By Jessica Ruano
Unless you’re the type who enjoys cross-country skiing or snowshoeing during the winter months, the best way to spend your days inside your cozy home with a mug of hot tea and maybe some leftover holiday baking. The radio can be good company, but sometimes the blitz of bad news can feel overwhelming. If you’re looking to relax and reconnect with your local community, why not tune in with Multicultural Arts for Schools and Communities (MASC)?
Over the next couple of months, MASC, in partnership with the Lowertown Community Resource Centre, Le Patro d’Ottawa, Ottawa Community Housing, and Le Centre de services Guigues, with funding from New Horizons, is hosting two series for residents of Lowertown.
The first is the Lowertown Concert Series, featuring music, dance, and storytelling over Zoom with bilingual MASC artists every Tuesday afternoon.
You can also check out the Storytelling-Over-The-Phone series on Wednesday afternoons. You’ll receive a call on your phone and be connected in a group call with one of MASC’s engaging storytellers, either in English or French. Once connected, just sit back and listen as the stories unfold!
Storytelling has this magical quality of being able to transport you to another time, to another place. Hearing certain stories may remind you of your childhood, or bring back memories of travel, or love, or time spent in nature. Other stories may offer a perspective you’ve never considered, or introduce you to someone you never thought you’d meet. Either way, a good storyteller can make you feel like the story they’re telling is just for you.
Perhaps you’ve heard the old story about a small village where there was a storyteller, but no television. One day, a visitor arrived with a television as a gift for the community. For a week or so, the villagers were glued to the television, utterly fascinated by this new piece of technology. But then they lost interest and resumed spending their evenings with the village storyteller. The visitor, confused, asked one of the villagers, “But doesn’t the television have so many more stories than your storyteller?” And the villager replied “Yes, the television knows many stories, but these stories are for us.”
RSVP latifa@retraiteenaction.ca or to attend by phone, call 613 789 3930 ext. 304.
Storytelling-Over-The-Phone takes place Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. until March 9. To sign up, call 613-789-3930 ext. 304.
The Lowertown Concert Series takes place Tuesdays from 3 p.m.to 4p.m. until March 30.
For more information about MASC community programming, visit www.masconline.ca