SOS Members-Only Newsletter, June 4, 2009
PRESIDENT’S CORNER, OR … FERIEL’S FABLES …
Well, hello! SOS has been stirring the soup, for sure! As I type this, we’re looking forward to a great Saturday picnic/concert. It is wonderful to know that we, as performers, can “put on a show” to help one of our own …. kinda like an old-time barn-raisin’. We’re sending Yolanda good thoughts and prayers. The Story/Slam Festival was an interesting mix of theatre and story. Fascinating to see how the various arts communities can come together synergistically, mixing styles to come up with something greater than the sum of its parts. Jo Radner’s workshop was a solid day of learning about oral histories, and we had, again, a mix of disciplines: tellers, playwrights, actors, educators, even a minister!
We’re delighted to announce our headliner for Winter StoryFest …….drum roll, please…. Dolores Hydock, an SOS member from Birmingham, who will perform her glorious medieval story, “Silence”, along with her three musicians.
Individual members are spreading the word far and wide. The Atlanta Cluster is writing a children’s story about foxes, for Avis Fox’s granddaughter. Avis has won national acclaim with her storytelling through oil paintings. Dudley Hinds continues to develop the oral version of pieces of his compelling historical novels. We think we may have a future children’s book of Kelly Baldwin’s delightful poetry. Eric Litwin has published a new book, along with the artist of Pete the Cat. And …. ‘nother drum roll, pleeze …our very own SHERRY NORFOLK is President of the National Storytelling Network!
Isn’t it great to be a part of this fabulous circle of friends?!!!!!!? See you at the picnic!
FEATURES
* Editor’s Note
* Calendar of Events
* President’s Message
* Members in the News
* Well-wishes and Reflections
* News & Views
* NEW!! Personal Story Corner with Barry Stewart Mann
* NSN News
* List of Board of Directors
EDITOR’S NOTE
Greetings, story lovers! This issue is filled to the brim with storytelling news. So grab a cool (or warm!) beverage and enjoy the latest from our story community.
We’ve had two submissions for a name for this newsletter: Town Crier and Tellers Telling. Any more? Send your suggestions to Audrey Galex at agalex@bellsouth.net.
And don’t forget your submissions for “Member Spotlight.” Each issue we’d like to spotlight an SOS member with a news feature highlighting his or her accomplishments or activities related to supporting the art of storytelling. Send your 300-word article to Audrey at agalex@bellsouth.net.
And please take note: The July 4th, 2009 program at the Carter Library/ Museum has been canceled because the facility is closed for renovation. There will be a program on November 27 at 2pm with Thanksgiving stories to share. If you have an idea for a catchy title for that show, please contact Janice Butt (teachtale@bellsouth.net or 404.377.2704).
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Saturday, June 13, 4:30 - 6:30 pm
SOS ANNUAL PICNIC!
Unitarian Universalist … UUCA
(1911 Cliff Valley Way - Off Briarcliff between NDruid Hills and Clairmont …. or take access road from I-85 at NDH Rd.)
POTLUCK - so bring your best!
4:30 - 5:00 FOOD collection in kitchen
5:00 - 5:30 EAT and schmooze
5:30 - 5:45 SOS Meeting (of sorts)
5:45 - 6:30 ERNI has tons of fun things planned. We hope CLUSTERS have planned to perform.
7:30 - DON’T FORGET……CARMEN DEEDY! In concert, to benefit our very own Yolanda Hernandez! THEN, STAY TUNED FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT WITH Mathew Kahler, Michael Levine, Nova and Eric Litwin!
PLEASE EMAIL FERIEL (ferielfeldman@bellsouth.net), SO THAT WE KNOW HOW MANY FOLKS ARE COMING!!!!!
Friday and Saturday, June 19, 20
Magnolia Storytelling Festival:
Each June, folks from throughout the southeastern United States gather in Roswell GA for performances by nationally-known and regional storytellers. From under a tent on the grounds of historic Bulloch Hall, laughter and applause can be heard as audiences enjoy stories as varied as folk tales, personal stories, and an occasional tall tale.
The Roswell Magnolia Storytelling Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, June 19-20. Workshops will be offered during the day, both days, and a special Mill Village storytelling tour will be offered Saturday morning. Both evenings, telling under the big tent begins around 5:45 pm and goes on until 9 pm. There’s even a ghost tour on Friday night at 9:15 pm.
