By: Eric Wolf,
on 7/6/2011
Written for by Carolyn Stearns… Part 1- An Interview With Lanes Exec. Director Yvonne Zinicola as of 3-29-2011 I requested to interview Yvonne for the blog as a way of capturing her first year and reflecting on its impact with Lanes and storytelling in the Northeast. I sent [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 5/17/2011
Press Play to hear Diane Wolkstein and Connecting with Audiences, Other Cultures and Ourselves on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Bio… Diane Wolkstein is one of the world’s most preminent storytellers and the award-winning author of more than 30 books, CDs, and DVDs. From amusing children’s tales to epic adventures for adults, Wolkstein has performed [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 11/30/2010
Press Play to hear Octavia Sexton talk about Jack Story and how his Traditional Tale belongs to everyone. on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Octavia Sexton writes…
I think most people probably know that a Jack Tale is a trickster story and Jack. They’ve been around for over 800 years – originating in the British Isles. The stories came to North America via European settlers. The stories told in the Appalachian Mountains began to change through the years to reflect the environment and cultural traditions that emerged among the mountain people.
I grew up in a storytelling tradition and stories were a part of life. I heard a variety of stories not only through kinfolk but also at school. I went to a one-room school and the only thing to do at recess was sing songs, tell stories and play games that did not require ‘stuff.’ We didn’t have any ‘stuff’ to play with because we were all just a bunch of poor country kids. I think I established myself very early as a storyteller. I remember being 5 years old and standing on a big rock in the yard of one of my uncles’ houses and telling tales to my cousins, aunts and uncles who gathered on the big front porch. We had all kinds of stories, but I never knew what a Jack Tale was until I went to college.
After eighth grade, Mommy asked me if I wanted to get married or go on to high school. I went on to high school! Five months after graduating high school, I was married, pregnant and working for minimum wage in a factory. We lived in a two-room house, got water from a spring and used an outhouse. Poverty is like a great black hole that keeps sucking you in deeper – almost impossible to get out. Hoping to break the grip of poverty for my family, I went to college full time. While in college the professors discovered I was a storyteller. I was asked if I knew any Jack Tales and I said no. Then I found out what they were and I realized I had heard Jack Tales all my life but the character wasn’t always called Jack. He could be named after anybody or just be called ‘a feller.’ Anyway, it was college that put me on the track to becoming a professional storyteller. I took a storytelling class in college and right off knew I couldn’t tell one like the professor said we should. I kept my mouth shut through that class and that is hard for me to do. Then on the last day, each student had to stand up and tell a story. I thought to myself, “Oh Lord, now everybody will know I can’t tell stories the right way.” I got up there and just told one like Grandpa because I couldn’t do it any different. When I finished everybody was real quiet and staring at me. Then the professor said I was the best storyteller he had ever heard. Talk about getting the ‘big head’ – you couldn’t shut my mouth after that. I started telling in other classes, at faculty meetings and just everywhere.
I think Jack Tales are great stories for anyone to tell and create because he is just like you and me wherever we are. You don’t have to be in Appalachia to tell a Jack Tale any more than we had to stay in Englan
By: Eric Wolf,
on 8/25/2010
Press Play to hear Ruth Stotter speak on working with props in storytelling performances on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Ruth Stotter Writes....
I love the idea that as a storyteller, you travel light. A "bag" of stories takes up no room and is easy to carry around. But I also love interspersing stories with props - both as a folklorist carrying on old traditions and as a way of adding a visual component. Puppets, masks, and origami are among my favorites. You asked why I am currently so intrigued with string stories and I will try to answer. It never ceases to amaze me that with a simple loop of string you can make hundreds of figures, and that these string designs can be used to tell stories.I think they were the first picture books. Tellers in traditional cultures twisted and turned the string to make illustrations to accompany their oral texts.
When I went to Easter Island, where they still hold an annual string story competition, I found that they were using a rough hewn string from a plant and told stories in the old Rapa Nui language, not the modern Rapa Nui, nor Spanish, which is the official language. In Fiji I met a man who easily copied my string figures. I found it difficult to learn his, as I am used to book illustrations. Besides stories, of course, the loop of string is used for stunts and magic tricks.
Organizing the String Gathering in San Francisco in 2004 I was happy to meet other members of the International String Figure Association. This organization sends members a monthly string figure-design as well as various newsletters and books. Several of the people who attended the Gathering brought power point presentations of their experiences collecting string figures from Yupik Eskimoes, Navajos, and various Oceanic Rim countries.
I was pleased to be invited to write the section "String Figures" for Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Storytelling and Folklore, edited by Josepha Sherman. That led to my writing A Loop of String.
So, you see, my friends, all of my interests - origami, puppets, magic, folklore and storytelling - coalesce in this seemingly simple folk craft! I guess the bottom line (literally in this letter ) is that as a storyteller I find it challenging and irresistible to adapt and adopt string figures as part of my storytelling performance.
Bio: Ruth Stotter's kaleidoscope activities in storytelling include telling stories at a local Rennaisance Faire for six summers, producing and hosting "The Oral Tradition" radio program on KUSF-SF for six years, directing the Dominican University storytelling program for 14 years*, teaching and performing in Portugal, France, England, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, India and Africa. She is the author of About Story, More About Story, The Golden Axe, Smiles: 101 Stunts and You're On!. She has chaired and presented papers at meetings of the American Folklore Society and for several years served on the ASF Aesop Committee, which selects the best children's books based on folklore. Her honors include the Reading the World Award from the University of San Franc
By: Eric Wolf,
on 8/6/2010
Press Play to hear Laird Schaub speak about The Application of Story to Group Facilitation and Community Living on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf
Laird Schaub Writes...
