Buffy Saint Marie with Hawaiian keiki and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street
Hanapepe String Figure
Juan Wilson demonstrates "Haanapepe Swinging Bridge", a new Hawaiian string figure
Aloha Africa
Dakine Peace Garden Party
The Storybook Theatre of Hawaii presents Aloha Africa as a part of a new monthly event series called 'Dakine Peace Garden Party' in the Spark M. Matsunaga International Children's Garden of Peace. The third 'Garden Party' will begin at 7 PM on Friday, January 30th and feature Kauai's own Aloha Africa performers. The 'Dakine Peace Garden Party' will be monthly on the last Friday through 2009. Friday night is 'Art Night' in Hanapepe town and the stores, restaurants, and galleries are open and a festive atmosphere abounds.
Aloha Africa is a cultural exchange program that sponsors talented musicians and dancers from West Africa to share their traditional arts and to study the music, dance, and cultural heritage of Hawaii. They honor Storybook Theatre , their partner nonprofit organization, by celebrating the opening of their 2009 season in ‘Sparky’s Peace Garden’.
Cultural Exchange is powerful medicine for nourishing and unifying earth-based cultures. In both Hawaii and Africa, dancers and musicians are the keepers of tradition, history, and spiritual practice. Aloha Africa is dedicated to providing an authentic means to preserve and transmit deep indigenous knowledge … dancer to dancer, drummer to drummer.
Kumu Hula Jessi Jardin, of Ka'Imi Na'auao O Hawai'i Nei, is Aloha Africa's cultural Director, offering the African group intensive training in the dance, chanting, instruments, and protocols of Hula, including the symbolism and preparation of Hawaiian foods, the plants used in costume-making, and the meaning of Aloha.
The African guest artists are masters of their craft, yet live under extreme conditions of poverty and hardship at home in Ghana. They are grateful for the opportunity to earn some money for their families by offering public classes, school presentations, and performances on Kauai.
There will be traditional African masks, textiles, and Aloha Africa CD's available for sale at the event which is free, with partial proceeds from donations going to support the completion of the Spark M. Matsunaga International Children's Garden of Peace nearing completion at Storybook Theatre.
For more information please visit www.aloha-africa.com or www.storybook.org. Storybook Theatre is located at 3814 Hanapepe Road. Additional information at 335-0712
WHO:
Aloha Africa Drummers & Dancers
Aloha Africa Drummers & Dancers
WHAT:
Dakine Peace Garden Party
Dakine Peace Garden Party
WHEN:
Friday, 30 January 7 to 9 p.m.
WHERE:
'Sparky's Peace Garden' at Storybook Theatre 3814 Hanapepe Road (In the theatre if it rains)
WHY:
To benefit the completion of the Spark M. Matsunaga International Children's Garden of Peace
COST:
Voluntary donation
INFO:
335-0733
Earth Mover & Earth Tender
A fairytale by Juan Wilson on 13 April 2008 Revision 7.0 080403
©2008 revised from story published in The Gobbler in 1993 and here in 2004 on www.IslandBreath.org
Once upon a time,
a couple lived on a far off green tropical island. They weren't quite folks like you or me. He was called Earth Mover. She was Earth Tender. Some people today might say they were gods. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. They had not made the island, they just lived on it. They weren't really fairytale giants either, although they were big and could get a lot done in one day if they set their minds to it.
Their day jobs consisted of making the island a beautiful and better place to live. They searched for unfinished places, that could stand a little improving, then go at it. It was hard work, but it had its satisfactions.
At night they relaxed and had fun. While the moon and stars revolved slowly across the sky they talked about what they had done that day, and discussed their plans for the next day.
Earth Tender especially liked it when Earth Mover told funny stories about his day's work. Earth Mover liked best hearing from Earth Tender about what a good job they were doing and how much she loved doing it. Then when it got late they would snuggle up together. Soon they would be dreaming through the night until the next morning.
Earth Mover usually was the one to begin their projects. When he woke, if he was in a waterfall building mood, he might spend half the morning wading up to his waist through a hardwood forest until he found just the right spot. Once he started working it was hard to distract him. He would work in a frenzy.
To do a waterfall,
first he'd kick down a bunch of trees. He'd cut a chasm through the exposed rock. At the bottom he’d scoop out the earth in a broad flat bowl-shape with his bare hands. He'd place special boulders in just the right places. Finally, he'd use a large tree trunk to scratch out new paths for the surrounding streams to feed the falls from above.
