Charlotte Blake Alston (Photo Credit: Annie Cameron)

As part of the Cultural Arts Program, Charlotte Blake Alston, a storyteller, narrator and singer, visited South Mountain on 2/10 for student assemblies. In addition to the student assemblies scheduled during the school day, Ms. Alston presented an original program for families on the evening of Wednesday, February 9th at 6:30pm.

CHARLOTTE BLAKE ALSTON – Excerpted from CharlotteBlakeAlston.com
Master Storyteller, Narrator, and Singer

Charlotte Blake Alston is a storyteller, narrator, instrumentalist and singer who performs in venues throughout North America and abroad. Venues are wide and include the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the Kimmel Center, the Women of the Word Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, prisons, detention centers and a refugee camp in northern Senegal.

She breathes life into traditional and contemporary stories from African and African American oral and cultural traditions. Her solo performances are often enhanced with traditional instruments such as djembe, mbira, shekere or the 21-stringed kora. In 1999, Charlotte began studying the kora and the West African history-telling traditions of Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Her teacher was the highly respected Senegalese griot (jali), Djimo Kouyate. Her repertoire is wide and programs are adapted to any grade level or age group.

She brings her stories and songs to national and regional festivals, schools, universities, museums, libraries and performing arts centers throughout the United States and Canada, as well as local and national radio and television.