"As a consultant, I'm often asked to work with groups that consider themselves stuck. In helping them understand how they got there and the choices they have to move through it, I always start with the stories-the way in which each person makes sense of their reality as a member of the group. Invariably, the stories don't all match. Sometimes the realities are mutually exclusive. Still, I believe them all and do my best to help everyone in the group understand how each person's actions make sense from that person's perspective. Once I've established a bridge of understanding among the various players, it's then possible to build a new story, where each person's reality is now a little bigger and can hold aspects of other's realities as well.
The key to this is to not ask a person to change their core beliefs, change their personality, or change the way they work with information. I just ask them to change their story, and then to adjust their behaviors accordingly. I ask them to make shifts that are in their interest; ones that will help them be better understood and be less triggering for others. I ask them to make changes that will help them build relationship.
Often, people in the group will be in pain. Being stuck doesn't feel good, and if you cannot see past your own story it often appears that others have taken actions that are purposefully hurtful or disrespectful. Ouch! In this sense, pain is a symptom of a problem, and very useful in helping to diagnose where the stories are not in alignment. Because you want to be treating causes and not just symptoms, it's important here to resist the impulse to alleviate the pain as your priority. It's a better strategy to view the pain as an important source of information and explore it for the purpose of surfacing the clues you'll need to build a story where everyone can feel held and respected."
Brief Bio:
Laird has lived 36 years at Sandhill Farm, an income-sharing rural community in Missouri which he helped found. He homesteads there, has raised two kids, and has developed a flair for preserving food and celebration cooking. He is also the main administrator of the Fellowship for Intentional Community, a network organization he helped create in 1986, and that serves as a clearinghouse of information about North American communities of all stripes.
In addition to being an author and public speaker about various aspects of community, he's also a meeting junkie and has parlayed his passion for good process into a consulting business on group dynamics. He's worked with about 75 different groups around the US, many of them multiple times. His specialty is up-tempo meetings that engage the full range of human input, teaching groups to work creatively with conflict, and at the same time being ruthless about about capturing as mu
By: Eric Wolf,
on 6/22/2010
Press Play to hear Brother Wolf speak with Tejumola Ologboni on Walking the Talk with Street Storytelling.
A little more on the Artist…
Teju of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a master storyteller and folklorist of international renown. He draws listeners into stories with gestures and movements, and sometimes with music made on traditional Africa instruments. Some of his stories are filled with magic and mystical characters, like “the Possum and the Hare;” others are fact like the story of Joshua, a runaway captive who escaped to Wisconsin, and whose case went all the way to the Supreme Court, when a bounty hunter tried to capture and return him to being enslaved. Serious or humorous, political or festive, Teju’s stories reflect on longstanding and contemporary cultural perspectives to capture and return him to being enslaved. Serious or humorous, political of festive, Teju’s stories reflect on longstanding and contemporary cultural perspectives to give listeners greater understanding of the profound influence of African heritage on our traditions and identities. Come listen to this culture keeper and be enlightened and inspired.
He is also an author, teacher, consultant, poet, writer, actor, dancer, percussionist, and “verbal illusionist.”
“Storytelling is the most ancient of ancient arts.” -Tejumola Ologboni
Whether in your schools, concerts, festivals, libraries or community centers, bring Teju the Storyteller to your stage for a memorial cultural experience.
Tejumola F. Ologboni
P.O. Box 16706
Milwaukee, WI 53216
(414) 344-6656
You can learn more about Teju at http://www.yourfavoritestorytellers.org/teju.html
By: Eric Wolf,
on 2/18/2010
Press Play to hear Ben Nind speaking on how Storytelling is Essential to Community Health and Life on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Storytelling Is Essential to Community Health and Life.
Do we really have to justify why this is so? Are we so removed from ourselves as purveyors of stories that we actually need to rationalize, in some manner or form - why storytelling is essential? This is an odd question because it means that I have to somehow divorce story from the human experience and that is an impossible task.
The glue that holds all of the pieces together is story past, present and future. Birth, marriage, divorce, life, death, addiction, celebration, grief and victory are woven with stories in every window and door that we pass in our day to day existence. Without stories there is no community, there is no activity and the world is just one big cold ball of rock hurling through the blackness of space.
Is storytelling essential to community life? Say no more. Just listen and let me tell you a story..............
Bio
Ben NInd grew up in the theatre community of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
From a young age, his mentors provided him with a passionate love for community theatre. In the end, it was this passion that drove him to drop his cubical world and enroll in the Theatre Studies Program at Red Deer College in Alberta. In 1994, he graduated from the English Acting Program at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal and continued training with Silamiut Theatre of Greenland, through a generous Fox Fellowship grant. Ben returned to Yellowknife in 1995 to found Stuck in a Snowbank Theatre where he wore the hat of actor, director, playwright and mentor working throughout Canada and the circumpolar world.In the spring of 2004 he became the Executive and Artistic Director of the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, a position he still holds. He continues to promote the development of all performing arts in the NWT. His passion lies with the stories of the Canadian North. They are the core material from which his brand of theatre magic is cut. His belief in the stories, and his commitment to the talented men and women who tell those stories, keep this unique and powerful northern theatre movement alive and relevant for contemporary northern audiences.
