Swiss storyteller exhibits his talent at Francophonie event

Islamabad
To celebrate Francophonie week, the embassy of Switzerland invited well-known Swiss storyteller Gilles Decorvet to showcase his storytelling talent. To this end, the ambassador of Switzerland, Marc George hosted a soiree at his residence which was attended by a number of French speaking guests — and some who cannot understand a word! It turned out to be a very nice evening, putting smiles on the faces of those who understood the monologue and for everyone else as well, with Swiss specialties like the delicious cheese ‘raclette’ being served at the reception which followed being enjoyed by everyone.
The programme began with Ambassador George welcoming his guests and introducing the artiste, who wears many feathers in his cap - storyteller; translator; author; musician and teacher. Gilles has an interactive way of telling a story, changing his voice for different characters and acting it out with gestures and exclamations, so it’s interesting even if you do not understand the words. He told two stories - the first about two brothers and the other about misconceptions. The two brother’s story, one rich one poor, told of the legend of why the sea is salty because of the rich brothers greed for gold, while the other was a rags to riches love story that was quite humourous, telling by the laughter that erupted every now and again! Each story was preceded by a brief interlude of music played by Gilles on the clarinet, ‘to put the audience in the right mood’, he said.
Born in 1962 in Geneva, Gilles studied literature at the University of Geneva and classical music at the Conservatory. From 1989 to 1994 he lived in Greece to study and work there. He decided to dedicate himself to theatre and literary translation. To combine these two activities, he turned, naturally, to the public performance of tales. By dint of practice he developed a technique where fantasy, theatrics and freedom of adaptation plays a major role.
He begins by finding stories in Greek folklore collections, which he reads in the original language and then translates into French, after which he narrates them in public. And each time he tells a story, he changes the dialogues a little, adds jokes, gestures, picks up accessories and in the end, ends up with a ‘very faithful to the original’ theatrical narrative in substance but quite personal in form.
To date, Gilles has performed in many theatres, libraries and schools, in western Switzerland and France. In Dardagny, he participated in the last three editions of ‘Countdown Stories’ as well as in many festivals in Switzerland. Since 2011, he has been facilitating workshops for storytellers, as part of the training offered by the Storytellers of Geneva. During this week in Islamabad he told stories at NUML (French classes) and a private school that teaches French.