Announcing: "The Places of Kannagi Storytelling Tour" in Tamil Nadu!  22 February, to 7 March, 2010.  This will be a travelling two-week Storytelling Workshop, co-led by Laura Simms (based in New York City), a longtime leader of the International Storytelling Movement; and Eric Miller (based in Chennai), director of the WSI.  Please see the Tour Poster, and Additional Info.

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We offer two Storytelling Classes:

1
Storytelling for Children.
Sundays, 10:30am-Noon.  
Fee:  Rs 250 for one session, Rs 1000 for five sessions.

2
Storytelling for Adults (Teachers, Parents, etc).
Saturdays, 10:30am-12:30pm, eight sessions.
Next batch: 20 March, to 8 May, 2010.
Fee:  Rs 2,000.

Both Classes feature occasional Storytelling Festivals, with invited family and friends.

These Classes are mostly in English (we are planning Classes in Tamil also).

For additional info, and to register, please call Eric (98403 94282) or Latha (97890 12939).


The World Storytelling Institute's approach to storytelling is:
Telling stories to listeners is just the first step.  Listeners may
then be enabled to act out the stories, paint the stories,
discuss the stories, and create and share stories of their own.


Class Topics include:

Story Content --
Types of Stories.  Finding and Creating Stories.  
Elements of Stories.  
Symbols in Stories.  
Story Structure.  
Story and Place.  Story and Community.  
Story and the Past.  Story and the Future.  
Story and Personality Development.                                

Story Performance --
Breathing/Singing/Moving and Storytelling.  
Styles of Speaking in Storytelling.        
Acting-out Characters (Role-playing).  
Audience-Participation in Storytelling. 
Singing-and-moving Stories.      
Story Mapping/Painting/Drawing.
Ways of Coaching Storytelling.  
Storytelling accompanied by Illustrations, Puppets, and Props.  


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Recent Workshops

"Introduction to Storytelling, and Coaching Your Storytelling"

"Storytelling Teacher-Training: Helping Children to Create and Tell Stories" (pdf)
Topics and activities include:
* Ways of starting with personal experience stories, and adding elements of fantasy.
* Visualising and painting stories.
* The magic of acting out characters.  Transforming body and voice to enact characters.  Ways of having characters speak dialogue to each other.

"Storytelling for Parents and Children Together"

"Story Workshop for Screenplay Writers" (and Others in the Fields of Stage and Screen).

Storytelling Workshops can be custom-made for 1) teachers, 2) parents, 3) parents and children together (Family Storytelling Workshops), and 4) members of communities or organisations.  These Workshops can include: video recording and playback for study purposes; and videoconferencing with experts.




Additional Information

Mission Statement

Introduction to Storytelling Studies

Storytelling-related Links




In the Press

1) About a WSI workshop, "A Few Tips on the Art of Storytelling" (in the Hindu, 10 Feb 2008).

2) About a WSI workshop, "Learning the Art of Narrating a Story in a Telling Manner" (in the Hindu, 1 Sept 2008).

3) About the WSI and Storytelling Tourism, "Now Tourists Can Go Down Story Trails" (in the Times of India, 1 Nov 2008).

4) About the WSI and Storytelling Tourism "Now Storytelling for Tourism Promotion" (in the Hindu, 4 Nov 2008).

5) About the WSI's work with members of Chennai's sea-fishing communities, "A Whale of a Tale" (in the Hindu, 4 March 2009).

6) Recapturing Grandmas Telling Grand Stories (in the Hindu, 29 April 2009 ).




Articles by Eric Miller, Director of the WSI

1) About the heroine of a Tamil epic, "In Praise of Citizen Kannagi" (in the Hindu).

2) About a folk performing arts festival in Tamil Nadu, "Ideas for Chennai Sangamam" (on the Chennai Sangamam website).

3) "Conducting Folklore Interviews via Videoconference" (in the Education Newsletter of the American Folklore Society).

4)  "Chennai and Videoconferencing: Videoconferencing for Performing, Teaching, and Discussing Tamil Language and Performing Arts" (in  International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil, Conference Proceedings).




Storytelling Tourism

This Year:
Places of Kannagi Storytelling Tour, in Tamil Nadu, South India (22 February, to 7 March, 2010).

Last Year: 
Tour Theme: "Tharisanam: Vision of the Other."  1-16 November 2008.  A group of 18 people came from the USA with the Eth-Noh-Tek storytelling company.  A wide range of Storytelling styles was shared with the visitors, in Chennai and vicinity.  Activities were hosted and arranged by the WSI, in partnership with local individuals and communities.

Ongoing:
Visit Chennai's Sea-fishing Communities!
Presented by the WSI in partnership with residents of Chennai's sea-fishing neighborhoods -- including Ayodhyakuppam, Nadukuppam, Nocchikuppam, Nocchinagar, Domikuppam, and Srinivasapuram.  

Featuring:

Multimedia presentation -- co-narrated by community members -- featuring video recordings, 500 photos taken by community members, and paintings about the sea. 

