Wherever he finds himself, the storyteller is soon recognizable and his presence transforms the evening into a verbal interchange, which will shatter the boundaries of time and open up new horizons. After proclaiming the opening line: “Once upon a time”, the storyteller gets the seven headed beast out of its cave or raises the birch bark canoe from the wild hunt, through words and movements. He also carries the listener in verbal and gesticulate interplay. First seated, soon lifted up by the narrative action, he walks, jumps, mimes, while playing with his voice, eyes and arms; giving life to his characters and taking them through perils and salvation.⁹