Pictures Update!

Hello everyone!

Thanks for your patience in getting more pictures out. We had to hit the ground running when we came home this weekend (probably much like everyone else here!). I just wanted to post one last reminder that when I add photos they are added to this online gallery:

 http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/advanced-storytelling/

And this online Dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyo60e3ba6tdg99/AAAknWFTNDTfhO5Hv-Uy3_Wva?dl=0

Why two places? Well, the gallery just lets you look at all of the pictures fairly quickly. The Dropbox is actually where you should download your high resolution files from.

Right now everyone in class has 2 photos edited (some have 3) from the in-class storytelling. And everyone that came out for the after class pictures has at least 10. The online gallery is up to date and the Dropbox now has all of the pictures that the online gallery has.

This is how I am going to proceed in editing now that I have these out. I'm first going back through the after-class storytelling pictures to finish editing the best of those. That's for 6 people so I'm just going to finish them one person at a time and if you'd like an e-mail when yours is done please e-mail me to let me know. atrawi@gmail.com is the best e-mail to reach me at.

In the meantime, I'll offer this for the in-class pictures. I am looking for a few things when I'm taking pictures of you storytelling to a group. I am looking for the quality of light in the room. I am looking for the best place to take the pictures. But I am also looking to not make a scene and to be very quiet and selective with when I choose to move or if I choose to move. So when I'm going through to find my favorites I am thinking - Does this picture at all look dynamic or interesting? How does the audience look (if they are in the picture?) Are you making eye contact in an interesting way to someone in the audience? Is the photo flattering? Does the photo's composition look interesting enough?

For all or most of these ideals to be met in a moment, when we're working with limited time, it's kind of an amazing thing to me. Which means it's usually only a few pictures out of each batch of a live performance that I end up really liking or wanting to edit. On the flip side of that, I can understand that you might have a different opinion and would like to see your pictures to pick them out for yourself.

So if you want to make sure that you get to pick which photos I edit for you for the in-class pictures, please e-mail me at atrawi@gmail.com and I will set up a private gallery that you can go through, log into the gallery, and select your favorites. I will be able to see which ones you selected as favorites, and when I finish editing the after class pictures I will go through and edit my favorites as well as your favorites of the in-class pictures. Please be reasonable since I do take many pictures on the off chance hoping to catch something that I might not have seen. If something looks like it might become a good moment to take a picture, I will go ahead and take it. So I end up with lots of pictures that are  either intentional and I like them, or unintentional happy surprises or sometimes unintentionally not so good pictures. If you say you want all of them I will be veeeeeery skeptical that you like all of them. :) And they do take a while to edit! So it is silly for me to edit a photo that you do not want. That is all that I ask, please be selective when picking favorites if you go this route. It doesn't bother me if you want to see all of your pictures. It will be a while before I can get to them since I have many of the after-class pictures to go through first. So if you want to see them while I'm working on the others, I can arrange that.



So thanks again for your patience and that is my very long message to tell you all where I am at with everything. Thanks again for everything and please e-mail me at atrawi@gmail.com if you would like me to e-mail you with updates when I have finished more of your pictures. Also, if you need a photo print release for any reason (it doesn't always come up but if it does, just e-mail me and I'd be happy to send you one) just let me know. Otherwise this will be my last photo-related post to this particular blog. Thanks for reading my post and thanks for a great class! 

Closing Words

Thank you all again for your participation in this course. I encourage you all to continue opening up your presentation skills in order that you may follow through with your Right to Speak, Right to Tell, and Right to Be Heard.

That means

• bringing your full self and size onto the stage
• giving your voice full breath
• allowing your natural playfulness
• picking up the pace and connecting thoughts into longer phrases
• earning the silence
• allowing the listener to feel
• turning off the "wind tunnel"
• filling your voice through the end of your words
• using the sounds of words to their fullest effect
• observing and attending to your listeners
• telling in the spirit of discovery. 

Every one of you has something to say that I benefit from, that I want to hear. Continue telling in the spirit of Giving.

In consideration of our final conversation, you may be interested in some thoughts I put into an article a number of years back for Storytelling World. You will recognize some of the quotes and references I used in class. Perhaps this will help in your own consideration of what it means to be a storyteller in the world today.
http://novateller.com/images/Downloads/The%20Scattered%20Brain.pdf

Finally, please consider my doors open to any concerns you may have. I will do my best to be a resource for you as you grow in our community of storytellers.

