STORYTELLING THEATER WITH LIVE MUSICStories from Far Away Islands, Deep Forests and Magical Gardens.
A princess who marries a wolf, an old hag who steals the sun and the moon, the first singer of stories, a magic rosemary plant, sea-ladies, dragons, air daughters …
These are some of the characters you will meet in our performances. We tell these folktales, myths and ballads with words, movement, masks, song and music.
We have stories for the very young to the very old, and we would love to come and visit you and tell you some of these tales.
Our performances based on myths, folktales and ballads, are performed with the help of storytelling, dance, mime, song and music.
o Stories from the Finnish Epic Kalevala
o Folktales from Europe and Scandinavia
o Myths from Europe and India
o Medieval Ballads
o Live Music
We can perform on regular theater stages as well as more improvised stages indoors or outdoors. We have performances both for adults and for children.
"Lovely speaking voice, beautiful movement, she becomes the character. Guitarist adds tremendously to the whole performance. Use stories as examples, with humanities information incorporated" (New Mexico Humanities Council)
""Scott and Johanna gave us a delightful program. It was well organized, gracefully presented and informative. Our guests were charmed!" (Landon Young, Hotel St James, Cimarron, NM)
"Best live performance i have seen in 25 years of booking." (Tim Wadham,Maricopa Library System, Phoenix, AZ)
"Powerful music, enchanting performance - gorgeous night! Johanna is incredibly expressive and captivated the audience - young and old alike. Scott’s accompaniment music was a perfect compliment to the story and backdrop. The background explanation of the story was efficient. We would definitely invite the Hongell-Darsees again!" (Albuquerque Open Space Division)
""This show was totally mesmerizing. The presentation worked extremely well for our multiple age levels. The combination of music and storytelling is fantastic. The performers were friendly, personable and totally enjoyable. A great show!!" (Capitan Library, NM)"
"... your performance was definitely the highlight! (UAB Arts Committee, University of Arizona)
Since we moved here to Albuquerque, New Mexico from Scandinavia in 2001, we have had the opportunity to give over 250 performances in New Mexico, as well as around the US.
Here in the US, we have performed at the festivals of:
* Atlanta Scandinavian Festival, Atlanta, GA
* Summer Solstice Folk Festival, Los Angeles, CA
* Los Angeles Storytelling Festival, Los Angeles, CA
* Los Angeles Fall Scandinavian Festival, Los Angeles, CA
* Albuquerque Folk Festival, NM
* Swedish Festival in Lindsborg, KS
* Renaissance Fairs of Farmington and Las Cruces , NM
* Renaissance Crafts Faire, Las Cruces, NM
* Taos Storytelling Festival in Taos, NM
* The Tellabration Storytelling Festival in Albuquerque, NM
Apart from that we have performed at many theaters, arts councils, libraries, museums, colleges, schools etc.
Also, take a look at our website: http://johanna.itgo.com where more information about our repertoire, schedule and performances are available as well as links to video and songs, or give us a call at (505) 294-4567.
Johanna has been performing theater, dance, mime and storytelling for both adults and children, for about 20 years.
She has her education from the Lecoq School in Paris , France and also studied East Indian dance and mime for many years with teachers Savithri Jagannatha Rao and Kalanidhi Narayanan in Chennai, India.
She has performed at festivals such as Avignon in France, Tampere in Finland, Differenta Sensationi in Italy, La Batie in Switzerland, Theater or Creation in Pennsylvania, USA and Salto, Stora Daldansen, Vilhelmina Dans Dagar, Uppsala Dansdagar, Ungdomsteater Dagar i Stockholm, and Malmo Dans Dagar and Teater Dagar in Sweden.
She also led her own dance and theater company for ten years in Sweden before moving to New Mexico.
Scott is a poet, painter, song writer and composer. Parallel to his artistic work he also worked from 1981 as a Therapist for many dance companies including Dance Theater of Harlem, N.Y., Royal Danish Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, English National Ballet, and taught at Denmark’s State School for Theater and Dance. He returned to USA in 2000 and has since performed at many venues with his compositions and songs.
You can hear his original music both in our storytelling performances and as solo or group music performances.