When he was done he would sit leaning against the hillside at the edge of the forest. For a while he'd watch the streams trickling and then tumbling down his new creation, filling the pond below. Then he'd usually fall asleep. He called this napping.
Often this is how Earth Tender would find Earth Mover - having one of his siestas. That's when she'd begin her work on the project.
With a waterfall, Earth Tender would begin planting algae and weeds to feed the fish and other creatures who would live in the pond. She'd mend the rough edges of the shoreline where there were dead stumps. She'd hide them in fresh ferns and wild taro.
She'd spend hours smoothing the jagged broken stones, turning them to rounded pebbles for a little beach. She'd cover the boulders with moss and lichen. By the time Earth Mover woke from his nap she'd be done. Wading birds would be landing in the sparkling water. The pigs would be sniffing its coolness from beyond the tree line.
images above: 3 shots of waterfall building tutorial from http://www.rct3x.co.uk/xtra-waterfall.html
Earth Tender will tell you, as nice as Earth Mover's work was, he'd always leave a real mess behind him. Sometimes he'd leave muddy streams all stirred up. She'd calm them down and make them clear again. Sometimes, especially in the old days, when he was working on new valley he'd dig too deep and flood much of a newly finished valley with molten lava. If you've never dealt with red hot lava, you can be sure, it’s quite a mess to clean up.
"Oops!" he'd say, and look at her out of the corner of his downcast eye. Then she'd have her hands full.
Just a few flowers.
Although Earth Mover would never say so, Earth Tender had a tendency to go a little overboard in her own way. She seemed to have a weakness for bright colors. Occasionally she'd just smother a hillside in different colored flowers, and Earth Mover would just shake his head. And if a particular creature pleased her, she'd just make uncounted numbers of them.
It usually fell on Earth Mover to fix things up when they got way out of hand. If it got too bad he usually made it very dry, or very wet, or very cold, or very hot for a while and then the trouble would just go away on its own.
Earth Mover and Earth Tender passed the centuries working together this way, and thousands of years passed. All in all, the island was getting more beautiful all the time. He would cut and shape the mountains. She would blanket them with life. They were both very happy. But, as is usually the case, just when things are going great, trouble comes.
It all had to do with the people. Oh yes, regular people were around even then. At first here weren't many of them. They spent a lot of time running around with pointed sticks yelling at each other. At night the people made fires and told scary stories to each other. They didn't know much about the work of Earth Mover and Earth Tender and didn't care. Frankly, this was because they were not too bright. Of Earth Mover's work they would say,
"What did we do to deserve this mess?" and
"The gods must be angry!"
Of Earth Tender's forests they would say,
"Cut them down! Don't worry, they grow back."
Or sometimes, when pressed about a nasty mistake they would say,
"Time heals all wounds."
People went about cutting and hunting down everything in sight. They made at least as much of a mess as Earth Mover himself. When a place was ruined they would simply move on to another part of the island.
As I said, they were pretty dumb. But Earth Tender had taken quite a liking to the little creatures. When Earth Mover wasn't around she'd make sure it was easier for people to get food and shelter. She thought it was cute the way they fell in love and cared for their young. Soon the little pests were everywhere. Instead of planting a sturdy stand of trees against a new mountain slope, she'd be watching her pets build even bigger villages.
images above: 2 shot from "Sid Meier's Civilization III" computer game www.civilization.com
People under foot!
None of this was of serious concern to Earth Mover... until people started getting underfoot. One blissful summer evening he was just settling back to rest against a cliff. He planned to tell Earth Tender a particularly funny adventure he'd had while carving out a new sandy beach. Then it happened. A group of people had started a big fire right next to him. First he smelled the smoke. Next the smoke was in his eye. Confused, he roared and tried to roll away. In so doing he kicked out the fire and crushed several of the little creatures.
Earth Tender was furious. She called him a brute. Earth Mover felt terrible. To make amends, he tried to rebuild the fire for the survivors and only succeeded in burning down a large section of their village. Earth Tender didn't speak to him for a week. The little people were furious too. They had never been too happy with him getting in their way. Now they were calling him a wrathful fire god. As Earth Mover saw it, he wasn't a god... Just a guy trying to do his job.
To keep Earth Tender happy he tried to stay as far away from the people as possible. He walked far from their settlements to start his day's work. These hikes to distant places must have inspired him, for he did some of his most dramatic and breathtaking work in these remote parts of the island, especially along the high cliffs of the north shore.