By: Eric Wolf,
on 2/5/2010
Press Play to hear Lloyd Arneach speak on a Cherokee perspective on Native American Storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
This Post will be updated by Tuesday - if you want some more thoughts from the guest please come back then -
Biography
An enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, Lloyd Arneach was born and reared on the Cherokee Reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina. He learned his first legends from two storytelling Uncles on the reservation.
From 1970 to 1990, Lloyd traveled throughout the state of Georgia, lecturing on Cherokee history and culture. This was done in his spare time while working for AT&T's computer department in Atlanta. In 1990, he added storytelling to his presentations on culture and history and in 1993 began a full-time career as both storyteller and historian.
Lloyd presents his stories in a style that is humorous, informative and extremely moving. Lloyd's stories range from the "old stories" of the Cherokee to contemporary stories he has collected; from creation stories to behind the scenes of "Dances with Wolves." He tells stories of different Native Americans: Floyd Red Crow Westerman; Billy Mills, an Olympic champion; a young Cree Indian girl with no stories to tell; and a postmaster on the Papago Reservation. He shares historical stories from a variety of Native American tribes. Some of these stories are difficult for Lloyd to tell because of the strong feelings associated with his experiences as a Native American.
Lloyd lectures on Cherokee history and culture in schools, universities, libraries, museums, historical societies, and civic groups. If requested, he can bring a number of Native American artifacts to show and demonstrate. Lloyd also conducts workshops on Native American storytelling, building appreciation of Native American culture and what the stories mean to the cultures from which they grew.
He has told stories at the Kennedy Center, National Folklife Festival (Washington, D.C.), the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, D.C.), the Winnepeg International Storytelling Festival (Canada), festivals, schools, universities, Pow-Wows, theaters, and other venues throughout the United States. His CD Can You Hear the Smoke? features stories and legends adapted by Lloyd. In 1992, Children's Press published his book, The Animal's Ballgame, based on one of Lloyd's favorite Cherokee animal stories. During the summer of 2006, Lloyd performed in the Cherokee outdoor drama Unto These Hills - A Retelling. In the of summer (2008), Lloyd once again performed in the Cherokee outdoor drama Unto These Hills - A Retelling.
He has told stories on the Discovery Channel.
Lloyd has finished a new book of Cherokee stories,Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee, that was released in early 2008.
Lloyd now lives in Cherokee, North Carolina.
By: Eric Wolf,
on 12/16/2009
Press Play to hear Michal Malinowski speaking on the Storytelling Museum of Poland on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
A storyteller - shaman from Altay in Siberia at the festival of Intangible Heritage organized by the Storytelling Museum.
Michal Malinowski writes...
The Storyteller Museum is a unique institution devoted to the collection, preservation and promotion of oral heritage from all over the world. Our mission is to save the vanishing examples of intangible treasures, acquaint new generations with the oral tradition of a variety of cultures and revive the custom of storytelling. Nonetheless, our attention is also devoted not only to tribal storytelling but also to contemporary trends in oral expression. The Museum has been the leading place in Poland to developed the storytelling revival movement. We have organized Storytelling Festivals and workshops in our location and other places in the country
The Storyteller Museum has an innovative approach to collecting and exhibiting different cultural artifacts by applying the latest achievements of digital technology. Our interests pertain not only to narrative texts but also to other indirect elements, such as gesture, movement, dance, sound, music, costume and body coverings. We have been engaged in work on various exhibitions, elaborating unexplored topics, such as African Griots: Local Knowledge -Global Polish Oral Tradition, A Panorama of European Oral Tradition, The Storyteller Museum supports all initiatives of transcribing oral traditions into tangible platforms. For such an end it has initiated a special program called Indigenous Writers, aiming to give the opportunity to tribal people to enunciate their oral art, so that it can be preserved in various forms, such as books, audio-visual recordings and museum digital displays. We are currently working on the book "Folktales from Burkina Faso"
Michal Malinowski - biography
Folklorist, writer, storyteller, computer graphic artist, born in 1966 in Warszaw, graduated from Academy of Fine Arts in Lausanne - Switzerland diploma in painting and computer graphics, started his carier as multimedia artist designing animation movies in Switzerland and Japan. Simultaneously discovered his passion for writting which he has realised as animation script writter and free lance journalist for various magazines in Europe and Asia. In 1997 traveled to Papua New Guinea where discovered traditional storytellers and decided to create the new type of museum based on interactive technology presenting oral traditions and intangible heritage. In 1999 quit Japan in the goal to extend his knowledge in cultural studies and went for one year to Folklore and Mythology Department at Harvard University. After retourned to Poland and opened in 2002 the Storyteller Museum in the house he built himself.
He has contributed to the beginning of Polish storytelling revival mouvment , organizing since 2002 various storytelling events ( storytelling evenings, workshops and Festivals in the Museum venue and all over Poland). He performed his storytelling programs life on stage, libraries, schools or since December 2007 regularly on the III Chanel of the Polish National Radio. Recently performed in the storytelling festival
By: Eric Wolf,
on 12/7/2009
Press Play to hear Gail Herman speaks on building a student storytelling festival on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Written by Gail N. Herman, Ph.D. © 2009
I have loved working with students on storytelling in the schools for over 30 years. One of the events that students love is to share their stories with younger audiences. The older students feel like they are giving a gift to them. Students enjoy entertaining and “helping the little ones.” However, after some in-depth exploration, training and practice telling to an audience, some students want to share their stories with wider audiences of all ages. Below are types of festivals I have found to be very successful.
Here is a list of ideas for starting a storytelling festival in your school or your community.