This year, we are honored to have Sheila Kay Adams, Sheila Klein, and Randel McGee as our featured tellers plus an array of regional tellers and workshop leaders, including SOS members John Beavin, Leslie Buie, LaDoris Davis, Natalie Jones, Jo Sanders, Martha Tate, Sally White, and Betty Ann Wylie. Ron Kemp and Mary Williams will share emcee duties. More information about all of the tellers can be found at www.visitroswellga.com/storytelling-festival-tellers.html
Full registration information and the schedule of events is at www.visitroswellga.com/storytelling.html
The festival is registered with the state of Georgia to offer PLUs for teachers – scholarships are still available.
July 18, 10 am - 12:30 pm
Flappers, Floozies & All That Jazz
7th Annual Day of Discovery for Women
presented by WIGS (Women’s Imaginative Group of Storytellers)
and the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
980 Briarcliff Rd
A day of storytelling about and for women.
$15 /person or $135/table of 10
For more information: 404-982-0523 or 404-982-9652
anngrav2490@comcast.net
Mail Payments to Ann Gravelle
1478 Diamond Head Drive, Decatur, GA 30033-2331
June 28 - July 4
The San Francisco Early Music Society
Our own SOS member, Dolores Hydock, is an Artist-In-Residence for this weeklong workshop, Stories and Legends, in which participants will explore the many possible interactions between early music and popular and classical literature. The workshop takes place June 28 - July 4 on the campus of Sonoma State University in Santa Rosa, California. For information, visit http://sfems.org/medren09.shtml
Mark your Calendars!
- Tellabration! Saturday, Nov., 21, 7:30 pm
- Thanksgiving at the Carter Library, Friday, Nov., 27, 2:00 pm
- Winter StoryFest, Jan. 29-30, 2010
- 4th of July at the Carter Library, 2010
MEMBER NEWS & VIEWS & UPDATES
A BIG thank you to Robert Drake, Artistic Director of the Academy Theatre for doing the Lion’s Share of the work to make May’s Spring Story Slam such a success. The event brought together storytellers who work in a variety of media .. from spoken word to singing. Congratulations to Bob Watkins who won The Liar’s Contest and the congrats to Robert who dominated the Story Slam. Next year, we hope to draw even bigger crowds to this cutting-edge story event!
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More than a dozen people recently gathered in the lobby of the Shakespeare Tavern for a full day of learning the art of gathering and performing oral histories with former NSN board president Jo Radner. Stay tuned for a follow-up workshop on taking the stories to the stage. Thank you to Anne Fields, of Working Title Playwrights, for helping to jump start and coordinate the workshop and the group tickets for the hysterical production of “The Mystery of Irma Vep.”
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In May, Mary Williams performed at the Marigold Festival in Winterville , GA and then traveled to Groveland , Florida , to teach storytelling to Groveland Elementary School ’s second and third grade classes. Each group of classes listened to Mary tell several stories and then were divided into small groups to create a story to perform for the class. Mary worked with the school’s assistant principal to tailor the program to help the children expand their creative writing skills in preparation for next year’s CRCT.
In June and July, Mary is telling stories to the children in Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Department’s day camps. Each week, the camps have a different theme so the stories match the theme for the week.
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Alton Russell of Columbus has just completed teaching a 6-week storytelling class for 20 students at the Columbus Academy for Life Long learning at Columbus State University. The class focused on “Everybody has a story inside them” and how to get it out. SOS board member John Beavin also shared his expertise with the class. Says Alton: “We all had fun and moved forward in the story telling community.”
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Congratulations to Kuumba Storytellers of Georgia for its 2nd annual Mama Tales production.
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SOS Founding Mum Loralee Cooley was featured in the Canadian, Texas Record when she answered President Barak Obama’s call for community service. Here’s her story, in her own words:
Since I couldn’t get to Washington DC for the inauguration ceremony itself, I decided to honor the request of the Obamas, and volunteer for something.
As a storyteller, what more logical thing to do but to VOLUNTEER for a special storytelling effort. So I contacted a friend who’s the library coordinator for the Canadian, Texas school system, and asked if I could do some stories of Inaugurations past, for the 3rd-5th grade students. She was delighted. And scheduled four programs for Jan. 20, and six more on two additional days. Whew!
I discovered some really fascinating tidbits of early and recent inaugurations, including the surprise during the Inauguration Parade in 1952 for Eisenhower, when a cowboy ROPED HIM! (He knew about it; the Secret Service did not. Oops!)
