Jan Blake, IATEFL 2016

Never in my life have I ever seen a hall so silent except when a storyteller was there performing in a stage.Twice in my life have I ever seen that amount of audience interact and chant back except when it was Vanessa Esteves at the NILE TESOL,and today when it was Jan Blake telling her mesmerizing stories that she brings with her from Africa, the Caribbean and beyond.She talks of  love, men, women , life ...

She marches into the stage with the flowery pink dress and cast a spell on the audience, she says crick they say crack,she says ew they say awl.

Personally it was her second story about a girl named Nia Pouko that I found really compelling. The moral of that story is that beauty comes from within ones soul, it is your generous soul that shines and compels others to acknowledge your beauty -no matter how different you are from the common standard of beauty. What is so special about this stories is that the themes are universal, every one every where can simply relate to them.


This is the link to her seminar at the IATEFL
http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2016/session/plenary-jan-blake
           
That is the link to her website.
http://www.janblakestories.co.uk/