Ways to get it started. (You pick which one you want to start with.)
• Find a few teachers and/or parents and offer to tell a story in the teachers’ classrooms. Start suggesting the idea that students can also retell or tell stories to share with younger students. This is the short “festival” version. This year Broad Ford School second grades did this after my performance on tall tales. They all told their original tall stories (alone or in duos and trios) about Johnny Appleseed. The teachers made it part of their curriculum with the help of their enrichment teacher.
• Or write a press release in the school paper(s) or community newspaper about a new enrichment opportunity to be held in the community. “Tellers wanted, grades ___ to ____ to share their retelling of a folktale, tall tale, legend, or an original story of their own.” Over and over I have found “If you build it, they will come.”
• Find an auditorium or a venue with a stage and/or 10 classrooms or spaces. The spaces are for student story sharing circles in small groups of 10 stories with parents/friends as audience; the auditorium with a microphone is for a main stage sharing by a portion of the group (picked at random or by the sharing circles). I have directed and held over 25 festivals in three states (CT, WV, and MD) in schools, in church fellowship halls, state parks, and at colleges. Smaller “festivals” for, let’s say three classes of grade two, can just be held on the school stage/ “cafetorium.”
• If possible find businesses and/or an organization that will support the event. Gifts for each student teller are so appreciated. Finding gas money (or a grant for an honorarium) for you is also great! Our local American Association for University Women, Garrett County Branch in Maryland has been very supportive. We also have a used book sale there.
• When the session is in school, the audience comes free, unless it is a fundraiser for the school, usually at night. When it is on a Saturday or a Friday after school and in another location, you can charge admission and a fee to participate. This can be for such things such as pizza (or refreshments), certificates of exaggeration, gifts, or for purposes of donating to a charity. I have found the later to be a very attractive reason for students, parents, and teachers to desire participation. Give the proceeds, or part, to the char
By: Eric Wolf,
on 11/18/2009
Press Play to hear Christine Carlton and Jenni Cargill have a conversation on Australian Storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
|
|
||||
Written by Jenni Cargill-Strong
Eric asked what does it mean to be Australian? Ask 20 different Australians these questions and you might get 20 different answers.
Christine explained and I’d agree, that it can be hard to define the Australian identity, because we have such a diversity of cultures. Many Australians arrived in recent decades since World War 2. The Aboriginal population is less than 2% and most Aborigines live in isolated inland rural areas, whereas most Australians live in cities on the coast, so most Australians don’t have much direct contact with Aboriginal people or culture.
I would agree with Christine now that yes, if you were to generalize, as a people, we are mostly laconic, relaxed, friendly and we have a great sense of humor. Like any country, we also have our shadow, our racism and unresolved issues. However at least Aboriginal issues are much more on the table to be openly discussed now, our Prime Minister gave the apology* to the stolen generation** that many of us had been waiting for and progress is slowly happening with land rights.
Despite all the struggles of Aboriginal Australians, as we both mention in the interview, we now have not only very strong traditional Aboriginal art, dance and storytelling, but the most wonderful flowering of contemporary Aboriginal dance, film, art, theatre and even comedy that keeps building momentum.
I loved Eric’s’ reference to ‘the elephant in the room’. The apology was an important step in our national history and in the development of our identity, because it acknowledged one of the big elephants that had been sitting in the room of the Australian psyche – the facts and the pain of the stolen generation.
I feel that stories that connect us to country are also very important, especially in the context of the level of social dislocation and the state of the environment. A Maori*** friend told me about the Maori concept of your ‘tangata whenua’ which translates to your lineage and the land you come from or ‘the ground you stand on’. It makes you stronger to cle
By: Eric Wolf,
on 10/20/2009
Press Play to hear Esyllt Harker speak on stories out of Welsh History and land of Wales. on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
On the teller...
Esyllt Harker is a versatile singer and storyteller, performing in English and/or Welsh. Her material draws primarily on her strong Welsh roots - myth, legend and history mix with gleaned fragments found in the features and memories of the land. She is noted for her easy interweaving of the Welsh and English languages, making for effortless understanding. She also moves smoothly between spoken and sung material, bringing a new - but age old - inflection to her telling. She has performed frequently at Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival, and was part of the second Rough Guide to Wales tour in 2002. She tells in theatres, festivals, museums, schools, parks, shopping precincts, living-rooms, castles, on clifftops..........
Mae Esyllt yn cynnig ei gwaith yn y Gymraeg ac yn Saesneg.
To learn more about her Website check out the Welsh Storytellers at http://www.bodyandvoice.co.uk/
By: Eric Wolf,
on 10/6/2009
Would you like to be a part of a storytelling conference call that supports you in your use of storytelling? If so, then enter your name and email address and you will receive personal invitations to participate in The Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Conference call or anything else about the show…
| Name: | |
| Email: | |
| Share your thoughts on the call, connect with old time storytellers and ask questions to experts in the field. |
|
I will not share or give away your email address.
And don’t forget to subscribe by iTunes or your browser to the Art of Storytelling Podcast so you can get bi-weekly inspirations from Brother Wolf direct to your desktop.
By: Eric Wolf,
on 9/16/2009
Press Play to hear Doug Elliot talk about using storytelling to support nature based education on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Doug Elliot Writes...
How do you find a story in nature (or anywhere else for that matter)? I often start with an incident, an encounter, a problem or a question-something happens to you, you meet someone, see something, or you wonder about something. The narrative I tell is my journey of investigation, trying to figure it out.
