When the Mind's Eye Sees Most Clearly

I am working on telling a Native American tale from the Great Plains. I found a great book, "Paul Goble Gallery: Three Native American Stories" and I found the introduction to one of the stories to be quite poignant, and apt for those in our class still beginning to learn the art of storytelling (including myself):

"Stories were told after dark when the mind's eye sees most clearly. Winter evenings were best, when the children were lying under their buffalo robes and the fire was glowing at the center of the tipi. After the sounds in the camp had grown quiet and the deer had come out to graze, the storyteller would smooth the earth in front of him; rubbing his hands together, he would pass them over his head and body. He was remembering that the Creator had made people out of the earth, and would be witness to the truth of the story he was going to tell."

Referring to the time that the "mind's eye sees most clearly," I wonder if we've lost that "time" in our digital age, and if we can ever reclaim that time for more than a brief flicker of attention paid to the storyteller.

When I think about the above quote, I think we've gained so much, but lost even more. We communicate, but we don't always connect in a deep and meaningful way. But hopefully as we become more and more entrenched in the digital world, the longing within people to reclaim that lost connection might become heightened.

Storytelling Practice

Today I got together with two of our classmates and we practiced out a few stories on each other before "taking the show on the road." Wowzers - I was so impressed by what these two showed me! I'm not sure if they want me to name them and build up too much hype for their storytelling before you see them for yourselves (no pressure...no pressure), but I will say that you guys are in for one heck of a treat. One of our classmates told two stories, both on flannel boards, and they were most exquisitely made. She absolutely nailed the stories with the props she created, and she told both stories in a very charming and delightful way. The other classmate told one story which had fabulous audience participation built in...and she's most definately a natural storyteller. She set the stage with a great way to get the kids (or in this case, us big kids) to feel at ease and to remind us to quiet down and listen, which segued quite nicely into her story. She also got us to sing along with her and to make our best funny rabbit faces!

So, I guess I feel pretty inadequate now. I better go practice some more...sigh.

Portland Story Theater

Tonight I attended the opening night of the Portland Story Theater's 2009 Solo Performance Festival. I was blown away by the two performances I saw, and as it just ended a little over an hour ago, I'm still trying to process what I saw tonight. The performers were Lawrence Howard and Antonio Sacre, each giving the audience an hour of storytelling. Each of these gentlemen related personal stories from their own lives, and though their approaches and styles were completely different, they both were able to convey to the audience those things in their lives that made them who they are today. I'm still thinking about what I saw tonight, and I'm sure to have much more to say in my Storyteller's Critique, but here are a few of my rambling thoughts (I won't give it all away, because then Jenine wouldn't have any surprises when reading my Assignment 2 paper!):

Howard's story, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Howard," was his coming-of-age story, told in a trilogy format. It began with his 7th-grade year, the bullying he endured by his brother and classmates, and culminated with his moving west at age 22. Through his folksy and comical telling he guided the audience through his adolescence, reminding us (or me, at least) of the often painful trials of that age as well as the ability to later in life look back on those experiences (sometimes) with humor. Howard began his storytelling by coming onto the stage and playing the harmonica to a sort of southern tune. I felt this was a great way to say to the audience, "Okay! I'm here, let me get your attention!" This was also a great segue into the beginning of his piece, as he likened his childhood story to that of Huckleberry Finn...and then went off into a comical tangent about the semantics and usages of the word "huckleberry" (who knew so much could be said there?!). I felt like this was a great way to put the audience at ease, to get us to laugh and relax before he got into the meat of his story. He also used the harmonica as the segue between his 1st and 2nd part of the trilogy...but then used a series of "dirty" limericks put to tune between the 2nd and 3rd parts (which he said were favorites of his family growing up). He got the audience into the game for that last one, as he had us sing the chorus that his family always sang between limericks, "That was a cute little ditty, sing us another one, do." And you know it made the audience laugh to sing along between his naughty ditties (even my conservative 72 year old mother sang along, and that's saying something). I spoke with Howard during the intermission and I asked him how long he had taken to put that story together. He told me that he spent about 6 months on the 3 parts individually and about 1 month putting them all together. Interestingly, he said that he just added the harmonica-segue part two days ago!

Sacre's performance, while also a story from his personal life, was profoundly different from Howard's. I can't emphasize enough how completely blown away I was by what I saw from him (and as I learned from the program, he is the 2-time Best in Festival winner at the NY International Fringe Festival, which apparently is quite an honor). Sacre's story, "Burning Feathers" is basically his recounting of his great love, and the aftermath of the demise of that relationship. His story was intertwined with myth and poetry in a most powerful way, and while the audience laughed through much of his story, there was a heavy bittersweet tone to the whole thing. Sacre has an ear for the language and speech patterns of a wide variety of peoples, and I really thought this made his story stronger, as we could "hear" the people he was talking about, in their own voices. This guy "gets" people, and he understands their desires and fears. Pretty powerful stuff. Oh man, if only I could tell a story like that...

Picture Book Adaptation Options

I'm currently looking at three books by David Gordon: The Three Little Rigs, The Ugly Truckling, and Hansel and Diesel. As you might guess from the titles, these three books are takes on the classic fairy tales, albeit from a vehicular perspective. I am thinking that it might be nice to take one of these books (which would all lend themselves beautifully to working with props such as toy cars/trucks/planes) and pairing it with one or two other off-the-wall takes on classic fairy tales. I'd obviously want to pick a version of a story that is well known to the audience of children, so that they could "get" the joke. I might even try to make something up myself, if I can get my creative juices flowing properly!

Why Storytelling?

Last week at work I was talking with a co-worker about the courses we're taking this term (he's also a MLIS student, at another school), and when I told him "Storytelling" was one of my courses, he said that he was surprised since he thought I wasn't interested in pursuing children's librarianship. I responded by saying that in my opinion storytelling was a great art form for adults to experience as well, but he seemed baffled by the idea. I thought later about my (tentative) career plan, that of going into Library Outreach Services, and how storytelling could play a role. I've always been attracted to the idea of working with adults who need the library to come to them, rather than the other way around, whether it's due to language barriers, illiteracy, incarceration, lack of knowledge of what the library can offer, fear/embarassment, etc. As I looked through Tim Sheppard's site (http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/) I was inspired by his thought that humans "have a profound need to hear and tell stories. It is how we share experiences, understand each other, and create community." I think that not only does the above apply, but also storytelling can be a powerful way to heighten an interest in reading and improve a person's language skills, and confidence with both. Adults with limited literacy skills might just find storytelling to be the key to unlocking their fears associated with learning.

Introduction

This is my first blog post for my "Storytelling" Art & Technique" course at the University of Washington. I am excited about this course, though I have to admit to a fair amount of nerves as I ponder the thought of actually telling stories in front of a live audience that includes more than my own children. My beautiful kiddos (photo at top right) tell me I have nothing to be afraid of, as, in their words, I am the best storyteller ever! High, and non-deserved, praise indeed...but I appreciate their confidence in me nonetheless.

When I returned from residency, I taught them Jenine's version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" which was a huge hit, especially as we got my mom to take part. Now, my mom is most definitely not the kind of person to do "silly stuff" like that, but we convinced her, and even had her laughing at the end, as she spun around in a circle with her thumbs up, elbows in, knees bent and together, butt out and tongue sticking out. I would've loved a photo of that, but my mom can only be pushed so far! But it does go to show that even the most serious of grown-ups can be convinced to show their goofy side, and may even enjoy it, at the prompting of children. It got me to thinking that a storytelling including both children and adults might make for a very fun event.

I look forward to reading all your blogs and sharing our experiences as we continue through this term. Have fun guys!