Cooperation between the Tryon Fine Arts Center (TFAC) and the Lanier Library in Tryon will provide two family entertainment events back-to-back on Saturday, July 21.  Both programs are free and everyone is welcome.

In TFAC’s Studio A at 1 p.m., Kindermusik educator Bryant Belin will present an introductory Kindermusik program for families. Kindermusik draws on the work of such esteemed musicians and educators as Maria Montessori, Shinichi Suzuki and Carl Orff to provide an enjoyable musical learning experience for young children. Families are encouraged to join in with their children in this experience.

TFAC and Belin will offer Kindermusik camp July 23-27. Although the introductory class is offered free of charge, please call ahead at 828-859-8322.

Next door to the TFAC is the Lanier Library, where renowned actor and storyteller David Novak will perform at 2 p.m.

Novak performs at festivals, schools and theatrical events throughout the United States, including the Cincinnati Playhouse, Woodstock Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Institute, Los Angeles Music Center and the Northern Appalachian and Sierra Storytelling Festivals.

He is a co-founder of the National Yakkers Theatre Ensemble and creator of The Storyteller’s Compass, which he describes as a new method of “narrative wayfinding.” In 2002, he received the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network.

As a teacher, he has been a guest instructor at the International Storytelling Institute, Oklahoma Arts Institute and John Campbell Folk School, and he was master storyteller for the Disney Institute in Orlando, Fla.

Described as a “master of literary collage,” Novak provides animated programs on universal themes of character, courage, caring and wonder that will entertain the entire family. He was described in Smithsonian Magazine as: “Novak, a gifted storyteller… enhances his stories with a bag of tricks. His fluid voice can become a dozen different characters. He sometimes takes out a looped string and turns a cat’s cradle into antlers, beards and other costumes for his protagonists.”

The Houston Storytelling Festival said, “In [Novak], the Brothers Grimm and Carl Jung meet Monty Python.”

Novak’s performance at the Lanier Library is provided by the Kirby Fund and the Polk County Community Foundation.

His books and recordings are available on his website at www.novateller.com.

– article submitted by Frances Flynn