Shonaleigh’s next Tellers, Tales, Tradition weekend is in March 2024, when she will be telling The Ruby Tree.
Either join her in Amsterdam, or via Zoom, for this weekend of stories and discussion.
In Shonaleigh’s Drut’syla tradition, The Ruby Tree is the first story of the Menasseh cycle. It is a magical and wonderful story that has an echo in the story of the ‘Kinderboom’ in Amsterdam Noord, where the parents plucked their babies in the old days.
The central plot line concerns a young king and queen who long for a child. The king sets out to pluck a pomegranate from a magical tree whose fruit cures barrenness, planted long ago by the immortal prophet Elijah.
More about the Ruby Tree here.
Having learned the Drut’syla tradition from the age of four, Shonaleigh carries thousands of oral stories from the Jewish tradition and shares their magic, mystery and wisdom with audiences around the world. She is a living tradition holder. “You hear people talking about the storytelling revival, but in Jewish culture it never died. I lived and breathed the tales during my childhood, unaware that this was anything unusual.”
The Drut’syla tradition is rooted in The Netherlands and Shonaleigh wants to bring this tradition home. One of the cycles that Shonaleigh was taught by her grandmother is the Menassah Cycle. It originates around the year 1600 from the regions of Apeldoorn and Oldenzaal.
The cycle contains hundreds of stories that belong to the Jewish heritage in the Netherlands. As they are barely known in The Netherlands, this Tellers, Tales and Tradition weekend is a magnificent chance to get to know this oral tradition that flourished during a vast amount of years in this part of the world.
This weekend will happen online and in two locations in Amsterdam: for most of the weekend in a private house just behind Central Station on the North side (address given upon registration). On the Saturday evening we will move to a bigger space in Amsterdam Noord at Wognummerstraat 14.
Pricing
€225 for the whole weekend including snacks, 2 lunches, one simple meal on Saturday and snacks and the Saturday night telling (15 spaces only)
€45 to attend the weekend on Zoom, from wherever you are in the world. Please note the time-difference between Amsterdam and your country.
€15 (bring cash) to attend Saturday evening only at Annette and Hessels House Wognummerstraat 14, starting at 8pm
Advance booking required. Please email Nancy: [email protected]