She's an author, musician, and storyteller who will be talking about storytelling and composition.
Liz Nichols is also going to be there. She's going to be talking about using storytelling in museum galleries.
One of my favorite powerhouse teams is also going to be there.
Milbre Burch and Gay Ducey. I'd go see those two women do anything. The fact that will be talking about being an effective MC? Well, that's going to be a thing not to miss!
We've also got Sean Buvala giving an intensive called "How to be a medium fish in a small pond." I'm guessing this is about making a living within your local market...I could be wrong though. You'll have to come and see!
Then there is the wonderful Sara Beth Nelson talking about telling challenging stories.
Nirajana Ela Bajeree
There are some names on the list I know nothing of, but the research I have done on who they are makes me excited to learn more about them. Take Nirajana Ela Banjeree for instance. She will be talking about storytelling and social justice! Her background makes her an amazing spokesperson! Check out her link above.
The more I look at the list of tellers strutting their stiff this year, the more excited I am that I will be there!
Sitting in traffic at 8:30am makes thoughts like this careen around in my head like a pinball.
All of that, of course, is before I get there.
Writing this blog has been an interesting journey for me. Sometimes I get so caught up in the inside/business work of being a storyteller I forget that there is the absolute fun of it. The anticipation of waiting to share a great tale is palpable in me, and often even the audience before we ever begin!
I spend so much time writing about the business of telling and the craft of telling, I don't always focus on the absolute joy and reward of it.
I don't want anyone to think storytelling is an easy, throw away thing to do.
I don't want people to think that there is no work, skill, or craft involved in this art form.
I probably don't spend enough time reveling in the experience on this space. So, today, I will share some of the good stuff.
- I was in South Carolina and one of the Kindergarten teachers asked me, "Do you know Antonio Sacre? For a period of time in my family, his was the most important voice of my kid's childhood. We loved him. We still tell his stories. We were with a family who primarily spoke Spanish when we saw him, and all of the kids fell in love with him. We played his recordings so much, we can tell all of his stories by heart. They are in their late teens now, and they still talk about him and tell his stories.
- I got an email from one of my friends who lives in Kansas who wrote, "Oh my gosh, my husband and I were walking through this park, and we saw an advertisement for storytelling, and we were like, "Hey, maybe Donna will be there." You weren't there, obviously, but we saw this amazing performer. Antonio Rocha? He was fabulous! He was a mime storyteller! We didn't even know that existed. He did this thing where he almost got carried away by a big balloon! Have you ever seen him?"
Do you know this guy named
- A teacher at one of the middle schools in Chicago came up to me as I was packing up to leave, "You came to my middle school when I was in seventh grade. I will never forget it, and today, when I heard you were coming, I was through the roof. I have been talking to my kids about you non stop all week, and they were prepared to be disappointed because they said nobody could be as good as I said you were. When they got back to the class, they were blown away. Now, all they want to do is talk about you. Thank you."
- I've been asked about a whole host of other tellers. They always start with...do you know...and then they launch into the story of where they saw the teller and how important that person was to them and their family.
I don't know all of the storytellers they list, but I am usually familiar with the stories they told.
When I get in front of middle school audiences within about one hundred miles of where I live, I often ask them if they saw me as elementary school kids. Most of them have. They are the easiest audiences. They already like stories, they remember me, and they are anxious to see what we are going to do next.
In the end, they almost always ask for tongue twisters because that is something I do with elementary school kids to get them to start playing with language.
It is always cool to me when some seventh or eighth grader stops me and says, "Listen to this" and breaks out with a tongue twister. Their next statement is usually something like..."I learned to do that after you did tongue twisters for us."
I've worked with Freshmen in college who've geeked out over seeing me because they remembered me from elementary school. It is quite fun to watch some eighteen year old kid announced, "Epaminandus, you ain't got the sense you was born with!"
