York. Women. Stories. Songs.
What a brilliant night we all had at the Black Swan in York yesterday. In a wood-panelled room with a massive fireplace and uneven floor I joined Alice Courvoisier, Cath Heinemeyer and friends to tell stories new and old, interspersed with a capella songs from the Barbarellas. It was properly packed, barely a spare seat, so I'd like to thank all those brave strangers who laid out their four quid with no real idea what they'd be getting. I hope we gave you an entertaining couple of hours (with a bit of sneaky education in the middle).
Could I look more pompous?
OneMonkey, official documenter of these things, took a few photos but it was dimly lit and the lampshades made the light a weird orange-pink so they work better in black and white - I could just have said he was being artistic, I guess. One thing the dim lighting taught me is that I need to print my stories in a bigger font. Nobody needed that bit at the beginning where I shuffled around under the light fitting till I could see my page properly, apologising for being middle-aged.
Alice of course circumvents these problems by memorising her myths and folktales (likewise Cath) so she can pace and pause and gesture, and generally create a suitable atmosphere.
Alice kicking the whole thing off with a myth
We had folk songs, pop songs, tales from Russia, Japan, Egypt and West Yorkshire, and I even slipped in a bit of non-fiction, with a slightly (only slightly) more audience-friendly version of my Dangerous Women essay.
The black and white photos don't allow you to appreciate the book of stories I resurrected from a couple of years ago (new stories, blu-tacked over the old ones which I'd glued to the boards. Little glimpse behind the curtain for you there), so I'll leave you with a picture of that and the marvellous flyers Alice had printed, artwork courtesy of Jess Wallace.
