"Now, you've asked me, child, how I come to sew.  Well put yourself in Grandma's arms, and listen to the circle tale, from long, long ago..."

Share with your family this heartwarming film that brings the story of the Sweetgrass Basket to life! 

Original watercolors of E.B. Lewis are weaved into live footage of classical musicians performing as narrator Rachel Dowling shares this extraordinary story.

DVD List Price: $19.98.

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ABOUT THE CIRCLE UNBROKEN DVD

In the spirit of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” ArtsMusic Productions presents a magical setting of Margot Theis Raven’s critically acclaimed children’s story “Circle Unbroken” set to the music of William Grant Still.   

Shot on location in the historic South Carolina Lowcountry, this heartwarming DVD weaves original watercolors of E.B. Lewis with live footage of Chamber Music Charleston musicians as Charleston native Rachel Dowling retells the story.

About the Collaboration

In 1996 Margot Theis Raven began writing a story about an art form close to the South Carolina Lowcountry which she calls home ... a story about the sweetgrass basket.  Circle Unbroken tells the history of this art form, passed from generation to generation, from the people enslaved in their native West Africa to present day families of the Lowcountry.

Once the words were written, E.B. Lewis put brush to paper as he brought color and images to the story.

In 2003 Sandra Nikolajevs brought the words to life with the addition of music by the late  African American composer, William Grant Still. Premiered on March 18, 2007 by musicians of Chamber Music Charleston, this new incarnation of a story that resonates with audiences of all ages has become a staple of the organization’s educational repertoire.

About the Artists

Chamber Music Charleston is a non profit performing arts organization dedicated to developing the audience for classical music through chamber music concerts, including the signature Charleston House Concerts, and educational performances of high artistic quality by musicians of the Lowcountry.   Building upon the time honored tradition of presenting small scale concerts in front of a gathering of friends, Chamber Music Charleston utilizes the talents of this city’s finest professional musicians to perform masterworks of the chamber music repertoire in some of Charleston’s most beautiful and historic settings.  Please visit www.ChamberMusicCharleston.org for more information.

Megan Allison began her violin training at age of four in her native New Zealand and has studied violin at Victoria University, Wellington and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Alan Molina began his violin studies at the age of three and studied violin at Indiana University and the San Francisco Conservatory.

Gretchen Frazier, viola, holds degrees from the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Crane School of  Music.

Timothy O'Malley was first introduced to the cello at the age of nine and studied cello  performance at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music.  

 Rachel N. Dowling, a native of Charleston SC and graduate of Vorhees College with a major in history and a minor in musc, is a classical pianist and organist, is the co-founder of the Edmund Thornton Jenkins Chamber Society and Founder of the Sarah Finley Dowling – John E. Dowling Memorial Scholarship Fund, in honor of her parents.   

Lynette D. Youson, a native of Mt. Pleasant, SC, learned basketweaving nearly 40 years ago from her great grandmother.  She continues the tradition by teaching this art form to the younger generation, including her daughters LaNeikqua and Kimberly Youson.