Our next door neighbors moved to Texas some years ago. They contacted me last November and told me that out of nowhere, their ten year old started telling Bastienello unprompted. He hadn't heard the CD in years. His fourteen year old brother told it with him. They had a blast in the car. She sent me a recording. It did my heart good to hear it. The audio is really low, but I sat glued to the computer listening to them retell that story with both sass and "bro" language. It was hysterical.
The next generation of people who love stories, support storytelling, and want to be storytellers is moving through our schools. I am honored to be one of the people on the front lines helping them to experience, love, and be excited about storytelling as an art, career, and consumer.
If you work in schools, sitting in front of you is a kid who might one day get up on stage and begin the work for the generations that follow.
From My Scrapbook!
I know this for certain because when I was a Freshman in high school, I sat in an audience and saw a storyteller with a puppet. The show was called The Wizard and Groark. I loved that show. I went up afterwards and got an autograph from the performer.
Many, many years later I was at a storytelling festival in Ocalla, Fl and I could barely contain myself. The fellow who I shared a stage with was none other than Randall McGee. aka The Wizard.
I couldn't wait to tell him that I'd seen him when I was a kid. I couldn't wait to tell him that he was my first actual professional teller. I couldn't wait to admit that the reason I knew that I could do this was because I remember seeing him all those years ago.
When I started this blog, I made several assumptions. I assumed people who found their way here would already be somewhat involved in the world of storytelling. What did not occur to me was that there would be people who were trying to figure out how to get into storytelling.
Recently I was on a thread, and a person made the comment, "This is all well and good, but how do you get into storytelling?"
I get this question fairly often when I'm out traveling. People want to know how to become a professional storyteller. They aren't asking how to get to the next level, no, they want to know where to begin.
This is such a common question, it even has a Wikihow page.
Most people who decide to become a professional storyteller have encountered the art and been taken with it. They see a professional up there doing their thing and say to themselves, 'I could do that'.
Here is one of the best rocking the stage. Go on with your bad self, Donald!
If you get a professional doing their thing, it looks easy. That is their power. Good storytellers seem to just bring the story to life.
What you don't see is all the work that goes into making it roll off of the tongue. So, if you are just beginning, you don't start at the art point. You have to start at the beginning.
Wikihow offers five steps. I thought I would do the same!
1.Get some stories under your belt.
You can either tell traditional stories or you can write your own, but you need to know some tales. Where do you find them? Well, you can google folktales or folklore and take your pick. You'll have to write your own personal material if that is how you wish to go.
Under no circumstances should you tell anyone else's personal stories!!!
As you learn stories, you need to make sure that you are shaping them with your own personal tastes.
Try not to completely copy an existing storyteller. Find you own style.
Craft is how you put stories together, and how you present them. This is important, because it shapes what type of storyteller you are, and what types of stories you tell. You will spend a great deal of time in this stage before you ever get to the last step.
I went to Northwestern University and studied under Rives Collins. Call your local community college and find out if they have a storytelling program. Go to festivals and conferences given by storytelling organizations and take workshops and classes.
You most likely live in a state where there is a storytelling guild. You might live near one and not know. Go to a guild meeting and get to know your local storytellers. Listen, get feedback, and consider what people have to say. The link above is for the National Storytelling Network organization that has catalogued guilds for every state. Click on your state, find out where your guild is, and enquire if there is a group near you.
I cannot stress enough that you should read about storytelling. Parkhurst Brothers, and August House publishers have a great number of books about storytelling.
d. Tell!
You must find opportunities to tell your stories to the audiences you wish to serve. Whether adults or children, you must find willing guinea pigs. Find out if you can volunteer to tell in your local public library. Find open mic nights. Do what you have to do.
3. After you are confident that you've got some stories ready, you feel comfortable telling them, and you are ready to roll out your carpet and invite the paying public into your world. You have to tell them you are alive and offering a service. That brings us to the most annoying part of this whole thing. You have to start the onerous part of the whole process.