Guided tour of the fish market area, and of the working area on the beach -- including discussion of the boats, nets, engines, fish, weather, etc. 

Performances of "The Sea Story," a drama with folk songs.

Storytelling (Grandmother Stories, Raja-Rani Stories, Tenali Raman Stories, Animal Stories, etc) by and with community members.  With visual and aural methods of simultaneous translation.




Bio-data of the Co-founders of the World Storytelling Institute

Director; Specialising in Storytelling for/by/with Adults.
Eric Miller is a native New Yorker, transplanted to Chennai.  He has studied with and worked for (as office and festival assistant, and video documenter) numerous professional storytellers in the USA, including Laura Simms and Diane Wolkstein; and is near completing a PhD in Folklore at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).  He has taught courses in writing, literature, drama, public speaking, and storytelling at St. John's University, Fordham University, and New York University (all in NYC); and is presently Assistant Professor of Story and Storytelling at the Image College of Animation, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), in Chennai.  Mr Eric has also worked extensively in the video industry, in which he specializes in facilitating videoconferences.  A number of his writings can be found at his personal website,
http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com .  <eric@storytellinginstitute.org>, 98403 94282.

Specialising in Storytelling for/with/by Children; and in Storytelling in Corporate Environments.
Jeeva Raghunath is an international professional storyteller and author.  She tells and writes in Tamil and English, and is based in Chennai and Singapore.  She has been working with teachers and children for ten years, to help develop children’s communication skills through storytelling, speech, and drama.  Ms Jeeva also enjoys using principles of storytelling to help adults in corporate settings to improve their communication skills.  As a trainer, she believes in simplicity, and learning through fun.  <jeeves1@rediffmail.com>, 99401 80380.

Specialising in Storytelling and Counselling.
Magdalene Jeyarathnam is founder-director of Chennai's Center for Counselling, which offers numerous training workshops, including Approaches to Counselling Children (featuring exploration of therapeutic uses of Storytelling, Drama, Play, Dance, and Art).  Ms. Magdalene has also integrated these methods into the CFC's counselling services, and counselling-training, in relation to adults.
<magdalene@centerforcounselling.org>, 98841 00135.

WSI Workshop Graduates, and Trainers include:
Latha Subramaniam (Lead Trainer, Storytelling Classes).
Bhuvana.
Alicia Stephenson.
Vimala.
Sukanya Chellappa.
Nivedita.
Ramamani.
Deepa.
Dr. Prithika Chary, Storytelling and the Mind/Brain/Emotions.
Sheetal Rayathatha.

Latha Subramaniam
Latha Subramaniam is a mathematics graduate from Stella Maris College, Chennai (1985-87).  She is the daughter of violin maestro Padmashree M.S.Gopalakrishnan.  Born into a Carnatic music family, art is no stranger to her.  However, her penchant for art has led her not to the Classical Music stage, but to discovering a different passion, albeit of a similar spirit.  As a pre-school coordinator and teacher for five years, Ms Latha enabled very young children to perform activities like storytelling, dancing, and singing -- both in the classroom, and onstage during special occasions.  She believes that "Every child must be treated like an adult and be given due importance".  Her interest in child development led her to take a month-long training program at the Madras Dyslexia Association, where she learned various ways to make emotional and intellectual contact with children.  She has coached dyslexic children in academic areas, and is developing ways to use storytelling for this purpose also.  "The idea of becoming a professional storyteller came about when I decided to explore how storytelling can be used as a tool to understand and reach children".  She has attended WSI Storytelling Workshops led by Eric Miller, and also Worskhops led by California-based storyteller Ruth Stotter when the latter was in Chennai with the WSI.  When Ruth Stotter led a Storytelling Workshop  for World Vision children, she acted as interpreter.  On another occasion, along with Eric Miller, Ms. Latha led a Workshop for World Vision children. She has also conducted Story Tours of Mylapore, for students of the Image College of Animation, Arts, and Technology.  "I was introduced to the concept of coupling storytelling with origami by Ruth Stotter.  Combining the two can sharpen children's intellects and improve their communicative and multi-tasking capabilities."  Ms Latha performs Storytelling Programs for children, and conducts Storytelling Workshops for children and adults.  She enjoys helping to train others to also become professional storytellers.  <latha@storytellinginstitute.org>, 97890 12939.




Storytelling-related Events and Services offered by other Individuals and Organisations in Chennai

Storytrails offers Guided Tours with Storytelling of various Chennai neighborhoods and professions. 

The great Subbu Arumugam; his son, apprentice and co-performer Gandhi Arumugam; and his daughter, singer and co-performer Bharathi Thirumagan, offer Performances and Workshops in the Tamil Storytelling Genre, Villupattu (Bow Song).  Mr. Subbu speaks mostly in Tamil; Mr. Gandhi and Ms. Bharati are also fluent in English.  Background information can be found here.  Subbu Arumugam and family can be contacted at 44 2489 2391.