www.surreystorytellers.co.uk
info@surreystorytellers.co.uk
Surrey Storytellers is a group that promotes the art of storytelling for Adults, Young People and Children throughout the County of Surrey, in England.
Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of entertainment in the world and is also the way societies hand down their histories and values from one generation to the next. It is currently enjoying a revival thanks to a renewed interest in the folk arts which also include music, song and dance. There are lots of storytelling circles and events run across the UK, at which everyone is welcome – either to listen or tell a story of their own.
"The Glory and the Pity" - Sef Townsend
Sef tells stories and sings a song or two from the time when Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in relative harmony, for 800 years,
in 'Al-Andalus, or Safarad’, Spain. It is impossible to deny the richness of life that existed during that golden period, with a flourishing of Literature, Arts and Science, whose ramifications led directly to the Renaissance in Europe.
This cross fertilising of language, custom, songs & poetry resulted in wonderful tales and romanças set at this fecund time of coexistence - and the many stories of how people negotiated their way through expulsion, forced conversion and execution are compelling.
And so the great success story that was called Al-Andalus was, unwisely, brought to an end by the new Spanish monarchs, Isabella & Ferdinand - but new seeds started sprouting elsewhere. As Sultan Bayazid famously said when criticising those haughty monarchs for rejecting the Jews: “You venture to call yourselves wise rulers, but you, who have impoverished your own country, have enriched mine".
Stories from the floor in the first half as usual