There are lots of books about marketing. I did mention you should read, right?
4. The Business of Storytelling. I haven't written much about this on this blog, but the thing that goes here is the business of storytelling. This is the part where you schedule, produce contracts, set prices, cold call, put together email lists, contact people, and make connections with others. I don't do this part of the business, but it is an essential part of making this job work.
While all of that is happening, you get to the last step in the process.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat. Lather rinse repeat! This cycle of gathering material, crafting it, working the material, engaging with new audiences, marketing to new places, and working the art is not a fait accompli...it is a cycle.
So, there you have it. Some really basic steps to becoming a professional storyteller.
Is this a really simplified list? Yes. Will it be quick and easy? No, probably not, but it is a roadmap to becoming a professional.
This week I am in Currituck County, NC. It is much colder than normal due to the lovely Polar Vortex that has decided to descend on the United States. If you are in Buffalo, NY, you have my warm thoughts and good wishes. If I could send all of you hot chocolate, I would.
I am staying at the Foreman House Bed and Breakfast, and it is the highlight of my trip. Mel and Andy who run the B&B are wonderful. Breakfast is plentiful and delicious - yeah, I'm looking at you apple pancakes - and the rooms are gorgeous and spacious. If you find yourself in Elizabeth City, NC, you could do much much worse than staying here overnight. I highly recommend it, and am already planning to bring the mister back here for a long, romantic weekend this coming summer.
First night I was here, Mel and Andy had a cocktail party with 'light' refreshments that were a whole dinner. I normally have one glass of wine every few months, I had four in the last two days.
My daughter was in the Diary of Anne Frank last weekend as Anne Frank. I missed the last show since I had to drive out here.
My son was in the Diary of Anne Frank last weekend as Mr. Kraler. Did I mention I missed the last show?
My in-laws were at my house until Wednesday this week hanging out with my family, going to dinner, museums, and wandering around Durham. They left on Wednesday morning, I left on Sunday afternoon. They all seemed to have had a good time. Wish I could have been there.
Antonio Rocha, a friend of mine I always enjoy seeing, is at my house for the entire week. Apparently, he made dinner for my family last night...good thing, since I'm not there. I left Sunday afternoon, he arrived Sunday evening. He's leaving on Friday morning. I'm returning on Friday evening.
My son is putting together his first art portfolio for a big meeting with universities who are looking for visual arts students. It is going to be attended by universities from all over the country. He needs to get plastic protectors, a binder, labels for his work and who knows what else. I asked my husband, "Does he have that stuff?" My husband's response? "I don't know."
I'm three and a half hours from being able to deal with this any other way than on the phone or Skype. Have I seen any of these pics? No. Have I seen the way the portfolio is laid out? No. Do I know if he's labeled anything? No. Am I going to know any of this? No. He leaves Friday morning for Washington DC, I don't get back until Friday afternoon.
I kind of feel like driving the three hours home to put my hands on a few things, and then driving back here tomorrow morning for an 8:45 show, which means I'd have to be on the road at about 4:45am to be certain I'd make it to the first show on time. Yeah, not happening.
Where, you might ask, is Currituck County? Up by the border between Virginia and North Carolina.
What, you might ask, am I doing in Currituck County when all of those things are going on at my house? I'll tell you. Telling stories. What else?
I have been doing three to four sets a day. I've worked with Kindergarten through second grade where the administrators were shocked the kids sat so well, and still had so much fun.
I told with a ninth grade group who was fascinated by the idea that I was storyteller, and was much more comfortable with the idea that I was an author. They loved the stories.
I told with a group of eleventh graders who lamented they couldn't follow me around the rest of the time I was in the area, and hear all of the stories. When I asked if they had questions they asked the exact same question that the little kids perpetually ask. "Can we hear another story?"
I told with groups of sixth graders, fifth, fourth and third and in every set I had wonderful chances to engage with kids as we laughed, played, and taught each other.
