lucas davey

Lucas is a published author and artist and has trained as a bard with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. He is passionate about wildlife and has devoted many years to forest gardening and wildlife conservation projects. He is happiest wandering the Welsh mountains and derives much inspiration and joy from these lands and their ancient culture.

helian band

"Intimate, introspective, and picturesque, Helian's music radiates a warmth that invites you in. Helian are a four-piece folk band based in Leeds, U.K, blurring the line between modern ethereal sounds and folk that spans everything from guitars and cellos, to fiddles and harps."

By translating their thoughts into music, Helian hopes to connect with others and help them through difficult times. Ultimately, Helian aims to share their music with as many people as possible while creating a sense of peace and togetherness in the world.

dawn ellis

Before she discovered that Performance Storytelling was even an option, a life-long fascination with storytelling took Dawn into theatre, radio, TV and writing. As a seasoned actor she learned how to work with an audience early on and is a joyous stage performer.

tom morley

Tom Morley is one of the Mischief Generation and he generates mischief. Following his time in the music business with the irreverent 80s band Scritti Politti Tom has developed a truly artistic way of living where 20% of his experiences led him to the humorous uncovering of some universal truths. The other 80% are just good stories. Stick around.

ashley Ramsden

Ashley is the founding director of the School of Storytelling, the longest established centre of its kind in the United Kingdom. 

He has toured with his remarkable storytelling programmes on all five continents, has appeared at major storytelling festivals in the UK, South Africa, Scandinavia and America. 

Ashley’s unique methods of teaching voice and the skills of the storyteller have received international acclaim.

Amanda Quartey

Amanda is the actress who moved out to the woods. After years in the theatre sector she followed the longing for nature and based herself in rural West Wales. Immersed in a magical, mythical landscape she works with site-specific, original stories that come to life in co-creation with the land. Taking inspiration from place as well as its people and beings, she tunes in to see what the land might want to convey. To bring people closer to the land and the land closer to people is one of her great passions, sensing there a mutual longing and a mutual wish to communicate.

JANE GRELL

Jane Ulysses Grell is a storyteller, writer, teacher, poet and singer.  She was born and grew up on the Caribbean Island of Dominica where she attended the Convent High School.  She subsequently gained a BA degree in French at Fordham University, New York, followed by a Diploma in French language and literature from Poitiers University, France.  In the early seventies, she migrated to the UK and after completing the PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) at the London Institute of Education) she taught French at a Boys’ Comprehensive in Hackney, East London.

Years later, on noting the problematic experiences of her own children in school, she joined the Multicultural Development Service in Waltham Forest.  There, she took on the challenge of influencing the education of BAME children in schools.  To this end, she embraced the power of Storytelling in the African-Caribbean oral tradition towards the language development and general confidence of children.

Jane has worked extensively with teachers, children, young people and adults in most London Boroughs and beyond.   She was seconded for a school term to BBC Radio Schools Radio, as an advisor as well as presenter of poetry and storytelling.

Her poetry collections for adults – Praise Songs, White River Blues, - for children- Doctor Knickerbocker and other poems, Mosquito Bounce.

Also, in Macdonald Educational, People Then and Now series, A New Life in Britain.  This book examines the struggles of minority ethnic groups to overcome racial discrimination.  Through the eyes of a family from the Caribbean settled in Britain since the 1950s, it focuses on their chances of obtaining equal opportunities in jobs, housing and education.

Website:  www.janegrellstoryteller.com

sonia sophia

Sonia Sophia lives at the foot of a sacred mountain in Wild West Wales. Her stories are woven in the landscape and her ear is always listening to the elders and ancestors whispers whether that be a giant oak, a standing stone, a wise old crow or the seals in the coves that come to swim with her. Her stories always speak of the old wisdom and the new wisdom we are birthing collectively here and now 'I see and hear these threads as a never ending cycle of life, I love to share stories that take those present on magical journeys into the star lit night sky and under the dawning sun of a new day ‘.

EMILY HENNESSEY 

Emily Hennessey is a dynamic performance storyteller often found wielding a stick and stamping her feet as she embraces epics, myths, wondertales and folktales from across the world. 

Work and travel in India have kindled in Emily a great love of Hindu mythology. She’s journeyed over 10,000 miles across India by train, bus, rattling rickshaw and rickety bicycle. She’s lived with a yak-herding family on the Tibetan plateau, studied Kathakali dance-drama in Kerala and worked at the Kattaikkuttu School in Tamil Nadu, learning from the children who perform stories from the Mahabharata through music, dance and song.

With a Swedish background, Emily also has a passion for the Norse Myths and Scandinavian folklore, including a particular fascination with that curious hairy creature - the Troll.

Emily came to storytelling while studying Drama & Theatre Studies at the University of Kent where she met storyteller Dr Vayu Naidu. Emily completed a storytelling apprenticeship with Vayu, and later trained with Ben Haggarty. She’s also had the privilege of training with Indian Pandvani performer, Ritu Verma. 

Performances include the Soho Theatre, Richmix, British Museum, the Earthouse and York Theatre Royal with the Crick Crack Club, the Royal Opera House, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Viking Ship Museum in Denmark, Nordic House in Iceland, Kathakar Storytelling Festival in Delhi, tours of India with British Council and many European clubs and festivals. Emily is also a key member of the Pandvani108 ensemble. 

www.emilyhennessey.co.uk