Musical tales on the sand of Sines beach enchant children and adults alike

This is the reading mediation team from the Sines Municipal Library (BMS), in the district of Setúbal, which, these days, when the heat is pressing and inviting you to go for a swim, 'refreshes' the atmosphere on the beach with the musical stories "Na Areia Molhada, uma História Contada" (In Wet Sand, a Story Told).

From inside Bibliopraia, a small prefabricated structure that oversees the entry and exit of trawlers from the fishing port, with activities and books for bathers during the summer months, comes the muffled sound of a flute.

"It's our summer space" in an attempt to make this facility "an outdoor library" to "go where people are," librarian Sulina Guerreiro explained to Lusa news agency, indicating that musical tales are one of these projects, which has been running for 15 years.

The meeting with the children is scheduled for 10:30 am, but 10 minutes before, Cristina Fernandes, the storyteller, challenges young Gustavo, who is accompanying the team that day, to alert the groups to the start of the session.

"In the past, I was the one who walked along the beach calling people, but today it's Gustavo's job," he told Lusa, and the young man sets off across the sand in search of an audience.

Minutes later, the space reserved for the story, surrounded by a wooden fence and a net to protect from the sun, begins to fill with children, hats on their heads and bottles of water in their hands.

The reading mediation team is made up of three people, but in the summer, it's only two hours: one to tell the story and another to "give it music."

"We started by telling stories on several beaches in the area. We'd take a giant tent, do the story, and do an activity, more related to pollution and the sea. And this continued until recently, until we realized that the best thing was on Sines beach, because we always have audiences from schools and families," recalls the storyteller.

Next to her, Ana Dias, armed with a flute, explains that this is "the instrument of the day", although the choice is made "according to each story", she explains, pointing to the instrument case, formerly the 'home' of a trumpet where she now places the yellow xylophone, maracas, sticks and rattles.

Sitting with the book on her lap, Cristina recognizes some of the little ones sitting on the sand in the center of the space. A grandmother appears, recognizing her grandson among the group and ending up attending the session. Around the fence, other adults gather to listen.

"Good morning, everyone," she says, putting on a storyteller's voice. The group returns the greeting, and even without curtains to raise the curtain, the "show" continues.

The traditional tale of this day is the classic "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and the journey lasts just over five minutes, with the narrator, with a firm voice and a smile on her face, in command of the action and the sound of the flute playing different melodies as the adventure unfolds.

The eyes of children and adults alike are glued to the expressions of the primary school teacher and, now, reading mediator who, for at least 10 years, has led these musical sessions, always on the lookout for a reaction from the audience.

Music "is the backdrop" that "provides the guiding thread for the imagery; it's an extension of the story," Cristina emphasizes. The goal "is for the story to reach the imagination or heart of whoever is listening, whether adult or child."

"How we work and construct stories is always a tremendous challenge because, as we often say, when we get here, it comes out more or less similar to what we rehearsed," admits Ana Dias.

No two sessions are the same, and over the last decade, she has learned, "through contact with the kids", to observe "the reactions" and to understand the narrator's "breathing".

"At first it wasn't that simple, then we started to develop this connection that's almost like we were a band," he says ironically.

Throughout the year, the team organizes a variety of storytelling activities for both children and adults, particularly the elderly.

"Bread with marmalade? The story is over," the narrator and the children shout in unison, this being the motto for the end of yet another story with a happy ending.

They say goodbye, shaking the sand from their legs, but a boy approaches and asks, "What did the fox look like?" Cristina describes to the young man a colorful creature with a long tail, and he, after listening to her, promises, "I'll draw it."

Also watching the musical tale are other bathers, refreshed after a dip in the sea, who, at the end, can't resist praising the narrator's delivery.

"He read it with wonderful magic. The gestures, intonation, mannerisms, and expression were all very good. It's a brilliant idea," shares Maria Mendonça, from Portimão, in the Algarve.

This "is our salary. We need money to eat and to live, but this [people's satisfaction] is our payment," says the accountant, who, after a well-deserved break, returns in September with more stories on the tip of her tongue.

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