Jan Blake
May 1st, 2009 by sparky
Jan Blake will perform at The Big Chill 2009.
Jan Blake – Biography
Jan Blake is one of Britain’s most outstanding female storytellers, performing in theatres and festivals the length and breadth of Europe. She was born in Manchester to Jamaican parents. Inspired by recordings of ‘Miss Lou’ (Louise Bennett) she came to telling stories in 1986. She rapidly gained an international reputation for witty and exhilarating performances. She has a powerful singing voice, and can seize any stage. Specialising in folk tales from West Africa, North Africa, the Arab world and the Caribbean, her repertoire is full of tales of powerful women, and her versions of Ananse’s exploits are definitive. She has worked as an artist in residence at various theatres in England, developing particularly close links with the National Theatre (where she is the Consultant on Storytelling), the London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Deptford Albany, the Lyric theatre in Hammersmith and Battersea Arts Centre. She is closely involved with projects that will develop a new generation of British storytellers of African and Caribbean descent.
Jan Blake will perform at The Big Chill 2009.
