World Storytelling Institute
(Chennai)
Dr. Eric Miller, Director Storytelling e-newsletter Sept-Oct 2011 Dear Storytelling Friends, Hello! *** You might find something of interest in this recent essay: it gives an overview of what I have learned in the course of leading Storytelling Workshops in India over the past four years -- "Aspects of the Storytelling Revival in India", https://storytellinginstitute.org/123.pdf . *** An article concerning how storytelling can stimulate reading and writing in children (including a quote from yours truly) appeared in the Deccan Chronicle the other day (8 Sept 2011, Chennai edition) -- "Reviving the Art of Reading", http://www.deccanchronicle.com/node/55193 . For those who may be interested in the mechanics of this process, two of my writings on this topic are: "Storytelling and Story-listening, and Children's Intellectual, Emotional, and Social Development", https://storytellinginstitute.org/3.html . and "Using Storytelling to Facilitate Reading and Writing", https://storytellinginstitute.org/7.html . Storytelling activities -- and activities related to other forms of Artistic expression -- certainly help with the overall development of a child, including the intellectual development. There is a need to prove this, and a good way to do so is by showing how reading and writing abilities improve when children are exposed to, and participate in, Storytelling activities. If anyone reading this might have anecdotal or other evidence that Storytelling activities help with children's reading and writing, please do let me know. Arts people have been making a longstanding effort to convince Education and Government people of the value of the Arts in Education. Often the Arts are brought in last, and cut first. Nonetheless, the effort to make Storytelling (and the other Arts) central to the Educational curriculum continues. *** These four storytelling events have put me in a thoughtful mood: 1 Dancer Dr. Anita Ratnam led a Storytelling session at Oxford Bookstore Chennai, on Sat 17 Sept. 2 I led a "Storytelling Workshop Inspired by Tribal Storytelling" at the "Festival of Indigenous Storytellers" in Bangalore, on Sat 1 Oct. 3 An Ethnographic Videoconference between people in Chennai and Bloomington (Indiana, USA) concerning an episode of the Mahabharata, ocurred on Sat 15 Oct. 4 The Austrian Storyteller, Mr. Helmut Wittmann, is scheduled to visit Chennai on on Wed 23 and Thurs 24 Nov. He will be leading Storytelling Workshops and giving Performances/Talks on these two days. Details about these events are below. *** 1 On Sat 17 Sept, Dr. Anita Ratnam led a WSI Storytelling session at Oxford Bookstore Chennai. She told numerous Indian Folktales, and led the children in gesture, movement and rhythm activities. Dr. Anita is an internationally-acclaimed Dancer and Choreographer. She has been a TV producer; and she founded and directs http://www.narthaki.com , "A Gateway to the World of Indian Dance". In recent years, Dr Anita has collaborated with Storyteller Diane Wolkstein: they performed the Chinese Epic, "The Monkey King", in NYC and elsewhere. I am so delighted that Dr Anita led this session, because I feel that good healthy dance activities for children are very valuable for them. And, of course, body language can be such an important part of storytelling. It was a revelation to see Dr. Anita involving the children in so many movements -- even leading them in little "story-parades" (enacting story characters as they moved through the space in a line) a number of times! Photos of the session are here. A newspaper review is here. ___________________________ I especially appreciate the importance of dance in Storytelling because I was taught about this by my mother, Lydia Joel Miller. She was a Dance scholar, journalist, and educator. She was a champion of using the Arts in Education. During my formative years, she was Editor-in-Chief of Dance Magazine, the USA's leading dance publication. Surprisingly, my mother's obituary in the New York Times is still online (she passed away 19 years ago, in 1992) -- http://tinyurl.com/3n9ur69 . ___________________________ Upcoming WSI Storytelling sesions at the Oxford Bookstores in Chennai and Mumbai are: Oxford Bookstore Chennai (044 2822 7713) -- a Day and Time: Sat 29 Oct. 5:00 - 6:30pm. Storyteller: Dr. Sandhya Ruban. Programme: "The Wandering Leaf" and other Stories, with drawing. The poster for the event is here. a Day and Time: Sat 12 Nov. 5:00 - 6:30pm. Storyteller: Kanupriya. Programme: Folktales from around the World, with drawing. Oxford Bookstore Mumbai (022 6634 5242) -- a Day and Time: Sun 13 Nov. 4:00 - 5:30pm. Storyteller: Usha Venkatraman. Programme: Folktales from around the World, with mask-making. a Day and Time: Sun 27 Nov. 4:00 - 5:30pm. Storyteller: Sabiha More. Programme: Stories about Cooperation, with puppet-making. *** 2 A "Storytelling Workshop Inspired by Tribal Storytelling" was led by me at the "Festival of Indigenous Storytellers", http://acoustictraditional.org/index.html , in Bangalore, on Sat 1 Oct. My ability to lead this workshop was based in part on my PhD research experience with Kani (Kanikaran) Tribal people in the mountains in Kanyakumari District. Additional info about this Workshop is at https://storytellinginstitute.org/9.html . I am hoping that in the future, myself and one or more Tribal people might be able to offer versions of this workshop in Chennai and elsewhere, at schools, ecological meetings, etc. Please let me know if you might be interested. *** 3 On 15 October, myself, a professional Mahabharata storyteller, and others at the IIT-Madras, participated in an Ethnographic Videoconference with people in Bloomington (Indiana, USA). Information about this event, background papers about the Mahabharata and Ethnographic Videoconferencing, and a recording of the videoconference can be accessed at https://storytellinginstitute.org/36.html . *** 4 The Austrian Storyteller, Mr. Helmut Wittmann, is scheduled to visit Chennai on November 23 and 24. His schedule is: Wed 23 Nov 4 - 6pm__Storytelling Workshop (Part 1). Thurs 24 Nov 3 - 4:30pm__Storytelling Workshop (Part 2). 5 - 7pm__Storytelling Performance and Talk. Mr. Franz Bernegger will be accompanying the storytelling with his Austrian form of bagpipe, the Bockpfeife. All events would occur at the Goethe Institute (near the intersection of Rutland Gate 5th St, and Khader Nawaz Khan Road, in Nungambakkam). Admission to all four of these events is free. One could attend any one or more of these events. Please call 98403 94282 for directions and additional info. Mr. Helmut Wittmann of Austria has been a professional storyteller for over 20 years. He has performed at countless Storytelling festivals in Europe and beyond. He specialises in telling Austrian fairy-tales from the Alps, from Transylvania and Bohemia, and from other regions of the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Mr. Helmut's website is http://www.maerchenerzaehler.at (click "English"). The evening events will include Mr. Helmut speaking on "European Fairy Tales -- Their History, Meaning, and Ways in Which They Serve as Sources of Moral Inspiration for Our Lives". Mr. Helmut's mission on this visit is to present the Austrian tradition of storytelling, and also to exchange experiences with storytellers in India regarding stories, traditions, and methods of performance. We will be discussing ways in which European fairy tales might be similar to and different from Indian fairy tales. *** The richness of the above-described events is stunning -- Dance and Storytelling, Tribal Storytelling, Mahabharata Storytelling in a Videoconference, and Austrian Storytelling. Hoping to see you at the Austrain Storytelling events on Wed 23 and Thurs 24 Nov! - Eric Chennai Dr. Eric Miller Director, World Storytelling Institute 0 98403 94282 https://storytellinginstitute.org http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com . |