Come Join the Afram Storytellers Retreat 2020
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 What is the African American Storytellers Retreat?
". . . to be able to speak in significant situations. . ." Tehuti


                                               Opportunities for workshops, residencies and organizational training programs                                    The Storytellers' Retreat is a program of
                AASAI, Inc.

                                          
               African American Storytelling Arts Institute
, Inc.

The mission of the Retreat has been, during it's twenty five years of existence,  to gather storytellers and  other lovers of African/American culture to involve themselves  in four expressions of culture:

                             

  Music    Movement   Visual Arts   The Spoken Word

In each year of its existence, the Retreat has  had storytelling workshops to deepen our understanding of the  place  of                           Blackstorytelling (one word)
in the social fabric of our   people.


We have told stories, made instruments and played
 instruments, and prayed, and circled up and healed and danced, and planted  trees to honor our ancestors, and some have added African names to befit their new understandings of their kinship to Afrakan culture.


Most of all we have shared ourselves and our   families in creating a  cultural community.  These are important
 activities. The need for dedicated folk artists, pioneers of culture  and righteous performance personalities has increased, and this is the training ground,  this retreat is where the
“words we speak are the deeds we do.


The Retreat Is

BUILDING AN AFRICAN AMERICAN STORYTELLING VILLAGE
An  Afrakan village is the past, present, and future experiences of Black people. It is a haven, a place of assurance, reliance and creativity. It is a place to build.

 Harambee na Masakhane   =   Pull together and rebuild


 
Mwalimu:
Baba Jamal Koram,
B.A.,M.S., Ed.S




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      African American  Storytelling Arts Institute .

 ". . . to be able to speak in significant situations. . ." Tehuti

Building An African American Storytelling Village - 

 
AASAI   3213 Duke Street #629   Alexandria, VA  22314  
703.684.8587      
 

  African American Storytelling Arts Institute - Mission and Purpose

About the African American Storytelling Arts Institute (AASAI)



The African American Storytelling Arts  Institute assists in the development of educultural  programs
and training, in storytelling, for professionals and non-professionals to advance
and sustain Afram Oral Traditions.

AASAI began in 1991 as the brainchild    
of storyteller                                     Baba Jamal Koram, Ed.S. 

Its purpose is to establish the African Oral Tradition as a visible cultural imperative 

in educational, cultural and social settings, and to orient individuals to the process of 

becoming conscious storytellers.  

AASAI includes educational and cultural programs and workshops, performances, 

tours, lectures, publications and other media productions.

Based on over twenty years of national- and international storytelling experience in 

the African oral tradition, the AASAI workshops and resident programs provide training 

experience necessary to master the skills of storytelling.  The workshops provide an :


  • introduction to the art of storytelling
  • History of the African oral tradition of storytelling,
  • History of the universal tradition of storytelling 
  • Practical steps in selecting and telling  stories 

Opportunities for first hand guided instructions by an experienced storyteller  

The residential program, is a more extended and in-depth training program. 

 It includes an  introductory workshop, which emphasizes traditional styles,

 phrasing, language and cultural motifs which support basic African centered 

values and concepts.  AASAI is only one, of a few institutions in the USA, which 

provides exclusive training in the African/African American oral traditions 

of storytelling.

 


Programs of the African American Storytelling Arts Institute

  • African American Storytellers’ Retreat
SHINDA:  The Afrakan Storyteller Newsletter
  • Sankofa Youth Development & Leadership 
  • Ngoma Drum Circles
  •   Kijana Youth Apprenticeship
  • Safiri: Journey to Our Heritage Tours


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