Everyone has that moment—when you go to leave a friend’s house but get stuck in the doorway chatting for another hour. It seems there’s always time for one more story. Reminiscent of live storytelling forums like “The Moth” comes a show that’s uniquely Alaskan—named for the spot where many northern tales are shared—Arctic Entries.
It’s the show where storyteller Gene Moe told his parable of butchering a deer on Raspberry Mountain when he met an unlikely foe…
“…I’ve got the liver in this hand and the heart; I’ve got the knife in this hand. And around the corner here comes the biggest growl you ever seen—here comes a bear going like 40 miles an hour. I’m three steps… I’m three steps from my gun. But I know I don’t have time.” said Moe.
In seven minutes, seven storytellers weave their tales of triumph, tragedy, comedy, and unfortunate wilderness encounters. (Spoiler: Moe does conquer his large-toothed opponent.) Each month, Alaskans sell out 700 seats at Anchorage’s Performing Arts Center for the Arctic Entries show.
And next month, the crew is heading north. Storyboard member Matt Rafferty wants to host the show in Nome, so he reached out to Laureli Ivanoff on the Nome Arts Council.
“One day out of the blue I received an email from him saying, ‘Hey, we want to bring this show to Nome,’” said Ivanoff. “And knowing that it’s such a popular event in Anchorage, I immediately knew that we had to jump on this and say yes, let’s do this. I will help you bring Arctic Entries to Nome.”
Ivanoff is looking for seven people to deliver their stories at the event. The theme for Nome’s show is “Food!: Stories of Gathering, Traditions and $18 Orange Juice.” But Ivanoff says it’s a broad focus, and the show welcomes personal and creative interpretations. For her, “food” sparks abundant memories and stories.
“Whenever I think about food I think about my mom, I think about pie, I think about Christmas dinners and Thanksgiving. I think about tomcodding when I was seven years old,” said Ivanoff. “I think about going out and checking the net with my dad, and bringing home salmon that we would eat that year.
She’s hoping to have seven committed storytellers by mid-March, so if you have a tale about berry-picking or family reunions around the dinner table, contact her for information about the next steps. She hopes it’s an event everyone in the community can engage in.
“People like telling their stories and people like hearing stories from their neighbors—from people they see at the store, from the community around them,” she said. “And I think the show really does what their mission is—to build community one story at a time. The more we understand and hear the humanness of those around us that we see every day. I think it does connect community in a healthy way.”
The weekend will kick off with a rehearsal for storytellers on Friday night, April 3, and then continue with a storytelling workshop open to all on Saturday afternoon with Arctic Entries cohost Matt Rafferty. The main event is Saturday night, April 4, at Nome Elementary. Interested storytellers can call Laureli Ivanoff at 304-3200.
