Northeast State welcomes storyteller Kuniko Yamamoto

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — You soon can travel through into the worlds of ancient and modern Japanese myths when Northeast State Community College welcomes artist and visual storyteller Kuniko Yamamoto.She will have two performances Thursday, Sept. 14, on the main campus in Blountville next to Tri-Cities Airport.According to a news release from Northeast, Yamamoto enchants audiences of every age with dramatic storytelling using myths and fables from ancient and modern Japan, spiced with social revelations to educate and amuse.Her appearance is sponsored by the college's International Education program.Yamamoto will also teach the art of origami during a workshop at noon Sept. 14 in L106 of Wayne G. Basler Library on the Blountville campus.The evening storytelling performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Ballad Health Center for the Performing Arts in Blountville. It is free and open to the public.Her Origami Tales use folded paper animals and faces, which come alive in folktales. The program encourages audience interaction and participation, with each narrative carefully selected for cultural and moral perspectives.Trained in dance and traditional arts in her native Osaka, Japan, Yamamoto received national exposure performing Japanese storytelling at the Silk Road International Exposition and on Kansai National TV. Over the last three decades, she has presented her programs throughout the United States. As a passionate origami artist and teacher, Yamamoto opened Origami Air Art Studio in 2017.She has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; Disney's Japan Pavilion at Epcot; Seattle's International Children's Festival/Giant Magnet; the International Children's Festival in Canada; the National Storytelling Festival; LA Music Center/Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County and the Pittsburgh International Children's Festival.The performance is sponsored by the Northeast State International Education program. For more information, contact internationaled@northeaststate.edu.What: Kuniko YamamotoWhen: 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14Where: Ballad Health Center for Performing Arts at Northeast State Community College, 2425 Highway 75, PO Box 246, Blountville, TennesseeAdmission: FreeMore info: Email internationaled@northeaststate.edu