The incident is your hook, not only to your listeners when you're storytelling, but also to yourself as an explorer and an investigator. Then I let my curiosity be my guide. I start asking questions. Any journalist will tell you your ability to get a good story is often directly related to your ability to ask good questions. The first and probably the ultimate resource is yourself. How do/did I relate to that incident, encounter, problem or question? How did I feel?
The next step might be an initial resolution concerning your opening incident or a preliminary answer to the question you have set up.
Simply seeing or experiencing something and figuring out what it is can be an interesting vignette, but it's rarely enough to make a good story. This initial vignette (incident, encounter, problem or question) becomes what Joseph Campbell refers to as the "call to adventure." Your challenge becomes how to find and tap those "ripples on the surface of life" that Campbell writes about "which reveal hidden springs as deep as the soul itself."
After you've explored your feelings and reactions and probed your own background, you find others who might have something to say about what you're investigating. This subsequent investigation-your reading, research, and your conversations with other people-becomes the adventure, the backbone or plot line of the narrative. Some of the various bits of information you gather or anecdotes and tales you hear can possibly stand on their own, but ideally the stories and information will be used as sub-plots to develop your entire piece. Then, instead of delivering a natural history lecture, you end up with a classic mythic hero's journey, where the hero (you, most likely) answers the "call to adventure." Wherever the investigation takes you becomes the journey. These facts, tales, and lore become stepping stones on a quest in search of truth and meaning. Rather than delivering a bunch of facts about a critter, phenomenon, or situation, you tell a story.
Bio
Doug Elliott has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough TN. He has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people in the wilderness from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades.
He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler's Grove Festival in Union Grove NC. He is the author of four books, many articles in regional and national magazines and has recorded a number of award-winning albums of stories and songs.
Elliott's passion for the natural world developed in early childhood roaming the woods and waters around his home. His dad used to say, "That boy knows what's under every rock between here and town.”
He still roams the woods today. He has traveled from the Canadian North to the Central American jungles studying plant and animal life and seeking out the traditional wisdom of people with intimate connections to the natural world. And he still looks under rocks. These days he uncovers more than just a few strange critters; he brings to light the human connection to this vibrant world of which we are a part.
More at http://www.dougelliott.com/about.html
By: Eric Wolf,
on 7/9/2009
Press Play to hear Carol Mon speak on applying fairytales to business on the Art of Storytelling with Children.
Carol Mon writes…
Why tell stories to our children? Because it helps prepare them for life. An added benefit though, is we re-learn the important lessons within each tale. This reminds me of Robert Fulghum’s book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Definitely true if someone read or told you stories during your formative years.
Folk and fairy tales are full of values and morals that we learn through repetition. Generally, as children we don’t stop to think what moral is being taught we are just enjoying the story for entertainment. The characters in the story model good or bad behavior and we see the consequences of their actions. Without receiving a lecture from parents we learn appropriate behavior.
As an adult storyteller I am often re-learning and telling favorite childhood stories. A funny thing happened; I started seeing all kinds of lessons in the stories that could be applied to the business world. My favorite example is Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The Emperor is like so many executives I have met, they intimidate those who work for them. Information does not flow freely and eventually the executive finds himself parading around in only his underwear.
I work with all kinds of business people now and try to get them to understand stories are not just for kids. We need to remember these stories, learn from them and apply them to our current situation. Business people see the tales as frivolous and a waste of time, they want to learn from “real” business situations experienced by colleagues so that they can learn from them. So, you tell them the story of the Emperor and change his title to Executive Vice President. The tailors become consultants selling services, the courtiers are direct reports. The consultants fool the EVP and although the employees see it they fear the EVP’s reaction if they speak out against the consultants. Eventually the consultants leave town and the EVP finds a huge bill with nothing to show for it.
Did the story really have to change to be accepted? Unfortunately the answer is probably yes and not just because of prejudice (stories are for children’s entertainment). Something we have in kindergarten that is destroyed in many of as we go through school is an imagination. Business people lack the imagination to see how the lesson in The Emperor’s New Clothes can be applied to them.
An Introduction to for Carol Mon:
Once, a long time ago there was an accountant named Carol Mon who spent several happy years
working as an employee benefits specialist and payroll manager. When her company merged with another, it was time for her to leave the comfort of Connecticut Mutual, and find her passion in the world.Her journey took her to WMRD, a small AM radio station in Middletown, CT. Wanting more, she moved on to ESPN, a sports network in Bristol CT. Still something was missing. So Carol packed her desk and continued her journey to become…a storyteller. Finally, she had found the passion she was searching for and felt at home in more ways then one.
Drawing on years of informally telling tales of travel, payroll problems, and media mishaps Carol honed her storytelling skills. She now journeys to such venues as Pfizer Corporation, the United States Coast Guard Academy and the National Association of Insurance Women to help people unlock the secrets of creating and telling compelling stories to strengthen communication skills. And she just loves making a difference in this unique way.
Carol is a member of the Connecticut Storytelling Center, Toastmasters International, the National Speakers Association, and is the Assistant Festival Director for the Connecticut Storytelling Festival. She is also the author of a booklet “Ten Telling Tips for Talkers – Storytelling Tips Everyone Should Know”.
For more information on Carol Mon go to
http://www.carolmon.com
By: Eric Wolf,
on 4/23/2009
Press Play to hear Jay O’Callahan speak about learning about Stories by telling to my Children on the Art of Storytelling with Children.
