Nava Sarracino, grew up in South Africa, currently lives in Anchorage Alaska. She is a theatre artist and storyteller, and has performed around the world — in Africa, Asia, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. She’s been hailed as a tour-de-force for her one-woman performances, such as “The Syringa Tree” and “The Child Behind the Eyes”, and more.
Artistic Statement
I have always thought of myself as an actress but I came to story telling later in life. I was in Kenya at a friend’s house when I took a book off the shelf: Fly, Eagle, Fly.
I read it and my spirit spoke – “this story needs to be shared orally as it was initially by Aggrey of Africa in the 1920’s.” So my journey as a storyteller began. Little did I realize that this line from the introduction to the story described the purpose of my art.
“We are not bound to this earth and a humdrum existence but made for something truly
glorious, we are eagles destined to soar to sublime heights” Archbishop Desmond Tutu
As an actress and storyteller, I strive to give the individual a glimpse of their true nature, to draw the soul up from this material realm to the realm of the spirit, to break down barriers that divide and degrade humanity, to infuse joy and radiance in people and connect a person to the most precious treasure they possess – themselves. In doing this I receive the greatest benefit in being able to fulfill my calling and in so doing, myself learn these lessons.
Abdul’baha, explained, “The function of language is to portray the mysteries and secrets of human hearts. The heart is like a box, and language is the key. Only by using the key can we open the box and observe the gems it contains.” Through the language of stories and theatre, I have been given the gift of discovering many gems that lay within me, and as each gem is found so my yearning to allow others to find theirs grows. A world where each individual’s unique gifts and talents are honored and treasured would be a truly beautiful world.
In any community I find myself, whether traveling or living, I look to see how my services as an actress, teacher and storyteller can be used. As I have matured as an artist I realize that most of the work I have done, I have been mysteriously guided to. Often a piece comes to me at the very time that my soul needs to learn the lessons within the piece. This allows me not only to transform in the process of doing the piece but also to draw others into my journey. There is a space that sometimes I and the audience enter called Sacred Space; as one artist says, this is when theatre renders the invisible world within and around us visible, when the thirst of our spirit, body and mind is assuaged. This is for me the highest form of my art and the goal of every performance
Theatre and Story-Telling belong to all people; it is a universal language as old as humanity itself. It is a language whose true value I feel in some ways has been and is being lost. When I am able to bring that language to others and see them learn a few words, my heart fills with joy and hope for a future in which the arts are valued as highly as every other educational field and their true worth as “connector of the hearts” is realized.