At your service,
David

class picture

Here is the picture!
We are such cool group!
Thanks for these wonderful 3 weeks everyone!

We are the oxygen that trees release, let's share it!

Idilio

Storytelling and Listeners

Tzitel's thoughts on the importance of listening in education and in storytelling keep running through my head....along with David Novak's suggestion (three weeks ago, I believe)---that the ability to question---to ask "why" is essential in the development and understanding of any story.

And yes, I do believe that storytelling encourages better listening skills---which not only relates to education---but to any time human beings are engaging in oral conversation. How often, I wonder, do people not really listen to each other---but only wait for the opportunity to "interject their own thoughts."
Joy

Anybody knows Brandon's phone number?!?!

Hey folks,

I seem to have an old number for Brandon. Does anyone have a current-et number? Or if Brandon is watching this could you call us?

We're trying to get his info so we can give him all this lovely refrigerated food we have collected from Cynthia and ourselves.

Thanks!

Dwayne
586-231-4192

Live Through Our Art

The actor, Martin Sheen, said that, "...Anna Deaver Smith offers...a powerful reminder of how we can and should live through our art."

Well, I think that David Novak has presented excellent tools in these classes that each of us can use to advance the storytelling art through our lives and on into the lives of all who listen and perpetuate this art in the retelling.

May you always be blessed with stories,
Wenny

Contact!

Thank you all for a great semester! Please keep in touch with me:
email: david@david-novak.com
website: novateller.com

No “Right” Way to Tell Stories

What a great way to end out class! I love hearing everyone's stories, woven together with everyone else's.

Like the ouroboros, our end offers a chance to explore our beginnings, to both see how far we have come, but also to further incorporate those pearls of wisdom from the course's genesis. First, I remember professor Novak sharing the etymology of the word “evaluate,” as in “to find value in.” Our last round of stories has really crystalized that value that each of us brings of him- or herself to the story.

Similarly, some of the first reading I did for the course was in Doug Lipman's Improving Your Storytelling. One need not read passed the introduction to be smacked in the face with the truth: there is “No Right Way to Tell Stories” (15). The breadth of our expression of this art, storytelling, has shown that. I am so impressed with my classmates and so proud to be a part of this community.

Moreover, I am astounded at our diversity. I could not attempt to tell stories like anyone in the class, nor they like me. How wonderful! This course has really helped me hone my own voice, comfort in my own storytelling skin, and authenticity in who I am as Bob Leopold, the storyteller.

Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.

-Bob

Orientation

We have been reading and discussing about the use of space and having presence while we are in the wind tunnel and yet I feel I lack better orientation of my presence inside the stories. I was thinking about a story I told a lot to kids last semester and realised it was lacking that orientation inside the Fox house and where he takes the pig throughout the story. The exercise yesterday was great because I was able to feel like I was there in my story despite the fact I wasn't born yet...
At moments when we began to leave the center and emerge into the circle or stage, the eyes of audience opened up as if they (we) followed.

What i got out of yesterday was; In order for you to see my story I need to see me inside the story.

Resonance and Topping Up the Breath

I was thinking about what David had said in class about not keeping your story from your listener but sharing it with them, and the different things that we do with either our posture, movements, or voice that can take the story back from the room to the speaker. While thinking about this and reading through the text I stumbled upon a little bit of advice on this from Rodenburg. While this isn't an answer to the problem of holding back a story, it provided some further insights to me of things to look for, and work on.

On pages 78 and 79 of the Rodenburg text, the author explains about females who adopt an unnaturally high vocal pitch and how that can keep them from working in the natural middle range where they can explore richer, fuller resonances of their voice. To experiment around with this, Dwayne and I tried out different voices in different ranges and felt the difference in resonance. It was a fun activity and I would suggest trying this if you think it might be interesting.

Rodenburg also talks about something that happens to females (but I would assume almost everyone would have experienced this at least on a minor level) where the breath is held or they will "top up the breath" in anticipation of getting to add a comment to a conversation but waiting for a break in the flow of conversation to speak. Well, she says that sometimes we experience this holding in of the breath even when not in a turn taking conversation. So I think that is useful information for trying to see if any if us exhibit that habit when we speak.

I have enjoyed the exercise we have done the past two days, the coming together and putting story into action in a new way.  The use of space and entering the audience was a new experience.  I was impressed tonight with the way Bob seemed to incorporate what we were talking about when he came into the audience at the story slam tonight.
Thank you all for your willingness to just put yourself out there and be vulnerable with new stories and expressions.
I liked watching stories grow as we confronted issues of space and volume as well.

