Yellowknife (Jun 12/06) - Storytellers from around the territories swapped tales, shared experiences and entertained audiences during a three-day festival.

Hosted at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) in Yellowknife, eight performers took part in performances and workshops.

William Greenland and Gerry Antoine use song to tell stories during the NACC Festival of Stories held at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre in Yellowknife. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

The first step seemed to be tweaking the setting.

When the audience entered the theatre on Friday and Saturday nights, they were ushered through the aisles and onto the stage, where a row of comfy couches circled a small table, a single wooden chair and a stark spotlight.

This blank canvas was brought to life with stories, songs, dance and laughter from Toronto's Emerita Emerencia, Gerry Antoine and Jim Green from Fort Smith, Inuvik's William Greenland, Yellowknifers Roberta Kennedy, Moira Cameron and Trudy Samuel.

Scott McQueen proudly claims to be from Nowhere, NWT due to his family's habit of "closing down" defunct communities such as Rat River, Fort Resolution and Pine Point - a good story in itself.

The stories and techniques on display were as varied as the tellers themselves: McQueen stood intently, sharing fun anecdotes about his father, multiple-time Canadian Championship Dog Derby winner Danny McQueen.

Jim Green used every prop at his disposal to bring his tales of down-home ridiculousness to life.

One of these followed the exploits of a Dog River man trying desperately to travel 50-kilometres by dogsled with a super-glued finger stuck up his nose.

On the following night, Green regaled the audience with a harrowing tale involving a bright afternoon sun and a little-league flyball.

"You know that feeling you get when you're young, and everything just goes to hell?" he asked.

William Greenland and Gerry Antoine, performing together, used song to illustrate their stories. Greenland spoke of his journeys to the U.S. to speak against oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while Antoine reflected on drumming and his own activism.

"I'm addicted to the political process," he said. "It's a 12-step program; I have to admit I have no power over it."

Emerita Emerencia was the last to perform, bringing an engaging mix of Caribbean drumming and song inspired by her native Aruba.

This was punctuated with tales of African history, personal discovery and a lot of audience participation.

At the drop of a hat (literally), Emerencia became the characters she described, from a scheming spider-man in a traditional tale, to an oppressed slave, struggling with a new existence in Aruba.

She threw herself into each performance, keeping the audience enthralled with her flowing storytelling style and warm, quick wit.

"The more stories I hear from the North, the more I want to stay," she said.

Afterwards, Ben Nind, NACC executive director, said the storytelling festival was meant to be a very grassroots event, built up with, and catering to, small audiences.

"I've been saying to people, 'we may not fill the theatre, but we'll fill the stage,'" Nind said with a smile.

In the future, Nind said he hopes to expand the festival to more nights and organize a series of tours through the communities.