Zora Neale Hurston, Jumping at the Sun. The audience size was over 100 which was capacity. The performance was 1 hour long, An important part of the storytelling was the call and response, chants, songs, clapping and acoustic rhythms I taught the audience during the unfolding of the story. These techniques keep an audience engaged, involved and invested. A storytelling workshop followed the performance.

Entelechy 21st Century T-Dance 2015 (September)

It is a quarterly event that focuses on engaging some of societies excluded and marginalized individuals. As the resident storyteller I was commissioned to be the master of ceremony and tell stories that would engage an audience of diverse ages and cultural ranges with a collection of challenges, including learning disabilities, long-term health issues, elders who have complex disabilities all with profound needs. I used call and response, Rhythms and songs. I encouraged audience members to join me on stage and support the journey of the story in their own way. If someone was really nervous and wanted to make a contribution, I engaged the audience in a relaxation exercise so the individual could make their contribution.

October 2015

During this month I have been called upon to support schools, prisons, libraries, communities, women’s groups to celebrate the contribution the global African community has made to the world. I have been working in the various institutes 6 hours a day, 4 days a week for the last 3 weeks until the first week of November. In the schools I have been working with years 1 to 6, in the prisons I have been performing to both inmates and officers, both male and female. In the libraries I have been storytelling to family groups. In all cases using percussion rhythms, songs, chants, call and response and audience participation to carry the audience on the journey as the magic of the story unfolds.