An all-ages spectacle featuring tap, swing and three-part harmony has been assembled by the Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition to mark B.C.’s Family Literacy Week.
Family Literacy Week, including Family Literacy Day, which takes place on Jan. 27 each year, highlights how families can learn together through daily activities and is celebrated through organized events at schools, libraries and communities across Canada.
The Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition will produce two performances by The Myrtle Sisters on Friday, Jan. 24. The “sisters” are a trio of East Vancouver performers — Candice Roberts, Nayana Fielkov, and Kat Single-Dain — who have been performing as an ensemble for nearly 15 years. All three are practiced in the serious discipline of clowning.
“People think: you’re clowns, that’s the red nose,” said Roberts. “But clowning means we’re trained in the art of play and interaction and presence and being able to see the audience and have them see us. It’s about creating a shared space of joy with a group of people, making up an experience together.”
The Myrtle Sisters presentation will focus on self-expression and celebrating differences, using original and historic live music and dance. The group has performed the show and its companion pieces at schools throughout the province, including their latest tour: a week-long engagement in Port McNeill that culminated in a vaudeville-style performance for the entire community.
The three songstresses based their collective persona on Jazz Age song-and-trios, but regularly update their repertoire with cutting-edge footwork. In the midst of recent performances set in 1921, they presented vintage dance routines like the Shim Sham and the Big Apple — then invited young audience members to demonstrate their moves. The Myrtles learned to Floss, did the Orange Justice dance (popularized by the video game Fortnite), and mastered the Griddy Dance made famous on TikTok.
Single-Dain is a professional swing dance instructor; Roberts herself is a tap dancer and ukulele player. “People will be like, ‘Oh, I know how to play ukulele or I know how to tap dance,’” she laughed. “And I answer: but at the same time?”
As a group, the Myrtles incorporate literacy into their craft. “We’re all readers,” said Roberts. “We’re telling a story, and we’re also telling the story of ourselves.” She recently pursued studies in creative nonfiction and embarked on a project of writing memoirs.
The Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition’s purpose is to support projects that enhance lifelong literacy. The coalition is comprised of Capilano University, the Gibsons and District Public Library, Pender Harbour Community School, School District 46, Sechelt Public Library, the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, Sunshine Coast Welcoming Communities, local author and editor Kallie George and Langdale Elementary Teacher-Librarian Karen Webb. The pair of concerts on Jan. 24 is financially supported by the Raise-a-Reader campaign and the Sunshine Coast Credit Union.
“It’s a sharp team,” said coalition leader Trudi Diening, the literacy outreach coordinator at the kálax-ay (or Sunshine Coast campus) of Capilano University. “We’ve been doing it for so long and many people have no idea who we are, but still we’re loud and proud about it.”
In September, the coalition distributed 247 copies of The Wildflower to Kindergarten students in School District 46. The handout was followed by a picnic at the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden. The Wildflower illustrator Sara Gillingham attended the event, signed every book, and sketched a picture on each frontispiece. Literacy-themed booths and giveaways have become a feature of local Pride Month celebrations and public health centres.
In April, the group will hold its inaugural teen writing contest, which is being spearheaded by the Gibsons Public Library. Sponsorship for it and other coalition activities flows from Decoda Literacy Solutions, a provincial network of literacy stakeholders.
Diening said that literacy coordinators in other parts of B.C. have commented on the high proportion of performance-related campaigns on the Sunshine Coast. “I say simply: this is the community we live in and it’s alive, so we want to support it,” she explained.
The Myrtle Sisters shows for children (and families) take place at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24 at xwesam–Roberts Creek Community Hall. Admission is free for both events, but preregistration is required at www.sd46.bc.ca/register-now-family-literacy-day-celebrations/.