But staying out of the way of people proved impossible. Earth Mover couldn't finish a new project before the people were underfoot again. They would make more fires, and wave their pointy sticks. Eventually, people began to occasionally sacrifice a pig, thinking this would make Earth Mover happy. He thought they were crazy.
image above: lava pours thru streets of SimCity3000 virtual realtiy wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity_3000
As their numbers grew, the people spread out across the island. This was a real chore for Earth Tender. Now she spent most her time trying to clean up after all the new people in places that were just about perfect until they arrived. Earth Mover and Earth Tender began to argue a lot. He said she wasn't getting her work done. She said he didn't care about anything but himself.
"I'm sure they will listen"
Finally, one night when Earth Mover was feeling tense and unhappy about the way things were going, Earth Tender asked,
"What's wrong with you? Are you upset? Tell me what you're feeling.”
He knew this might start an argument so for a moment he was silent. Then he said;
"It's those people of yours. They're underfoot all the time. They are making holy-hell of the places we made beautiful long ago. New work is getting almost impossible to do. Those people are even moving into unfinished areas. They seem willing to live anywhere, as if it didn't matter where they were. To get anything done now I'd have to flood or bury some of their overflowing villages."
When he finished he hunkered down, waiting for her angry words. But they didn't come. Now it was her turn to be silent. Then she turned to him and said;
"You're right. I've known for some time that they were spoiling their own nests. They even ruining things for other creatures. There are too many of them and they don't seem to know what they are doing. Sometimes I even think they may be stupid or something. They certainly don't seem so cute when there are so many of them."
"Okay! Let me turn the heat up on them for a while," he interrupted.
"Not yet!" she answered,
"Before we do anything rash, let me talk to them. I’ll explain to them they have to limit their activities, or else. If they won't listen to me then we'll just start all over again. And this time, if there are any people, we will make sure they don't spread around so much, make such a mess or ruin the fun for all the others."
Earth Mover was glad to hear this and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about digging out a huge red walled valley he'd been thinking about in his spare time. Earth Tender was glad too. She resolved to get up early the next morning to tell the little creatures about the new rules. As she drifted off she was sure they would listen.
image above: dawn over SimCity4 virtual realtiy simcitysocieties.ea.com
Note to Parents
Privacy Policy
The information gathered at this site is strictly for the purpose of entering the child's name into our database for the fanclub, birthday club, and newsletter mailing list. We must gather information from the parent because we may need to verify your consent to have your child participate and enter certain inforomation. NO INFORMATION WHATSOEVER will ever be released to any third party (third party as defined in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We will only use the data as described herein.)
Children under thirteen years old - If you wish to be on our mailing list and WITH PARENTAL CONSENT, fill in all of the proper information requested, your name will be included in our Russell The Rooster Fanclub Database.
Parents:
All information we collect on this site is strictly for (1) the interest of other children, and (2) Collection of information such as name, birthdate, address etc., for our "Russell the Rooster Fanclub" and newsletter database. Our mailings are quarterly, and on your child's birthday, they will receive a note from "Russell."
Absolutely no information will ever be made available to any third party (as defined in COPPA) for any reason whatsoever. Our database of names is kept OFFLINE, so there is no way any of the information could be hacked or read by anyone except for the administrators of Storybook Theatre of Hawaii and The Russell the Rooster Show (listed below).
We are working to make our site even safer for children, including Written or other Verification from the parent as required by the new COPPA law (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). The new system will include a way to verify that You allow your child to surf with "Russell."
Although we are very careful about links to other sites, we cannot control those other sites as we do ours. We therefore recommend that you do view the internet with your child. It will make their experience more enjoyable as well.
The staff at StoryBook Theatre
Compliance Articles
Information collected at the site:
Child's name
Mailing Address (for mailings and possible parental consent verification)
Child's Birth Date
Child's Gender
Parent Name (if child under 13 yrs)
Telephone number (For possible consent verification)
Information will be used as stated above. No data will be rendered unto third parties, however the child's name and or birthdate, and or State and City (never the complete address) may appear within these pages, as an item of interest to other children.
The operators of this site are prohibited from conditioning a child's participation in an activity on the child's disclosing more personal information than is reasonably necessary. In addition, the parent can, on request, review and have deleted the child's personal information, and refuse to permit further collection or use of the child's information.