Fear and Permission

We have had a variety of discussions over the past three weeks about giving ourselves permission: to own our stage space, to be heard, to find our voice/style/message, and more.

As we discussed reaching out to the audience today and how that can override our nervousness I began to consider how permission and fear can get tangled with each other. This was forcefully presented to my mind when Brandon literally threw the chair away, and when Julie snatched the air in front of the class audience I felt the impact of surprise on the other side of our circle even though I already knew what to expect.Then I laughed so hard as Idilio vocally expressed and physically interpreted his parents behaviors during his time of birth.

In musical performances, with others or solo, my thought was always that of sharing something, offering a gift, a part of myself. I know going into the music offers me many things outside of the ordinary day and that others can enjoy this too. And so I have found going into stories provides similar opportunities. Music and stories are art forms as old as humankind. They have always been and will always be with us. We are helping to perpetuate the art as we go into a story and invite others to come along.

Lipman's Response to Personal Experience Stories

As I have already admitted to the class, I primarily tell personal experience stories. I get a lot out of listening to, preparing, and telling other kinds of stories, but personal stories just seem to fit me best.

One of the things that I have heard about – more from the oral-traditional story world, but present in all kinds of storytelling – is the “lean.” I say that I have heard about it. It has never been spelled out for me. It remained in the realm esoterica until Lipman spelled it out.

I think that I have encountered the “Lean back” response only a to be disappointed that I have put my listeners to sleep. This was a most fascinating chapter and overall very helpful.

I was surprised to learn, however, in the section entitled “A Response to Personal Experience Stories” (142) that some personal experience storytellers tell personal experience stories that did not happen to them. Is this a thing? Do people do this? I guess on looking back on our classroom experiences, and our experiences in Jonesborough, they do.

-Bob

Reposting Photo Links

I have received questions about where I posted links for the photos I have edited so far. Here are the links:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyo60e3ba6tdg99/AAAknWFTNDTfhO5Hv-Uy3_Wva?dl=0

http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/advanced-storytelling/

These links so far have the pictures that I have edited from the two after-class photo days so far. That means pictures of Wenny, Cynthia, Chelise, Laurina, Chris, and Tzitel. Not all of the pictures that I have of this group (I am going to edit more after I get home) but 5 pictures for Chris and Tzitel so far and 10+ for the others.

My hope is to get all of the after-class pictures to 10+ each before we leave and at least 1 of the best in-class pictures for everyone else I don't have pictures posted of yet. But I will continue editing over the weekend and will have more pictures for everyone within the first few weeks after class is over. I didn't mind adding the extra photo days of taking the photos in class, and please believe me I am not holding the pictures hostage. :) Ultimately the class day photos are (at least in terms of hours) almost a wedding's worth of photos since it adds up to around 4-6 hours of storytelling. This will be great because somewhere in all of that are great pictures of each of you. But going through and picking the best takes a bit of time, and my poor work mac says, "Not enough power" ha. I have to restart the laptop about every 10 photos edited because otherwise I run out of active memory. But once I get home to my computer it will be easier to go through the photos and edit. :) Thanks for your patience! Can't wait to show you more photos!

Vocal Habits

In Chapter 5 in Rodenburg's book, she discusses how habits effect our voices. I was discussing something related to this today with Wenny on the way to Jonesborough and made the connection with the book later this evening. I had mentioned that I code switch my voice when I arrive in Sweden. Actually, my switch happens in the basement of the Copenhagen airport as I wait for the train to Sweden. I lower the volume of my voice, stop making eye contact and have a more private voice in the public sphere. This is the same for men and women there, because public voices in Sweden are not as loud or aggressive as compared to American voices. As Rodenburg says, "If we believe and have invested in our role in life then we quite often cultivate a voice that matches it." She goes on to talk about professions that have made a habit of certain voices, including "doctors, lawyers, teachers, bank managers, vicars..."

