This Saturday, April 22, 2017, at 7:00pm in the William L. Harness Hall, Room 309, the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) will present its second annual Young Native Storyteller Festival, featuring the creative and voices from talented young Native students and young adults from across the United States.
“This year’s lineup is incredibly exciting,” states YIPAP’s Executive Director, Mary Kathryn Nagle. “We received many excellent submissions, and our national panel of Judges really struggled to whittle down the choices to one. To me, this is just further confirmation that the number of talented, young, Native artists in the United States greatly outnumber the opportunities presented to them. Here at YIPAP, we are working to change that.”
The Festival will feature the following young Native artists:
Playwriting: Dillon Chitto’s (Mississippi Choctaw, Isleta Pueblo, & Laguna Pueblo) new play BINGO HALL.
Madeline Sayet (Mohegan) will direct the staged reading that begins at 7:00pm, and the reading will feature a collection of professional and student actors, including Jake Hart, Reed Adair Bobroff, Cole Richards, Betsy Richards, Kinsale Hueston, Sarah D’Angelo, Madeleine Hutchins, and Kapiolani Laronal.
Following the reading of BINGO HALL the Festival will feature the following performances:
Spoken Word & Storytelling: Kinsale Hueston (Navajo)
Dance: Sierra Simpson (Northern Cheyenne & Navajo)
Music/Songwriting: Hu To’Wi Baxter (Omaha)
The evening’s festivities will culminate in a reception hosted by the Native American Cultural Center on campus, located at 26 High Street, New Haven CT.
“Native people have been telling stories through dance, poetry, spoken word, and playwriting for generations so it is YIPAP’s pleasure to bring together these young storytellers to continue that tradition and share their work with the Yale community,” states Reed Bobroff, YIPAP’s Assistant Director.
The Second Annual Yale Young Native Storyteller’s Festival is made possible in part from funding provided by the Yale School of Drama (YSD) and Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration (RITM).
“YIPAP’s work of honoring and championing indigenous artists plays a vital role in the artistic landscape of Yale and in the field of theater and performance,” states Chantal Rodriguez, Assistant Dean, Yale School of Drama. “The School of Drama is proud to support the Young Native Storytellers Contest in cultivating a new generation of storytellers whose dynamic perspectives and voices challenge us to listen in new and exciting ways.”
“Members of the Yale faculty are thrilled about the vision and creativity that will be on display in this year’s Young Native Storyteller Festival,” comments Stephen Pitti, Director of the RITM Center. “These winners represent some of our communities’ most important emerging voices, and they remind us that artists must always play key roles in remembering the past and imagining better, collective futures.”
Doors will open at 6:30pm on April 22, 2017. The performance will begin at 7:00pm, and the reception at the NACC is expected to begin around 9:00pm (following the conclusion of the Festival). All are welcome, no reservations are necessary, and admission is free.
For further information, please contact YIPAP’s Executive Director, Mary Kathryn Nagle or Associate Director, Reed Adair Bobroff.