About Anne Glover

Anne Glover has made her living as a performer for most of her adult life. From Tofino to Tokyo, Hamilton to Honolulu, she enthralls audiences of all ages with her unique storytelling style and her unforgettable string figures. Anne returns to performing after stepping aside for 4 years to work as a full-time classroom teacher.

A natural communicator, Anne followed her love of languages and studied linguistics and languages at the University of Toronto, then Université Laval in Quebec City. She ended up teaching English as a second language to adults in Quebec, and happened into performing because she enjoyed telling stories to keep her students awake during class. When she moved to the west coast in the 1980’s, she widened her audience and began telling stories for children. She toured for several years with musician David Kaetz before finding her footing as a solo performer in 1998. Since then, she has toured extensively in Canada, the US, and more recently Japan and Hawaii.

String figures are always a component of Anne’s show. They add a visual, low-tech dimension which is appealing to all ages and all “listening” styles. Anne learned a few basic string figures as a child, but it wasn’t until her late teens that she realized there are string figures all over the world, and they have been an important part of many indigenous cultures for thousands of years. Anne has observed the power of string figures to teach, create community, improve reading, inspire all ages and on occasion drive teachers and parents crazy. Anne frequently sees an enthusiastic, cooperative, all-ages tangle of strings after her programs.

In addition to entertaining in schools, theatres, festivals and folk clubs, Anne leads workshops and speaks at educational and parenting conferences. She has been a mentor to several teachers on the art of integrating storytelling across the curriculum.

FAQ

How long have you been doing string games?
I started in Grade 4. My friend Betsy taught me Jacob’s Ladder, and we played cat’s cradle until we were sent to the office.

Where do you learn the string figures?
I’ve learned some from other people, some from books; some I make up, and some, like the chair, are actually “mistakes.” I love that about strings – a mistake becomes a new invention!

How do you make the string dog move???
Watch… here’s the dog… now, to make him move, you tell him there’s some stinky disgusting stuff over there, and…see? There he goes! Dogs just can’t resist. …What? I’m pulling the string? Ohhhh, so that’s how it works!

Where do the animal noises come from?
I make them. When I was a kid, my brother and I liked to imitate sounds around us, and we had lots of animals. We also liked to copy voices. We sort of teased our parents by mimicking them. Of course, it was just for fun; I never imagined it would be part of my work when I grew up.

How did you learn to make the different voices?
This is a hard question to answer. I don’t know how I make the voices. I just think of the character I’m doing and the voice sort of comes. I don’t think I “learned” how to do this; I just discovered that it’s something I do.

Are the stories true?
I always tell a combination of folk tales and stories about my own life. The stories from my life are based on real events, but some of the details might be changed.

How did you learn sign language, and why do you use it in the stories?
I started taking sign language classes several years ago, when I was working with some deaf and hearing-impaired children. I loved Sign right away, because I like languages and I like talking with my hands. Sign is a beautiful, expressive language. I still use sign language in the shows even when there aren’t hearing-impaired students. I use it as a visual clue when I introduce new words in French. So when I make the sign for dog, you know I’m talking about a dog even if you don’t know the word CHIEN yet, right? And then, by the end of the show, you’ve been hearing and saying CHIEN so much, you know that word.