Getting Back To It!

After a summer break we are back at it!



Join us this Sunday for our 2nd season of The Hamilton 7!  We are excited to announce some new initiatives and introduce you to new voices from The Hamilton 7!  

We will be hosting 4 fall shows this year that feature members of the core as well as guest tellers!

The 2017 dates are:

September 17

October 29th 

November 19

December 17

Doors open at 6:30 pm

Show starts at 7:00 pm

Tickets are $12

All shows take place at The Staircase Cafe Theatre

27 Dundurn St. North, Hamilton ON

Limited seating. Please reserve tickets in advance. 

Please email Lisa at thehamiltonseven@gmail.com

Tales from The Hamilton 7 at the Hamilton Fringe 2017

The Hamilton Seven have been working hard on some excellent stories that will be shared at The Hamilton Fringe. It is the first time we have done something this ambitious and we are very excited.

People have asked if all the tellers will be at each show, and we made a decision that each show will feature 4 tellers. Here is a detailed schedule for who is telling and on which date and times.

We hope to see you there!

Thurs July 20- 8:55  Dave, Sheldon, Hitoko, Lisa

Fri 21- 9:50  Sheldon, Darla, Corin, Karen

Sat 22- 7:00  Dave, Tor, Hitoko, Lisa

Sunday 23- 2:00  Sheldon, Darla, Karen, Corin

Monday 24- 6:45   Dave, Tor, Hitoko, Lisa

Wed 26- 7:30  Sheldon, Darla, Karen, Corin

Thurs 27- 9:05   Sheldon, Tor, Hitoko, Lisa

Fri 28- 8:35   Sheldon, Darla, Karen, Corin

Sat 29- 7:30  Corin, Tor, Lisa, Darla

Sunday 30- 5:50  Sheldon, Darla, Karen, Corin, Tor and Lisa

Lisa Pijuan-Nomura opens up about her storytelling processes and inspirations for The Hamilton 7

My name is Lisa Pijuan-Nomura. I have been known to some as La Boca, Pij, La Loca de los Gatos or Mama to Max.

I am also a collage artist, mover, sound maker, an arts educator and a creativity coach.

I have always considered myself a storyteller even when my work was mostly movement based with no text. I believe that everyone has stories and that they can be expressed in a myriad of ways. I think that images can convey things that words can't and that is how my collage work can be evocative in telling stories with vintage ephemera.

Since moving to Hamilton I wanted to create a space where professional tellers could come together and push the boundaries of the form, so I kept my eye out for some candidates, and for the most part they are who you see in the collective now.

I was getting really tired of working alone in a studio and felt that there must be a way that we could apply the way that theatre is created collectively to storytelling. We have been figuring it out as we go along, but for the most part it really works. We have a bunch of very diverse voices at the table and they all give feedback. The teller takes what feels right and goes home to continue crafting the stories. I love the support of the group and the way they expose me to different directions that I never would have imagined working by myself.

I find that [my] daily journal is where most of my stories come from. I have lists and lists and lists of stories that I have journaled for much of my life. Family stories, Stories of Healing, and Creepy spanish folktales [which is something  I'm currently exploring].

The stories I loved as a child tended to be anything that my grandmother told me. They mostly had to do with Spain and her grandmother and how she would love me forever even if she wasn't standing by my side. My grandmother informed my way of being and the way that I share my stories with song, sound, movement and words. I miss her but feel so happy that her memories are a big part of my stories.

My grandmother told me a lot of stories and I have always loved listening to elders share stories of where they came from. As I get older I realize that I now have a voice that I didn't when I was 20 years old. My stories, and the stories I choose to tell come from a place of experience and love.

The next Hamilton 7 storytelling show will be at The Hamilton Fringe Festival . Dates, times and location in the link.

Join us on May 28th for our new show!

After a much needed break The Hamilton 7 are back and ready to share some stories with you!

Our theme this month is Turning Point and it has a lot of us thinking about pivotal moments in our lives were everything changed.  This month you will hear stories that will make you think, tickle your funny bone and might leave you inspired.  

Join us at The Staircase on Sunday May 28th for a night of excellent stories!

The Hamilton 7 are: 
Karen Ancheta
Darla Biccum
Sheldon Davis
Tor Lukasik-Foss
Hitoko Okada
Lisa Pijuan-Nomura 

Josh Taylor

The Staircase Cafe Theatre, 27 Dundurn St N.
7:00 pm

Tickets are $10 in advance or at the door.
Get tickets by emailing thehamiltonseven@gmail.com
Limited seating. Please reserve in advance.

"Representation is fundamental to what expect from our culture. When people don't feel represented, you get extremism, division, and lose out on our full potential. Things can get very ugly very fast. Let's step up, and REPRESENT." - Riz Ahmed

This afternoon, listening to professional tellers and writers talk about their craft.
Sharing this TED Talk from award winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a singular story. This was recorded 7 years ago and is relevant now, as always.

How "...stories have been used to disposess and mal-align, but also can be used to empower and humanize". On singular narratives through a singular lens and its relationship to power.

Karen Ancheta on Storytelling and The Hamilton Seven

Since our inaugural launch on December 18, 2016 at The Staircase Theatre, rumours on the streets about The Hamilton Seven have been getting around. So just to be clear, whatever you're hearing, its ALL true.

If you haven't met us yet, here's your chance: each member of the H7 will be introduced here on the blog, and will share a bit of their story of how they came to oral storytelling with The Hamilton Seven.

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First up is the fabulous weaver of tales, Karen Ancheta:

My name is Karen Ancheta. I am a classically trained actor, also a singer/ director/ writer/ collage and photo enthusiast/ magpie and vintage collector and mama-bear.

I think everything starts with a story. I think it's all about throwing something up and seeing and hoping that people see a reflection and resonate with an experience or feeling or colour.

We fold and unfold origami-cally and organically brought together through the brilliant, curating, wizard-mind of Lisa Pijuan-Nomura, whose enthusiasm is infectious and her light dazzles and blinds me to without question: YES.

I enjoy sharing around a table at Ark and Anchor (where [The Hamilton Seven] meet) with people who are looking to fall in love and be tickled by each person's tale or tales on those special nights.

It's an easy, casual, intimate setting and such a rich group of people with so many varying experiences sitting at a long table. I enjoy the process of hearing about other people's process and feed back. Each session, our little collective helps each other so generously to sculpt and nudge each others story with their own enthusiasm and artistry. I trust these lovely people and their good guts. If what I share on that night resonates, then I feel good and confident sharing it with a bigger room. I carry their encouragement and warmth with me on stage.

[Stories I'm currently exploring with The Hamilton Seven are about...] Adventure. Actually EVERY story no matter what theme takes all of us on an adventure.