SBT Contacts
Reach us at
Storybook Theatre of Hawaii
3814 Hanapepe Rd.
PO Box 820
Hanapepe, HI 96716
Phone: (808) 335-0712
Fax: (808) 335-0702
Toll Free: 1-877-4-ROOSTER
3814 Hanapepe Rd.
PO Box 820
Hanapepe, HI 96716
Phone: (808) 335-0712
Fax: (808) 335-0702
Toll Free: 1-877-4-ROOSTER
Staff
Mark Jeffers
Executive Director
Executive Director
email: director@storybook.org
President
Cherise Kent
Office Manager
email: office@storybook.org
Robert Zolkovsky
Technical Advisor
email: Robert@bamboomoonvideo.com
Dave Castillo
Technical Coordinator
email: Bonus_Vita@yahoo.com
Board of Directors
Graceleanor BairdPresident
Richard Raimondi
1st Vice-President
Henri Carnal
2nd Vice-President
Dave Hamil
Treasurer
Carmen Legacy
Secretary
Dr. Larry Magnussen
At-Large
Dr. Jane Ely
At-Large
2nd Vice-President
Dave Hamil
Treasurer
Carmen Legacy
Secretary
Dr. Larry Magnussen
At-Large
Dr. Jane Ely
At-Large
Diane Maier-Yates
Chelsea Crapser
Chelsea Crapser
At-Large
Mary McKinney
At-Large
Stan Yates
Emeritus
Emeritus
Welcome Everyone!
The web pages here are for fun and learning. We hope to share stories, news, pictures, videos and more with the Storybook Theatre Ohana (family). especially with the kieki (children) of Hawaii and the world.
Storybook's Mission Statement
The purpose of The Storybook Theatre of Hawaii is to enable Hawaii's school children to experience and participate in the performing and media arts, SBTH also perpetuates the cultural values and heritage of the peoples of Hawaii and the Pacific.
Our Project Goal
To create a "Children's Media Center" in Hanapepe, Kaua'i that will benefit the children of Kaua'i, the State, and national/ international communities by expanding the potential of the telling of good stories to children at school and at home through the television and radio media.
Major Objectives
To create a viable business in the production of television & radio programs for young people for local and widespread distribution.
To develop related products and services that will be sold through a retail storefront and network telemarketing.
To assist in the rejuvenation of the Hanapepe town center by the rehabilitation of the historic 'Obatake' building and by the recognition and preservation of the area's history and culture.
Brief History of Storybook:
The Storybook Theatre of Hawaii has been an active member of the touring performing arts community in the State for seventeen years, even before incorporation in 1986 as a tax-exempt non-profit organization. Every year that a touring production is performed, approximately 25,000 pre-school and school-age children directly benefit.
The site has been set-up to allow to allow you to add to the site yourself with comments, pictures, articles or videos of your own. We welcome you!
The purpose of The Storybook Theatre of Hawaii is to enable Hawaii's school children to experience and participate in the performing and media arts, SBTH also perpetuates the cultural values and heritage of the peoples of Hawaii and the Pacific.
Our Project Goal
To create a "Children's Media Center" in Hanapepe, Kaua'i that will benefit the children of Kaua'i, the State, and national/ international communities by expanding the potential of the telling of good stories to children at school and at home through the television and radio media.
Major Objectives
To create a viable business in the production of television & radio programs for young people for local and widespread distribution.
To develop related products and services that will be sold through a retail storefront and network telemarketing.
To assist in the rejuvenation of the Hanapepe town center by the rehabilitation of the historic 'Obatake' building and by the recognition and preservation of the area's history and culture.
Brief History of Storybook:
The Storybook Theatre of Hawaii has been an active member of the touring performing arts community in the State for seventeen years, even before incorporation in 1986 as a tax-exempt non-profit organization. Every year that a touring production is performed, approximately 25,000 pre-school and school-age children directly benefit.
Storybook has created more that 40 original touring productions from every major culture represented in the State, has toured extensively on every Island, and is a recognized name in the world of good storytelling for children in Hawaii. Touring programs have also reached the Cook Islands in the South Pacific where on three separate tours more than half of the countries population was reached (6000 people).
In the 1994/95 season as well as in the 1995/ 96 season mainland shows were booked in cities in New Mexico, Iowa, South Dakota, and Michigan. Storybook is also known for creating the Rainbow Arts Festival
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