Learning a story/fairy tale

The most difficult part of this learning experience (for me---so far) was the choosing of the story. I wanted to select a story with an MIT that I truly both understood and that moved me---and the odd thing was that a story that I read months ago (that I would never have selected)---is a story that I am moved to tell now....I went back and forth (between three stories)...and I honestly cannot say why I finally chose the story I did....
I found the exercise of focusing first on the people in my story, and then on the place itself---very valuable in terms of bringing both myself and my listeners into the story. It is also an effective way of remembering the story---since I am remembering images and not words. Each time we changed groups, the story became both better (clearer images that connected well to the story), and easier to tell.

In Chapter 10, Lipman speaks of helpers and beneficiaries. Today we took on both roles. I found the role of helper to be creative and satisfying---particularly when I was able to help the teller discover insights. As beneficiary, I found I was able to both create images and explain relationships faster than I ever could by myself. Best of all---this was not about memorizing words!

I have selected a story centering around a woman---and in "learning" the story (tonight), I am focusing on body position (how I hold my shoulders and head throughout the story---and it changes as the confidence of the character changes. Patsy Rodenburg speaks of 'women being more physically closed than men," and that posture having an effect on their vocal quality. So I am paying attention to the sounds my character makes in relation to her body postures.

I have also tried learning to tell my story---backwards. It seems a little strange, but I discovered that telling it both backwards and forwards (from the middle)---does make recall of action and images easier.
Joy