Jay O’Callahan writes…
I’m at work right now on a story commissioned by NASA, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration to celebrate its 50th anniversary. As I create the NASA story I’m aware I’m using all of the knowledge I gained telling stories to my own children. As I told stories to my children I began using repetition, rhythm, changing my voice, using a gesture here and there and inventing situations that involved struggle or risk, When my son Ted was about nine months old I’d make up little songs and rhythms to make him smile. Just making my voice go up high and then suddenly come down delighted him.
One night Ted was sitting in a soapy bath and I read him some of James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. He laughed at the sounds.
When Ted got older I read books to him like The Gingerbread Man and discovered that he loved the repetition running through the story.
Run, run fast as you can
You can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man.
I began reading one of Richard Scary’s book in which there was a character called Pierre the Paris Policeman. The line was, “Pierre the Paris Policeman was directing traffic one day.” I would sing that line with a French accent and lift up my hand to stop an imaginary car. The voice and accent brought the character alive. That was an important discovery. And if I read it in any other way it wasn’t Pierre and Ted would say, “Say it right.”
After my daughter Laura Elizabeth was born I told both my children “hand stories.” I’d take one of their hands, look at the palm of the hand and let a line, a bump or a curve in the hand suggest an image and I’d begin the story. It might go like this. “Once upon a time Ted saw a pink cloud resting by a tree. The cloud looked sad so Ted went over to cheer it up.” I was dreaming aloud and characters and images would spring to mind. I imaged that’s always happened to storytellers. I liked telling the hand stories because they were quiet and personal and my children liked being the hero and heroine. Some of those hand stories eventually turned into the Artana stories which take place in a mysterious land where two children, Edward and Elizabeth are the hero and heroine.
As I was telling to my children I learned the importance of a listener, particularly a listener with the sense of wonder and delight. My children listened me into being a storyteller.
Now as I work on this complicated story about NASA I use the knowledge I gained from my children. I ask myself this question: What is wondrous about NASA? And I’m on the alert for compelling characters and the risks they take and the struggles of their lives. I try to incorporate rhythm and repetition; I use a voice to become a character and find that a gesture helps bring the character alive.
As I shape the story and as it grows, I’m using the listeners. The listeners draw out mysteries in the story that I would have missed without them. Here I am back to the beginning.
Biography
Jay O’Callahan grew up in a section of Brookline, Massachusetts which was called “Pill Hill” because so many doctors lived there. The 32-room house and landscaped grounds were a magical atmosphere for a child’s imagination to blossom. When Jay was fourteen, he started making up stories to tell to his little brother and sister to entertain them.
After graduating from Holy Cross College, a tour in the Navy took Jay to the Pacific. Returning to Massachusetts, he taught and eventually became Dean at the Wyndham School in Boston, which his parents had founded. “In the summers I’d go off to Vermont or Ireland to write. I also did a lot of acting in amateur theatre, and that’s where I met a beautiful woman (Linda McManus) who later became my wife. When we had our first child, I left teaching and became the caretaker of the YWCA in Marshfield, a big old barn on a salt-water marsh. That gave me time to write and to tell stories to my children. When I decided to call myself a storyteller, it was like getting on a rocket.” Within three years, Jay was telling stories in hundreds of schools and in addition he was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to create and perform Peer Gynt with the orchestra. His stories were broadcast on National Public Radio’s “The Spider’s Web,” which brought Jay national attention.
Jay was now publicly telling stories he had created for his children. His stories were filled with rhythms, songs and characters as diverse as Herman the Worm, Petrukian, a medieval blacksmith, and the Little Dragon. Orange Cheeks, inspired by a time Jay got in trouble as a little boy, was the first of his personal stories.
One of his most popular stories, Raspberries was born when Jay’s son Teddy was four. Teddy banged his shin outside their cottage and was weeping, “I broke my leg.” Jay told a story full of rhythms to cheer Teddy up.
Jay was also beginning to tell stories to adults. In 1980, while on vacation in Nova Scotia, he sat on and off for a month in the kitchen of an old man and a blind woman. Out of that kitchen came the story of The Herring Shed. “I realized then that part of my gift was to sit down with ordinary people where they were comfortable, listen, and later weave a story together so that others could enjoy it. The process still amazes me: one year I’m in a kitchen in Nova Scotia and a few years later, I’m performing The Herring Shed to a thousand people at Lincoln Center.” Time Magazine called The Herring Shed “genius.”After the Herring Shed came Jay’s Pill Hill stories for which is was awarded a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship. The Pill Hill stories are loosely based on his boyhood.
Storytelling has brought Jay around the earth. “The storyteller of old got on a horse. I get on a plane, parachute into a community and I’m part of its life for a while before moving on to the next one.” Jay has told stories to students at Stonehendge, to adults in the heat of Niger, Africa, to theatergoers in Dublin and London and at storytelling festivals in Scotland, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. His stories have also been heard on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Jay’s stories also include commissioned works like The Spirit of the Great Auk, Pouring the Sun, Edna Robinson and Father Joe.
When he isn’t on the road, Jay runs a writing workshop at his home. His other interests include reading everything from Walt Whitman to Herman Melville to Flannery O’Connor to Emily Dickinson. And he enjoys listening to jazz, classical music and opera. “I love Maria Callas. Her singing touches a joy that’s very deep.”
Jay has just finished a political novel called Harry’s Our Man, and is creating a story commissioned by NASA for its 50th anniversary.
By: Eric Wolf,
on 4/10/2009
Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.
Currently survey participants responses are coming from…
(One participant may check more then one choice.)
