An Inuit Hero's Epic Quest with Kira Van Deusen, Storyteller/Cellist

Storyteller/musician Kira Van Deusen to return to West Coast, Nov 1 - 2

Professional storyteller and cellist, Kira Van Deusen, based in Vancouver, will give two performances of Kiviuq’s Journey—An Inuit Hero’s Epic Quest:

Sun, Nov 1, 7:00 pm - Grenfell College Forestry Building Atrium, Corner Brook

Mon, Nov 2, 7:30 pm - Gros Morne National Park Visitor Centre, Rocky Harbour.

The legend of Kiviuk is one of the most ancient and beloved legends of the Inuit people. The great shaman hero has inspired generations with his terrifying adventures at sea, his meetings with strange beings, kindness to orphans, service to community, and his marriages with animals and birds. In 2004, Kira travelled in all three regions of Nunavut with filmmaker, John Houston, recording the Inuit legend of the great shaman-hero. They listened to forty elders, each telling this great epic in an individual way. Every telling was full of depth and humour and illuminated this ancient story in new ways. With the blessing of the elders, Kira has created this performance from the richness of material they offered her, adding cello music inspired by this epic adventure and by the great landscapes of the Canadian north. Houston produced a film of the epic: Kiviuk.

In addition to her journey to the Canadian North, Kira Van Deusen travelled extensively in Siberia's forests, tundra, and steppe over the 15 years beginning shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, and connected with indigenous traditions, stories, and people—their lives, history, spirituality, and sense of humour, which resulted in the publication of 6 books. She delights listeners in Canada, the US, Europe, and Russia with adventures in worlds we do not see with the eye, accompanied by her evocative original cello and vocal music. She has performed at Storytelling Festivals and Concert Series in Vancouver, Whitehorse, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, and St. John’s, many times as featured teller, as well as in many other events since 1991.

Kira’s recently finished book Kiviuq—An Inuit Hero and his Siberian Cousins, is published by McGill-Queen’s University Press with excerpts and audio clips on her own website: www.kiravan.com.

For information/tickets, contact Elinor Benjamin 634-8890 tales@warp.nfld.net