Spoken-word, community and expression all come to life at the Salt City Story Slam. 

On Sept. 14 at 7 p.m., Salt City Story Slam, a story-telling organization based out of Syracuse, will be hosting an event at Wunderbar, a queer bar, with a theme of people telling their coming out stories entitled “Coming Out.”  

Michelle Stantial, one of the co-founders of Salt City Story Slam, said that Wunderbar reached out to her with the idea for the event after they hosted its first spoken-word event at the venue in late March. When the bar, located on S. West Street, contacted her, Stantial said she and co-founder Sam Arnold loved the idea and agreed to the event. 

“I think that what the bar creates, it’s a really wonderful environment where people feel comfortable expressing themselves and it just has a really wonderful community vibe,” said Stantial.  

Tanya Roy, a trained storyteller, who has performed at previous Salt City events that said that Wunderbar is one of her favorite places in Syracuse. This is due to its “beautiful bar, wonderful music choices and the topnotch” bartenders, she said. 

But more importantly for Roy, she said she appreciates the events the bar plans and the audience they put on those events for.  

“The things that they’re encompassing, and the people that they’re paying attention to … when they plan those events are huge draws for us,” said Roy.  

Roy said she found Salt City because there aren’t a lot of storytelling events near her home in North Country, a region of the state. She said she was attracted to the themes and frequency of the organization’s events. 

The themes are broad-ranging and interpreted in very different ways, Roy said. Its last theme of “Taking Risks,” offered stories from people who had taken risks, and others who defined it differently, she said. Which she said is one of the greatest things about storytelling. 

This month’s theme for the Story Slam revolves around sexuality and people telling coming out stories. Courtesy of Cayley Sheehan

While Roy might not be attending the event, she said that it was important to have this event to give people a place where they can feel safe and accepted to share their stories.  

Roy also said that she wished “we lived in a world,” where this didn’t have to be a topic of discussion or storytelling night, but that this a great way to invite people to tell their stories.  

“I think the more that events and venues and people, in particular, and groups of people do to give people, safe spaces to express their stories, expressing their feelings that are often felt as a community and as a society,” Roy said.  

Stantial said that, when Wunderbar first suggested the idea, she was nervous because she didn’t want people to feel intimidated. But she said that, similar to other events, it can provide a great environment for people.  

Salt City’s last event, which was also at Wunderbar, had the theme of “Taking Risks,” and around 40 to 50 people attended, said Issac Betters, the program coordinator for Wunderbar. This was more than Betters anticipated, which he said was both exciting and successful. 

Stantial echoed this statement by also saying that the event was a “huge success,” she said that it would be a great place for its next event along with the theme they thought of. 

“I think this particular event can really provide a sense of community, and a deeper sense of compassion for what other people go through and other people’s struggles,” she said. 

She said that she’s excited for the event because its last event was very “emotionally-charged” and it brought a lot of good stories. So, she said that this event has the potential to “surpass,” its last event. 

Both Betters and Roy said that storytelling can be a cathartic experience, which Betters said he hopes can give people positive support and feel more positive about their own experiences.  

“I hope that everyone who participates knows and feels that they are loved and supported, and that it is a positive experience for them to talk about personal things, whether those things were initially positive or negative in and of themselves,” Betters said.   

Contributing writer Gavi Azoff contributed reporting to this article. 

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Published on September 12, 2019 at 11:15 am

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