Storytelling workshop with Kenn Benn May 2009

What a treat to spend an entire weekend in the company of other storytellers, learning from a master storyteller. A full day workshop with New Zealand storyteller Ken Benn had us looking at researching historical characters on Saturday morning, with Ken staying in character of Leonardo DaVinci for the majority of the time. Saturday afternoon was spent examining comedy in storytelling. An enjoyable afternoon but not as satisfying for me as the historical character material. Comedy is really a very personal thing, and I'm not sure Ken and my sense of humour is really in sync.

But then dinner !!!!
Sue Alvarez very kindly opened her gorgeous home to members of the storytelling Guild for a degustation, in honour of our visiting teller. Who would have thought that our quiet, unassuming treasurer Stanley had such a gift for cooking. Each dish was better that the one that preceded it, and way past the point when I should have been saying that I couldn't fit any more in, I will still finding room somewhere.
The conversation was wonderful, with an opportunity to really chat with people from such diverse backgrounds, but all with a common love of people and communication.
Then back to the Hughended where I was staying the night. I really didn't expect to get a great night's sleep, but I barely remembered closing my eyes, before I woke at 7.30 in the morning, totally refreshed.

A light brekkie down in the cafe, then a walk along Queen Street, before coming back to the hotel and getting stuck into some study on my laptop.
The afternoon was again spent with members of the Guild at the Teller's Tea, where Ken was the featured teller. He was accompanied by my long-time friend Mary French,from Canberra, and delightful storyteller and bush poet Arch Bishop.

Challenge Ranch March 2009

Yay, back to Challenge Ranch again; this time to tell Australian stories. A group of 60 fantastic kids, who were really enthralled by the stories. I told my very Aussie version of Stone Soup for the first time, and got some very useful feedback on it from both the kids and the teachers.
Of course "Goanna and Dingo' play the tap sticks went down a treat, especially when I really emphasise Dingo's stupidity.

The teachers are always so friendly and keen to have a chat about storytelling before the session begins, so I always try to get there quite a bit early. Not much chance for a chat after the sessions, as they are busy getting the kids off to bed usually. It's a bit of a shame, because it would be good to get their feedback after the program.

NewMac Symposium Feb 2009

I presented a paper at the Annual NewMac Symposium, a joint project run by the Humanities Faculties of the University of Newcastle and Macquarie Uni.
My paper was on

Information as meaning-making: how children use a “sense of story” to understand narrative and information.

I was happy with how the paper went, except that the person before me went way over time, so I didn't have my allotted 20 minutes, and had to cut my presentation as I went along.

It was an interesting day, with lots of thought provoking presentations. As usual though, some of the best moments came during discussions over the tea and lunch breaks. It's good to know what other people are up to with their studies.

Cross-cultural storytelling Nov 2008

We had the great opportunity to run our Cross-cultural storytelling program again at the Ourimbah Campus in November 2008.
Kids Day Out is a huge community event, that has been held for the last 9 years on the Campus, and attracts 10,000 family members.
The kids that took part in the Open Day program were unavailable, so my colleague Annie was able to involve the amazing students from NAISDA.
They were so impressive! At the first run-through they were up off their seats and brainstorming interepretations of the stories.
At the KDO performances, they engaged with the kids (who wanted their photos taken with the NAIDSA kids) Always a great sign that kids have enjoyed it.
Watch the video attached to see what I mean

Halloween Storytelling UNEWC Oct 2008

As I had to develop a Halloween storytelling program for the radio, I thought I would see if any of my uni colleagues would like to be rehearsal bunnies.
An email was sent to all staff at the Campus and about 8 brave souls ventured into the gloom of the storytelling area that we set up in AV3. A darkened room, with only a covered table lamp for light.
As the audience entered, I sat completely still, with my head bowed and my face concealed by the wide brim on my dark hat. None of my body could be seen under my huge storytelling cape. (One of the audience members later said he didn't even realise I was sitting there.
I let the adience settle, and an uncomfortable silence descended, then I threw back the cape and commenced the story.
Seeing several people jump was very satisfying, and set the tone for the gruesome and suspenseful tales that followed.

Good fun, great practice and something I'll do again for other occassions.

Storytelling Guild Accreditation Sept 2008

Sunday, October 25, 2009

You would think that telling stories in front of a room full of storytellers would be easy wouldn't you? Sympathetic listeners, kindred spirits, all of that. But going for Accreditation with the Storytelling Guild was one of the hardest things I've ever done - storytelling-wise.
Sure, they're great listeners, and of course they are a fantastic responsive audience, but they are also very experienced in the art of storytelling, and know all the tricks in the book.
Anyway, I stood in the usual room at the Hughenden Hotel that we have our Teller's teas in, took a deep breath and plowed right in with asking the Riverside riddle question, and while they were thinking of that, the Guild president Vivienne very kindly agreed to be my volunteer as the lion in the story of the Dancing Lion. She did a great job, and telling a story that I've told for over twenty years allows you to relax into it, and play around with it as necessary.
The audience were then asked if anyone had solved the riddle. A few suggestions were made, but none really answered it, so then I told the story of The Riverside Riddle.
Eve Hoff and Stephen Martin also told for Accreditation.
We were then each called out individually to the dining area of the hotel to get feedback. How nerve-wracking - 3 professional storytellers doing a written critique of your telling. The feedback was great! One of the panel said she didn't have much written down because she was so engaged in the stories that she forgot to write! Music to a storytellers ears.
So, after telling stories for well over 25 years, I know am an Accredited Teller with the Australian Storytelling Guild (NSW)

Cross-cultural storytelling launch

An exciting new storytelling project is developing between the Ourimbah Campus Library and the Gibalee Centre at the Uni of Newcastle.
For several years, the Library has taken part in Open Day at the Campus with Library tours and storytelling. Annie Vanderwyk from the Gibalee Centre was interested in building on the storytelling by broadening it's scope and giving it a campus focus.
Thus was The Cross-cultural storytelling project born, where a region that is represented in the international student cohort is chosen as the focus for stories, and the tales are interpreted by Aboriginal performers/dancers from the local community.
For Open Day 2008, August 23, stories from Australia and Africa were selected and given new life by a group of talented young dancers with connections to the Uni.
This was the first time I had collaborated with anyone in my storytelling, and I found the process both challenging and very rewarding. I formalised my telling style much more than I normally do, and found that I needed to stick very close to the original telling as we'd rehearsed it, so that the performers knew where they were up to in the story. Being able to respond to the audience wasn't as easy, and meant that story couldn't be adapted on the fly to suit the particular group of listeners.
However, each performance brought new life to the stories, and the audience responded very positively to it. We will certainly continue the project in November with Kids Day Out.