Closing each presentation, I told a story garnered by Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope,” when he described the experience of sometimes jogging to the Lincoln Memorial of an evening, and how being there gave him perspective on why he was a senator.
My similar experience was back in 1972, when Ed and I were living in the DC area. It was Leap Year Day—Feb. 29—and our foster daughter Bridgette (a high school sophomore) and I decided to do something “memorable.” Without a plan, we began driving around the District, and ended up at the Lincoln Memorial. It was a warm evening for that time of year, and we climbed the steps of the Memorial, just as Obama tells of doing. I recall looking out over the Reflecting Pool, and thinking back to a few short years before, when Martin Luther King, Jr, had spoken his now-famous speech, “I Have a Dream.” (And my husband, Ed, had been lucky enough to have been there!….long before we met.) Because of that Leap Year experience in 1972, I could relate to Obama’s feeling of standing there beside the statue of Lincoln.
Well, after completing about half of the storytelling programs for the school, I got a notion (or, as my mother would say, “it came to me”) that what is needed is a good children’s illustrated biography of Obama’s childhood.
Three things have come from that idea, so far. (1) I have an appointment to tour Punahou School where Obama attended 5th grade through high school, in Honolulu in July, when I’ll be attending the Pacific Region NSN Conference, with Cynthia Watts; (2) I have found an illustrator (something an author is not supposed to do, but his one is exceptional: he was born in Hawaii, he is fascinated by Obama’s story, and he conveniently lives in Pampa, Texas; (3) and I’ve applied for one of the NSN grants to help with research expenses.
Now we’ll see what comes of all this.
WELL-WISHES & REFLECTIONS
TALESPIN DESERVES (AND NEEDS) OUR SUPPORT .. from Wynn Montgomery
My wife Millie and I have spent the past four Mother’s Day weekends in Chattanooga celebrating our wedding anniversary and enjoying some of the best storytellers in the world. Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for the long-term success of the TaleSpin Festival, attendance has been surprisingly low. We have been privileged to be with world-class tellers such as Donald Davis and David Holt in the company of fewer than 30 fellow listeners. To their credit, these tellers gave us their “A game,” and we now feel closer to them than ever before.
Despite an outstanding line-up of talent, marvelous venues, and extensive advertising, the festival has consistently attracted small crowds. As a result, the festival has gotten smaller each year—from three riverside tents in the first year to a single in-town venue (an enclosed pavilion) this year. The Thursday night “olio” at a historic downtown theater also was discontinued this year.
What has not suffered is the talent. This year’s performers were Carmen Deedy, Andy Offutt Irwin, John McCutcheon, Minton Sparks, and Kathryn Windham plus four excellent regional tellers. The single venue, which provides a good setting except for some traffic noise, meant that we were able to see every performance without relocating, and the final session on Saturday (before the ghost stories) brought all the performers together for a rousing musical finale (see accompanying picture).
I had several discussions with the event’s primary sponsors (Downtown Chattanooga, Inc.) and they are, of course, disappointed but seem determined to carry on. We discussed whether the date is the problem (Mother’s Day, proms, graduations), but they believe not.
We have seen a few fellow Georgians and SOS members at TaleSpin every year, but the operative word is “few.” I have encouraged the TaleSpin sponsors to include this newsletter in their future advertising efforts, and I ask each reader to add a note to your 2010 calendar RIGHT NOW and plan on being at TaleSpin next year. Chattanooga is a lovely city with many good restaurants and lots of things to do in the unlikely event that you grow tired of the stories. Millie and I will be there; we hope you will join us.
PERSONAL STORY CORNER
An Insider’s View of the Art & Craft of Storytelling
An Audience of One
by Barry Stewart Mann
As a young actor in way-way-off-Broadway shows, I remember a rule: cancel the performance if actors outnumber spectators. In other words, don’t squander your talents on slim audiences.
This came to mind last summer as I toured storytelling shows across Georgia for the Vacation Reading Program. One rural system Children’s Librarian had booked me into three sites, not realizing that the smallest was closed on the afternoon chosen. Still, she had advertised it, and now escorted me there, opening the branch herself. It was a new building along the tracks, modeled after the neighboring train station, with high skylights, neat shelves, bright posters, and rows of shiny computers.