Professional Storyteller 43%
Educator 43%
Parent 41%
Storytelling Organizer 34%
Story Admirer 34%
Audience Member 31%
Writer of Children’s Stories 23%
Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
Librarian 18%
Amateur Storyteller 16%
Storytelling Coach 16%
Faith Based Storyteller 15%
This survey is still open - take your turn to influence the future of the Art of Storytelling with Children…
Fill out hte Listener Survey.
Loading…
By: Eric Wolf,
on 4/10/2009
Press Play to hear Elaine Wynne who is a clinical psychologist speak’s on uses healing stories with children on the Art of Storytelling with Children.
Elaine Wynne was a Storyteller first. Stories flowed freely around the kitchen table and from an Anishinabe/Irish man who lived on the farm where she grew up. She told stories to her young children and then in the early 70’s finished a degree in Storytelling and Image Development for Non-Profits. She began to perform as a storyteller and then in 1982 got a degree in the Psychology of Human Development (Storytelling and Healing as a main focus) and became a Licensed Psychologist.
She worked six years at Mpls. Children’s Medical Center and developed a story called “The Rainbow Dream”, used by children and adult cancer groups for many y ears. Later, her work using storytelling to teach self management to 2-5 year olds with asthma (with Daniel Kohen, M.D.) was published in the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, and in numerous medical and psychological journals in Europe. R esearch on using stories and games as teaching methods showed significant reduction in emergency clinic and hospital visits over a two year period.
Elaine has performed and taught storytelling (and storytelling as a healing art) in Norway, Sweden, England, Ecuador, Japan, and Singapore, as well as in numerous places around Minnesota and the US. Last year, she presented a performance workshop at the 12th annual Pediatric Emergency Management of Humanitarian Disasters in Cleveland. She won Grand Prize with her husband (Storyteller Larry Johnson) at the Tokyo Video Festival for a storied exchange between children in St. Paul and London. She and Larry conduct and teach about Cousin Camp which they developed with their 13 grandchildren.
You can read more about her in this cool article in the Daily Planet
By: Eric Wolf,
on 4/10/2009
Press Play to hear Elaine Wynne who is a clinical psychologist speak’s on uses healing stories with children on the Art of Storytelling with Children.
Elaine Wynne was a Storyteller first. Stories flowed freely around the kitchen table and from an Anishinabe/Irish man who lived on the farm where she grew up. She told stories to her young children and then in the early 70’s finished a degree in Storytelling and Image Development for Non-Profits. She began to perform as a storyteller and then in 1982 got a degree in the Psychology of Human Development (Storytelling and Healing as a main focus) and became a Licensed Psychologist.
She worked six years at Mpls. Children’s Medical Center and developed a story called “The Rainbow Dream”, used by children and adult cancer groups for many y ears. Later, her work using storytelling to teach self management to 2-5 year olds with asthma (with Daniel Kohen, M.D.) was published in the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, and in numerous medical and psychological journals in Europe. R esearch on using stories and games as teaching methods showed significant reduction in emergency clinic and hospital visits over a two year period.
Elaine has performed and taught storytelling (and storytelling as a healing art) in Norway, Sweden, England, Ecuador, Japan, and Singapore, as well as in numerous places around Minnesota and the US. Last year, she presented a performance workshop at the 12th annual Pediatric Emergency Management of Humanitarian Disasters in Cleveland. She won Grand Prize with her husband (Storyteller Larry Johnson) at the Tokyo Video Festival for a storied exchange between children in St. Paul and London. She and Larry conduct and teach about Cousin Camp which they developed with their 13 grandchildren.
You can read more about her in this cool article in the Daily Planet
By: Eric Wolf,
on 4/9/2009
Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.
Currently survey participants responses are coming from…
(One participant may check more then one choice.)
Professional Storyteller 43%
Educator 43%
Parent 41%
Storytelling Organizer 34%
Story Admirer 34%
Audience Member 31%
Writer of Children’s Stories 23%
Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
Librarian 18%
Amateur Storyteller 16%
Storytelling Coach 16%
Faith Based Storyteller 15%
This survey is still open - take your turn to influence the future of the Art of Storytelling with Children…
Fill out hte Listener Survey.
Loading…
By: Eric Wolf,
on 4/1/2009
Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.
Loading…
By: Eric Wolf,
on 3/13/2009
Press Play to hear Catherine Burns who is Artistic Director of The Moth speaking on diamonds in the rough, coaching new storytellers on the Art of Storytelling with Children.
The Moth is America’s #1 storytelling podcast with over 600,000 downloads a month and at least 100,000 listeners. Catherine Burns is one of the minds behind the curtain at The Moth storytelling main stage in NYC and LA.
The Moth storytelling website.
Add a Comment
Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on Tuesday June 3rd at 8 p.m. SWC #057 with storyteller, Dovie Thomason – Building Young Adult Audiences. Dovie Thomason writes… I enjoy listening- I enjoy dialogue-I hope to learn something from every group of listeners or every chance conversation. SO-.join me/us for [...]
Interview #058 Mary Jo Huff for $2.23 Early Literacy begins with rhythm rhyme & story time. Mary Jo writes… Language is critical for literacy development and storytelling creates an interactive bridge. Music, repeated phrases, and actions provide connections and invite participation by children when they become part of the storytelling event. Working in schools demands that [...]
Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #059 Jim May for $2.23 Storytelling in Classrooms. Jim May Writes… I tell stories to children because I learned many years ago that nothing in my ten years of experience as a classroom teacher held my elementary student’s attention like a story. For some twenty-three years now, I have made my living [...]