According to Rodenburg, the louder, aggressive voice is derived from urban areas. "Urban speakers do appear more aggressive, more impatient, less inclined to finish sentences."She compares the big cities of London, Glasgow and New York City. She talks about the slower, softer voice from the rural areas. I am still trying to compare those slower, softer rural voices to what I know of Swedish voices. I haven't noticed the same difference in Sweden between urban and rural voices, but perhaps I can't hear it myself.  Rodenburg does share an example of her time living in Norway and how she cut back on her breathe. She felt she couldn't breathe there and her right to speak was compromised. I have the opposite reaction, because I find the calmer and softer voice in Sweden soothing. My ears are happy again, when I am no longer hearing the loud and aggressive voices from urban areas of the US. Has anyone else thought about these vocal habits or what Rodenburg describes as settling in habits? -Laurina

Never being comfortable/never being satisfied

I am reminded of what Ms. Wells addressed at our talk this afternoon---she is never fully comfortable in any story---she never says (after a "good" performance) that all future performances will likewise be equally great!
I think this is because a story is a living entity---affected not only by the teller---and where they are psychologically---but how they choose to interpret the story for a given audience (which always changes).
Joy

Open and Closed Posture

I am sure it will come as no surprise to the class to hear that I primarily tell personal experience stories. It is much more natural for me to remember details that have actually happened to me. I get a lot out of learning and telling oral-traditional stories, but they take me so much longer to prepare, I often have to make the decision to tell personal stories, as I can try more of them out.

One thing that this means is that I am usually a character in my stories. When I tell a story, if I am a character, I try to act how I acted in that moment. That being said, I had never really given much thought to myself as I have characterized myself. Reading Doug Lipman's chapter “Kinesthetic Imagery and Characterization,” has really set my wheels turning. What exactly did I act like in those instances? Am I allowed to change the characterization of myself?

Where this really struck me was around the issue of Open and Closed Postures (57-59). I have never told a story where the character “Bob Leopold” was characterized with a Closed posture. What would that mean? How might just changing the posture change the characterization of the central character, and thus change the story entirely?

It soundly like I've got lots to play with.

-Bob

Urgency

I just read Anna Deavere Smith's little snippet on "Urgency," and I loved that little thought. And relating this to class today, I figured, what gives you a sense of urgency onstage like being called on to tell a story when you didn't know you were going to have to?

But seriously, I love this urgency thought, and I think it ties into a bit of what we were talking about today near the end, with giving outward, with shaping gestures and releasing them out toward the audience. I think what makes for a sense of urgency is the idea of "give." The, "I have something to give you, and this is important to me, and I think it may be a gift to you too, and I think it's possible that you need this, that the world needs this right now." I think if we're feeling that, we'll automatically fight the "wind tunnel."

Lessons from the Bees

In class today our little group discussed how the stories we know celebrate and exemplify how strong women "prevail and triumph using their wisdom, courage, and resourcefulness.

As I began to consider these characteristics in reference to "My Bee Sisters" story I discovered things that I had not yet canoodled about. Considering how themes like wisdom, courage, and resourcefulness applied to my part in that experience and the lessons I learned  brought me around to those thoughts on how important listening is to understanding. Then there is the courage required to reach out with a gentle but firm (unwavering) hand giving acceptance and gaining, for all of this, a knowing heart of who I am  and love for all around me.   

A question for my colleagues

A problem I have when listening to a wonderfully told story like "Helen's Troy" is that I get so caught up in the story and the emotions I feel watching it in my mind cinema (what a great expression!) that I forget to watch the technique/methods used to engage the audience so effectively.  It did not help that I barely remembered the story itself, but I immediately recognized that Megan Wells was not telling the story I had read, for it had not been Helen's story, told from her perspective.  I was captivated by how Ms. Wells humanized figures that time and repetition have rendered into symbols rather than flesh and blood people, particularly the mother-daughter talk about Helen's conception, and how Leda enjoyed the encounter.

Here comes my question: I was struck by the relative economy of how Ms. Wells portrayed Helen's tumultuous life and the Trojan War.  The war raged for 10 years, filled with the screams of dying men, the battle cries of charging soldiers, chariots crashing, swords swinging and clanging, yet she spread it all out  before us without doing it.  No huge gestures, screams, running feet, yet I "saw" and "heard" the war. This ability is connected to a statement she made towards the end of our discussion, about the storyteller's job: it is not to show the emotion, but to guide an audience to it.

How do you guide your audience to an emotion?  Can anyone explain how this is done?  I have been picturing how it isn't done, and recalling a Monty Python skit about a School for Overacting in which a group of acting students beat ".... my kingdom for a horse!" to death, but I wish I had a clearer idea of how to guide rather than demonstrate.