2006-04-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Reisa Stone is a skilled storyteller who performs with great energy and humour, often including a song in English or Ukrainian. She draws her original tales and rewritten legends from a life filled with wild Ukrainian Babas who brew a mean pot of borshch and mystical advice, as well as adventures shared with animals tame and not so tame. Richly embroidered stories of love, loss, a prize-winning dog whose greatest talent may be as a coyote wife, and training for the equestrian Olympics on a pig farm. Sometimes she brings along her paintings. On this page: Solitude

Reisa's sense of urgency in collecting & retelling Ukrainian stories has increased with her recent discovery that kobzari, Ukrainian storytellers, were rounded up & executed by Josef Stalin.

"I was immediately impressed with her talents. She has a wonderful gift...bringing a fun and upbeat energy to each show....I would recommend Reisa without reservation. Her music and stories would truly be an asset to any festival or event." Maria Alexakis, The Shadbolt Centre, Burnaby

A Few of Reisa's Stories

*The Girl, the Stag and Baba Snowstorm visits the primal roots of both Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. The bones of this tale emerge from ancient Ukrainian culture. Reisa has written in the pivotal character of a magical stag first suggested by her aunt, who created breathtaking works of art while enduring Soviet rule.

The twist: This story isn't about finding love as a maiden suffering under a raging monster or as a passive martyr whose fairy godmother gives all, yet expects nothing. The Girl gives us a self-respecting female character who explores the true wild and sweet nature of the male, and a borshch-slinging force of Nature godmother who demands very much indeed. Deeply touching with moments of humour.

Listen: Story & Song Excerpt

*If you've ever longed for a horse, run amuck of a determined pig or just enjoy a good yarn about an underdog who wins, Scrutiny will make you howl with laughter. At once starry-eyed with dreams and grounded by Prairie girl pragmatism, a feisty eleven year old girl sets out to train for the equestrian Olympics. On a pig farm.

When her family is unsupportive, she turns to a cranky old mare and a herd of hogs even more ambitious than she. And gains a prize perhaps more precious than a gold medal. Complete with impersonations of farm animals and British fox hunting elite.

Listen: Story & Song Excerpt

*Petro & the Princess is a fanciful Ukrainian tale of a dreamy man dismissed by his community. Through his deep respect for ancestral gifts, artistry and willingness to risk, the Sacred Fool succeeds where his macho brothers cannot. Reisa has extensively rewritten from the viewpoint of Petro's lovingly exasperated mother, a reversal of the common “wicked stepmother” theme.

Naturally, Petro conquers his enemies & wins the princess's hand. But not before napping on the wood stove & singing a comedic love ballad in honour of a darn good meal. Pithy, informed descriptions of Ukrainian horsemastership & sacrifice create a sharp counterpoint to the fantastical aura of this tale.

*Lame Duck is a true story about Reisa finding a mallard hen with a broken leg in the wilderness. She must exert intense effort to bring the creature to safety. The involvement of allies is crucial, including an intimidating Brad Pitt ringer whom she misjudges. Sensual, enigmatic and expository of the depth of the characters' hearts. There is an excruciating betrayal of love, then an unexpected, powerful healing. The mallard's misfortune is central to the magic, a beacon of hope for the lame duck in us all.

*Not just for dog lovers, Seven Habits of Highly Effective Dobermans is an original teenage adventure, passionate and edgy. Karma Harmonica and Chant at Sundown are “big boned, redheaded gals with sharp sparkling teeth,” dogs with too much personality. A young woman's fierce love for this misunderstood breed leads her into life-affirming lessons not available in self help books.

Scroll down to read Reisa's essay, Why Storytelling?

Listen: Story & Song Excerpts
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Why Storytelling?

Storytelling is a way to inform each other of our deepest needs, feelings and our history. Of our interdependence not only with each other, but with all species and the cosmos. Story defines and binds together community by revealing how we are alike and yet each unique. It instructs by bringing humour and comprehension to unbearable situations, bridging disturbing paradox and suggesting creative solutions to emotionally charged dilemmas. Storytelling is a way to simultaneously explicitly describe and leave unsaid the Mystery; that which brings us into being, animates us, moves between us and causes our deaths.

At the core of every classic myth, Biblical lesson, modern novel or movie is story. For thousands of years, African storytellers called griots have recited tales of tribal history that span days. This tradition comes to us in Blues and Gospel music. Jesus of Nazareth is probably the best known storyteller in history; would we still be recounting his legend if he had presented a list of facts instead of mesmerizing parables? Through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, travelling storytellers known as minstrels enlightened isolated European villages to both mundane details of others' lives and vital political information with life or death implications. In my homeland of Ukraine, these people were known as kobzari. The information they shared was considered so vital, Stalin had them rounded up and executed.

In contemporary culture, sharing stories from the heart is a powerful remedy for the electronic fast fact, the cult of celebrity and media disinformation. Storytelling reminds us of the beautiful complexity of being human and humane.

For more information & bookings, e-mail: bookings (at) reisastone.com

Reisa Stone: Stories & Art