And who said storytelling is only for children?
Award-winning story performer and actress Dolores Hydock handily dispels that misconception with “True Grits: Stories of Home Cooking, Diet Detours and Southern Hospitality” Friday, Sept. 25, in the Columbus Arts Council”s Omnova Theater at 501 Main St.
The entertaining story concert at 7:30 p.m. is, Hydock says, a “celebration of some of the things I love about living in the South — like Southern cooking, hospitality and the love we Southerners have for our mamas and gardens.”
“I”d describe the stories as funny and affectionate, with a healthy dose of humor about the many mistakes I made when I moved to Alabama as a naive Yankee college girl over 30 years ago,” explains the veteran performer who has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn.
With winsome wit, the native Pennsylvanian will shed light on how she landed in an Alabama mountain community as part of a college folklore project and ended up falling in love with the South and staying.
“The fact that Southerners are natural-born storytellers and story lovers is another thing I love about living here,” the Birmingham, Ala., resident continues. “If you live in the South, you”re never very far away from a story, and I”ve learned a lot from just listening to the wonderful, rich rhythm of people telling stories from their everyday lives.”
Hydock is a touring artist for the Alabama State Council on the Arts, a speaker with the Alabama Humanities Foundation and a member of the Southern Order of Storytellers. Her six CDs of original stories have all received Resource Awards from Storytelling World magazine. In her spare time, she teaches Cajun and zydeco dancing and is a founding member of Birmingham”s Association of Cajun Music Enthusiasts.
Tickets for the event at the Rosenzweig Arts Center in downtown Columbus are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. For tickets or more information, contact the Arts Council at 662-328-2787.
Visit www.columbus-arts.com to learn about other upcoming CAC events and classes.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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