Beads On One String

Last Thursday afternoon, my son, Patrick, and I attended this performace Celebrating Cuture and Tradition Through Music and Story. We were motivated to attend not only due to our interest but also because Sheila Rocha, Native storyteller (pictured on your right above) and our friend was one of the featured artists. We know Sheila as a producer of Native theater performances and our encounters over many years at various Pow Wows.
Dennis Warner, Folk musician from Minnesota, has performed in venues from grade schools to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. He set the stage for the performance with his song and book, Beads On One String. If you usually purchase books for your children or grandchildren during the holiday season, let me highly recommend this one!
Beads on One String illustrates that while we are different, we are all connected by a common thread like beads on one string.

The sheet music for Dennis' song is on the book inside cover and a CD of the song comes with the book.

Dennis set the stage for this performance with his wonderful music, wit, and good humor.

Rita Pakowitz, Jewish Storyteller, tantalized us with her story about the Rainbow People and how you can become one by doing simple good deeds. She convinced us that if you do deeds of kindness, you may be the one who saves the world from being destroyed by a chocolate pudding filled astroid!

Idu Maduli, Black Story Actor, told the story of four black women in Omaha who grew up in the projects and went on to accomplish wonderful cultural and environmental feats.

Our friend, Sheila Rocha, Native Storyteller, related a fascinating story about her multi-cultural upbringing.

The concept of beads on one string is so strong that the Girl Scouts now have a Beads On One String merit badge and a project for elementary schools has been developed. You can bring this special project to your school. If interested, learn more at http://www.warnersongs.com/. We enjoyed the performance immensely and were reminded that we really are all beads on one string!