I’m actively engaged with global storytelling communities and deeply committed to honouring tradition bearers. I’ve been a performing artist for more than 30 years. I perform and teach across Canada and internationally, in person and online. Artistic Director of Toronto Storytelling Festivals 2019, 2020, 2021, longtime member of the Storytelling Toronto community and previous editor of “Pippin,” I’m a member of Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada. I work in partnership with Earth Story Tellers.

In performance I’ve collaborated with musicians, Sign Language Interpreters, dancers, clowns, independent choreographers, and other storytellers. My love of world music and dance inform my telling and teaching. I studied classical North Indian Kathak dance with Joanna DeSouza in Toronto, Balinese dance with A.A.Go Raka Kompiang in Bali, Indonesian dance with Romosas (the dance master of the last remaining Sultanate in Java), performed with The Flaming Dono West African Drum and Dance Ensemble in Toronto, and studied classical ballet through her childhood and adolescence with Nancy Campbell in Hamilton.

I earned a B.A.Hnrs from Queen’s University, M.H.Sc.(Master of Health Sciences) from the University of Toronto, and Waldorf Teaching Certification from the Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto.

In delightful collaboration with Dr. Lawrence Joseph Glatt, here is the Jewish folktale “Buried Treasure” as featured on his youtube channel “Glatitude.”

This performance at the Aga Khan Museum was part of the Sanctuary Series, featuring themes of migration, home, identity, and refuge. Juno-nominated musician Maryem Tollar and storyteller Dawne McFarlane engage in a lyrical call and response in this impassioned interpretation of a classic Arabic folk tale from One Thousand and One Nights. 

 

My first memory of storytelling is sitting around a campfire at the lakeside with my family, my Grandfather illuminated by firelight and silhouetted by stars as he told stories, an enchanting Gaelic lilt rolling through his powerful voice. With that firmly tucked in my heart, I have been traveling a storyteller’s journey interwoven with global music and dance. I love telling stories outside, in parks and gardens, walking in forests, at festivals, outdoor bread ovens, community gatherings, in classrooms, at fundraising events, and around campfires.