Fill out the form and press play to hear Jack Zipes the preeminent writer about and translator of fairytales will be appearing on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Name: Email: Dale Jarvis in the Flesh. Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #060 Jack Zipes for $2.23 Fairy Tales are still [...]
Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference panel presentation at the National Storytelling Conference on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 11 am ET – 2008. The Future of Storytelling Online from left to right Brother Wolf as moderator, Panel members Rachel Hedman, Robert Kikuchi-yngojo, Mary Margaret O’Connor and [...]
Fill out the form and press play to hear Dale Gilbert Jarvis speak on how to collect true scary stories for Halloween on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Name: Email: Dale Jarvis in the Flesh. Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #064 Dale Gilbert Jarvis for $2.23 How to [...]
Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on September 24th at 8 PM ET – 2008. Thomas Freeze spike about the advantages of sharing ghost stories with children. Thomas Freese writes… I enjoyied being on Eric’s “Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Podcast” on September 23, 8PM Eastern time. [...]
In reverse order like a letterman top ten list… http://storytellingwithchildren.ning.com Drum roll please…. 7) You love Eric’s podcast and want to make him feel accomplished for the hundreds of hours of work he has invested into the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Podcast. 6) You never heard of Eric or his podcast and feel sorry for him [...]
Fill out the form and press play to hear Lopaka Kapanui as he speaks on memoirs of being a Honolulu Ghost Tour Guide on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Name: Email: Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #065 Lopaka Kapanui for $2.23 Memoirs of being a Honolulu Ghost Tour Guide. Most valued [...]
Fill out the form and press play to hear Donna Washington professional storyteller and featured ghost storyteller at the 2008 National Storytelling Festival. speaks about the Anatomy of a Ghost Story on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Name: Email: Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #063 Donna Washington for $2.23 The [...]
Fill out the form and press play to hear Michael D. McCarty speak on literacy and storytelling in the 21st Century this interview on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Name: Email: Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #066 Michael D. McCarty for $2.23 Storytelling and literacy in the 21st century. Michael [...]
Eric Wolf is available for print, radio and television interviews to defend the use of the scary Halloween stories in the oral tradition with children.
Fill out the form and press play to hear Charlotte Blake Alston speak on breaking barriers through storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Name: Email: Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #069 Charlotte Blake Alston for $2.23 Breaking Barriers using Storytelling Charlotte Blake Alston writes… My introduction to literature [...]
"Sto'etry" is "Rap" without the music
Fill out the form and press play to hear Dylan Pritchett speak on what makes a great storyteller on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Name: Email: Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #068 Dylan Pritchett for $2.23 What Makes a Great Storyteller? Bio Dylan Pritchett is a native of Williamsburg, [...]
Very few storytellers make it easy for potential clients to listen to their material online. Many storytellers choose to hide the treasure of their professional work behind a wall of profit and self-interest. Unluckily for them profit and self-interest can be better served by bringing down the wall. How do you expect potential clients to [...]
empathy is essential for all ethical decision making. I have been talking about this for more than thirty years.
Press Play to hear Connie Regan-Blake who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on a history of the National Storytelling Festival on the Art of Storytelling on Tuesday, Dec. 17th at 8pm. Connie writes… It was October 7, 1973, in Jonesborough, Tennessee - an afternoon that changed my life . . . and the course of storytelling in [...]
Press Play to hear Andy Offutt Irwin who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on entertaining children with out boring the grownups out of their skull on the Art of Storytelling on Tuesday, Dec. 16th at 8pm. Bio A native of Covington, GA, Andy started out in comedy, but added music and storytelling because he had a lot [...]
By Leslie Slape If you’re a storyteller with a webcam, you can record your stories and post them on-line. It’s remarkably easy. Since July I have been busily recording stories and songs, making up for years of talking myself out of it because of the expense, the time commitment and my nervousness in front of the [...]
Press Play to hear Janice M. Del Negro who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on revising feminist folk-tales: naming the women. on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Dr. Janice M. Del Negro writes When Eric and I talked about a topic for this interview, he asked me what was I passionate about? I [...]
Press Play to hear David Novak who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on storyteller’s compass using narrative as guide on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. The Scattered Brain by David Novak “I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies I saw boys, toys, electric irons and T.V.’s My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room [...]
Press Play to hear Loren Niemi who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on Honoring Elders and Apprentices on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Loren Niemi writes… I’ve been a storyteller for 30 plus years and yet in so many ways I feel like a beginner learning how to do now, what I learned how to [...]
If you are looking for Bil Lepp’s Website please go to it at http://www.leppstorytelling.com Press Play to hear Bil Lepp who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on How to Lie and not get Caught on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Bio: Bil Lepp is a nationally renowned storyteller and five time champion of the West Virginia [...]
I rarely write articles for this bog – but I started thinking about it and I thought as way of thanks I would write a short article giving thanks to all those bloggers who have been so supportive of my podcast over the years. Keeping in mind that many of these people have become [...]
Press Play to hear Catherine Burns who is Artistic Director of The Moth speaking on diamonds in the rough, coaching new storytellers on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. The Moth is America's #1 storytelling podcast with over 600,000 downloads a month and at least 100,000 listeners. Catherine Burns is one of the minds [...]
Written for by Carolyn Stearns… Part 1- An Interview With Lanes Exec. Director Yvonne Zinicola as of 3-29-2011 I requested to interview Yvonne for the blog as a way of capturing her first year and reflecting on its impact with Lanes and storytelling in the Northeast. I sent [...]