I bought great Christmas gifts at the Jenkins Art Gallery located in the Arts Center in downtown Elizabeth City.
I stopped into a small, local pharmacy right next to the Arts Center, where the two elderly ladies who run the place greeted every single person who came in by name, and discussed the 'business of the area'.
"Hello, Charles, honey. How you been?"
"Fine, just fine."
"Did they steal very much, whoever t'was who broke into the church?"
"Well, tell you the truth, we haven't noticed there was much missing."
"Well, I spect they just broke in there to get warm."
"Probably."
They launched into a great conversation about the local food bank, and how they really needed to get them more turkeys for Thanksgiving.
I wanted to get a chair and sit in the back of that store all afternoon and just listen!
I am having wonderful performances! I am exhausted at the end of each day. I have adventures as I wander about and listen in on people's conversations. I still want to manage what's going on in my home.
Oh, and in the midst of this I have several non-fiction kind of important writing activities I have to attend to...my neglected blog is one of those!
Being a traveling storyteller is very cool. Being a traveling storyteller is very hard. Being a traveling storyteller is very rewarding. Being a traveling storyteller is a privilege. Being a traveling storyteller sucks when you can't do everything you want to do. I'm not superwoman.
Whenever I start thinking I'm going to rip my dreads out by the roots, I try to remember that what I do is important.
Balancing the traveling, exhaustion, writing, telling, parenting by phone, and maintaining a marriage is important if you are going to do this work. Don't let anybody tell you it is either easy or completely glamorous.
Make no mistake. Being a professional storyteller is hard work!
Greetings from Argentina! I am touring with DreamOn in beautiful Buenos Aires! I've had a great week, and I've got one more to go. After that, I head off to Delaware to do all of the libraries in the state. My summer is going to be busy, and fun, but there will not be loads of time to write. So, I have asked a number of excellent storytellers and authors to do some guest blogging for me. Here are the first three entries.
June 5th, 2014 - Antonio Rocha - Transitions in Eloquence: Exploiting the Power of the Pause
Antonio is one of my favorite storytellers. He is an internationally known artist who will blow your mind as you watch him transform himself and everything around him with the exquisite magic of his body. Antonio employs mime and body illusions to create stories in a fascinating way. He is a master of physical performance.
Here he is doing a story entitled Chicken and Crocodile.
Antonio is a native Brazilian who came to the United States to study with Tony Montanaro in 1998. He knows a thing or two about holding an audience in the palm of his hand. He's written a practicum about the power of pauses both physically and vocally, and how to make them work for you.
June 12, 2014 Sara deBeer - Storytelling: Ancient Mind Melding
I met Sara two years ago at a showcase in Connecticut. She has been doing this work since 1978, and she has gotten very good at it! I am impressed with her storytelling knowledge and ethic. She works with audiences of all ages.
Ancient Mind Melding touches on the power of using storytelling in the classroom. This is an excellent piece for anyone who might need to discuss why storytelling is a useful tool in the classroom, how it enhances multiple learning strategies, and the importance of creating strong partnerships between educators and visiting artists. A good read.
June 19, 2014 - Antonio SacreCan I hit my child with a Chancla to get him
off the playground? How parents can use stories to make difficult transitions
slightly better. What on earth do you say about Antonio Sacre? I've known him for a long, long time. He has his own style, his own way, and, like one of my little brothers, he is always doing something! He is an entertaining, international performer and author who never seems to slow down. Here he is telling one of his most well known stories which is also a book. The Barking Mouse
Antonio shares both a fun tug of war he has with his son on the playground, and an activity any parent can use to make the trip home more of a game than a pain. What could be better than strengthening the child parent bond, building your child's vocabulary, increasing your tot's verbal skills, and having them come with you willingly in one fell swoop? Nothing. Antonio's post will leave you smiling.
So, that's the first three articles! There will be more over the course of the summer. I'll let you know what they'll be and when they'll be!
