Jan Blake was born in Manchester of Jamaican parentage. She has an international reputation for dynamic, witty, exciting storytelling. Specialising in stories from Africa and the Caribbean Jan is currently one of Europes’s leading female storytellers. She has featured at all the major storytelling festivals in the country, performs, runs storytelling workshops and teaches & performs all over Europe. Jan has worked as an artist in residence at various theatres throughout Britain and in doing so has developed close links with theatres such as The Royal National Theatre, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The National Concert Hall of Ireland, The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Battersea Arts Centre, & The Unicorn Theatre for Children. She is committed to passing on skills that can help storytellers develop their expertise.

Jan’s Storytelling History

Jan Blake’s career as a storyteller began in London 1986 with common Lore Storytellers and Musicians. In January 1987 Ben Haggerty of ‘The Company of Storytellers’ introduced her to the International Storytelling circuit, when she performed at the 2nd International Storytelling Festival at Waterman’s Arts Centre, London. Since then she has gone on to become one of Europe’s leading female storytellers, specialising in West African and Caribbean folktales. Jan has toured Arts Centres, theatres and festivals the length and breadth of Europe. She has also worked extensively in London primary schools and Universities, running storytelling workshops and training for children, students and teachers alike.

International storytelling appearances include:

• The 2nd & 3rd International Storytelling Festival, London South Bank.
• “Beyond the Border” St Donat’s International Storytelling Festival ‘94 ‘97 & 2002.
• The Dunya festival Rotterdam Netherlands
• The Black Spirits Festival Netherlands
• International Storytelling Festival Holon Israel
• International storytelling Festival Lejre Denmark
• ‘Stradshouwburg’ Eindhoven, Netherlands
• International Storytelling Festival at The Karen Blixen Museum Denmark
• International Storytelling Symposium at Emerson College 2000 & 2002
• Africa ’97, Festival Ireland
• Alden Biesen International Storytelling Festival, Belgium ‘98 ‘99 & 2001
• Oslo International Storytelling Festival
• Stockholm International Storytelling Festival
• Young at Art Festival, Belfast
• Ljungby International Storytelling Festival, Sweden
• The Buenos Aires Book Fair, Argentina 2000 & 2002
• British Council Tour of Italy
• Teatro Dimitri storytelling Festival Verciso Switzerland
• The Bergen International Storytelling & Music Festival
• The Xclusive Storytelling Festival Oslo
• Utrecht Storytelling Festival 2000 & 2001
• Storia Festa Rotterdam
• Faxe Storytelling Festival Denmark
• Dunya International Storytelling Festival Rotterdam 2003
• British Council 50 Years in Japan Tour Nov 2003
• Equator Produkties Swiss Tour 2003

Museum and Theatre work include:

• Little Angle Marionette theatre
• The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith
• Battersea Arts Centre
• Polka Theatre for Children
• The Unicorn Theatre for Children
• London Transport Museum
• Museum of London
• Horniman Museum
• Natural History Museum
• Royal National Theatre

In May 1997, in association with Spread the Word Literature Development Unit and Battersea Arts Centre, Jan launched a new monthly storytelling club ‘Kiss and Tell’. Also in March 1998, in association with the Natural History Museum Education Department, Jan helped to develop the ‘Myth & Monsters’ Education project, preparing teachers notes on storytelling in the classroom and telling stories at the Natural History Museum on a regular basis. It was aslo at this time that she launched The Akua Storytelling Project, her own Storytelling Company and school for, new storytellers in the UK

Jan is constantly in demand in Europe as a teacher and performer. Her warm and inspirational approach to teaching often makes her the first choice for storytelling workshops for experienced and apprentice storytellers alike. In partnership with the renowned Norwegian Storyteller Heidi Dahlsveen, Jan recently opened A Body Of Words Storytelling School Oslo in April 2003.

Jan is also a regular lead artist with the BAA (Black Arts Alliance), ran by the award winning poet SuAndi OBE, and is a regular performer with Apples and Snakes Live Poetry Project.

In July ’99 Jan, in collaboration with David Gonzales, the USA’a most renowned Latino storyteller, created “Word Up” a new storytelling piece which was performed at The Royal National Theatre.

Her highly successful children’s show, Revenge of the Story Spirits, was performed in collaboration with Unicorn Theatre for Children at the Pleasance Theatre in the spring of 2000 and, since June 2001, she has been the resident storyteller/consultant, at the Royal National Theatre. devising educational projects to run alongside the National Theatre’s annual storytelling festival WORD ALIVE! This involves training people to deliver the scheme of work in schools, as well as performimg herself in the festival each year.

Other Work

Jan is a regular contributor to the BBC World Service Programme Outlook, as a storyteller and commentator on African & Caribbean folklore and to the programme London Radio programme Word for Word hosted by Dotun Adebayo. She is sometimes an actress and, as Jan Alphonse has worked extensively in both theatre and TV over the past 15 years. Her most recent TV appearance was as Julie, best friend to Dawn French in the BBC’s Screen One romantic comedy Sex and Chocolate (‘97.)

Jan’s first children’s book Give Me My Yam was published by Walker Books for their ‘Reading Together’ series during National Book Week April 1998. Give me my Yam is now enjoying it’s 8th reprint.