The presentation was at 3. What if nobody came? The afternoon was sweltering, and the nearby playground deserted; there was a daycare center across the four-lane, but, she explained, they have no van and are not allowed to walk over.
Then a woman and boy showed up. I wondered, do I perform for them? — technically, the cast no longer outnumbered the audience. But how could I adjust the program for one child? It included songs, poems, and stories about insects (“Catch the Reading Bug”), numerous costumes and props, sections of gestural repetition and call-and-response, and opportunities for sixteen volunteers.
The woman sat down at a computer. The boy came to me. It was 3 o’clock, and I began. ‘Dustin’ didn’t know much about storytelling, and had a short attention span. Clearly, my accustomed role, as active presenter, needed adjustment. With an audience of one, I realized I had to engage him directly, and change the program spontaneously. This was not standard storytelling, but something closer to ordinary conversation. I could indulge his responses and questions, adapt my language to his level, add mild irony, abbreviate when he drifted, or challenge him to engage more deeply. When the program called for volunteers, I gave Dustin the chance, or made instant adaptations. He put all the swallowed animals on the felt-board Old Lady; he tried each Eric Carle insect costume before we laid it on the floor to continue the story. While I felt strange about the changes, it all seemed very natural to Dustin.
I expected the experience to feel diminished, and nothing like ‘real’ storytelling. Instead, the one-on-one session pared it down to its essential element: dialogue. We both talked and listened: I took constant cues about his interests, his language processing, his comfort levels, and his psychology (he alluded several times, with frustration, to a younger cousin who skipped a grade and was now his class rival). And I was consciously filling his vocabulary gaps, checking his comprehension, taking creative suggestions, and more — employing the acute strategies we use in classroom situations but rarely in full performances. It was wonderful.
How rich it would be if we could treat a large audience as an aggregate of audiences of one! To remember that each listener has her own attention span, her own questions; his own body of references, his own phantom cousin lurking in the wings; to have a moment of connection with and offer something personal for every one. We can’t do it through actual conversation — we can’t let them each express real-time responses. But we can strive to remain mindful of the basic fact that storytelling is a dialogue, and that we must balance the addressing of a full audience with the need to speak to each individual who forms a unique part of that whole.
We welcome your reflections and “insider’s” look at the art & craft of storytelling.
NATIONAL STORYTELLING NETWORK NEWS
Jonesborough Days Storytelling
The International Storytelling Center has joined with ETSU, Tennessee Storytelling Association and Jonesborough Storytellers Guild to provide a storytelling venue at Jonesborough Days (July 3rd, July 4th, and July 5th). The event will be a Front Porch Concept featuring music and storytelling throughout the day on Friday & Saturday and 1-5 on Sunday. This event will be honoring Doc McConnell.
2010 National Storytelling Conference in Los Angeles, California: July 29-August 1, 2010: “Many Stories - One World”
Reminder: Workshop Proposals are due by June 15, 2009.
One week left until the workshop proposal deadline for our 2010 NSN National Conference in Los Angeles, California July 29-August 1. We have received some exciting proposals but there is room for more! We know some of you have just the right thing to share with the community of story tellers and story lovers.
See http://www.storynet.org/conference/index.html for the full conference vision and goal.
Go to http://www.storynet.org/conference/workshops.html for proposal instructions and downloadable proposal form. Email completed proposals to proposals@storynet.org.
OF NOTE …
Congrats to Heidi Cline, who supports the art of storytelling with the annual World Storytelling Festival at St. Martin’s Episcopal school for directing the fabulous “The Mystery of Irma Vep” at the Shakespeare Theater and for her upcoming marriage to Vep co-star Jeff McKerley.
The Oral History Association will hold its Annual Meeting in Atlanta, October 27-30, 2010
SOS Board Members
B.J. Abraham bjstory@hotmail.com
John Beavin jbeavin@bellsouth.net
Ernestine Brown ernibrown@excite.com
Janice Butt teachtale@bellsouth.net
Jan Cribbs storyconnections@gmail.com
Feriel Feldman ferielfeldman@bellsouth.net
Audrey Galex agalex@bellsouth.net
Jane Hinds jane.hinds@comcast.net
Jonah McDonald jonah@friendlypilgrim.com
Ron Myers Ronmyers1@charter.net
Dave Schutten presode@aol.com
Deborah Strayhorn kayhorn@juno.com
Please send your news by the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month to Audrey Galex at agalex@bellsouth.net
SOS on FB!