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LAMBERT van BUUREN
Lambert van Buuren earned her Masters of Education at Lesley University in Cambridge Massachusetts. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities/Physiology and an Associate of Arts degree in Art. Lambert holds an Award of Recognition for Artistic Excellence and an Award from the NAACP for Dedication to High Achievement and Community Service. Lambert has taught African History and Dance as well as Jazz Hip Hop dance at Cabrillo since 1982.
As a Master Storyteller, Lambert recants the “How Come” and “Why” stories of Anansi the Spider, Bruh Gator, Bruh Rabbit, Cat, Dog and all the rest. She enraptures audiences of all ages with these tales from African and African American folklore. As a Choreographer, Dancer, and Artist, she has received three Cultural Council grants and produced seven major theatrical productions in Santa Cruz using a multimedia presentation that transforms into a visual display of her works.
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THE ARTIST I believe that dance is the kinetic affirmation that teaches us that we are an intricate part of our cultures. Dance being the Grandmother of all motion, big and small, allows each of us to realize the possibilities for expression, strength, focus and unconscious sensuality inherent to our being. I have been told by many that I am an inspirational dance teacher. I believe the inspiration people speak of, is my unique ability to teach people how to feel dance as a way of understanding the steps of a short combination that will later grow into an entire dance. My students learn to work with the rhythms as a means of communication with body and mind. I am a dedicated professional with a strong desire to educate using dance and stories as the needed skill for social communication and self awareness as a integral part of society. |
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| My Mother, Carmel, is the embodiment of my Grandmother and Great Grandmother. She passed on to her four children the same values and lessons that were taught to her. These lessons are the power of the "spoken word" as truth. | ||
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| Phedora Works was my mother's mother. I remember when she made quilts for her grandchildren from scraps of material and scraps of old clothing. She stuffed the quilts with cotton she had picked with her own hands from the cotton fields of Pinebluff, Arkansas. Her quilts covered our bodies in silent stories as we slept at night. Sometimes, the stories in the quilts came to life whenever a question was asked bout a piece of material or where the cotton came from. We kids would listen with wide eyes of wonder to Big Momma tell her stories. | ||
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| Mary Jackson was my Grandmother's mother. She told stories of yesterday that were woven into tales or lessons that taught the ways of the past, the present and on into our futures. | ||
| INTERGENERATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
In countries in Africa the ritual drama used to tell stories began at sunset when the days work was done. The people would gather to hear stories told by the village Elders. The story would begin with the age old tradition of asking riddles so as to prepare the listeners for the story to be told. Story telling is a valuable learning tool. The storyteller uses stories to improve upon the personal experience and enrich the learning process of each person. These lessons prevail throughout the world, they are the truths that people must learn to live by.
Story telling is used to develop the physical, uplift the spiritual, and fuel the emotions of each generation from the Elders to the youth. |
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