Storytelling notes

The blog is moving!

2012-07-29T13:59:00.000-05:00

The new website is up! In order to make it easier for you to see everything I do, I'm moving the blog over to there. If you have a blog reader, be sure to change the address for my blog to http://priscillahowe.com/content/storytelling-notes. The RSS address is www.priscillahowe.com/content/rss.xml

I'll leave this blog site up, because it holds the archives of the last eight years, but all new blog posts will be over on my real site. If I do it right, traffic will be redirected automatically.

Catch you on the flipside!

Buenos Aires knockers and doors

2012-07-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

I'll get back to storytelling soon, really, but I have a few more posts of Buenos Aires to put up.

I don't know why I'm so fascinated with doors and door knockers. Is it being the granddaughter of an architect that focuses my attention on architectural details? Whatever it is, here are a few of the pictures I took of knockers and doors.

Noble beast, complete with scrollwork.

Somewhat more restrained.

This is the door knocker I bought at San Telmo market. I propped them on the chair in the apartment, just to take the picture. I'd drooled over one of these in Lima, but didn't buy one until Buenos Aires. Soon I'll have it put on my front door in Kansas City.

A modern door, still with that European look.

Side by side in San Telmo.

They may be old, but they're sturdy.

The grafitti doesn't touch the doors.

I love the letter flaps in these doors.

Nice and neat, across the street from my modern apartment building.

Crooked fingers in Argentina

2012-07-09T15:22:00.001-05:00

Yes, I have crooked fingers. I've written about them before.

I tried a new tactic in Argentina, after my experiences in Peru, where the kids noticed my crooked little fingers in about 95% of the performances. Here's the most common scenario: one kid would see that there was something different about my fingers. He or she would nudge the kids on either side to point out this oddity. They would look at their own fingers, then at mine, then whisper about it. They might start to show off their "double jointedness" as we called any kind of strange bending in our fingers when I was a kid. In the process, they were so engrossed in the idea of something different that they didn't listen to the story.

Partway through the Argentina tour, I decided to be proactive. In each performance after I showed the US map and talked a little about my family, I said "I want to tell you something else about my family. We happen to have crooked fingers." Gasp! The audience was fascinated, I think in part because I gave them permission to look at something strange about my body. Afterwards, I let them touch my fingers if they want to. It's just a finger, a bit more bony than most, and crooked, but still, just a finger.

In Argentina, five times, I had a treat--four kids and one teacher, at different schools, showed me their own crooked fingers. I've never seen so many outside my family. Occasionally I'll see crooked fingers at a school in the US, but not often. I only got a picture of one set, on the last day at St. Luke's School. There was another set at this school, but the two kids weren't related.

Not as crooked as mine, but it's still noticeable. In my family, there is a range of crookedness. Mine are the second-most.

It's genetic. My father and grandmother had this trait, as do two of my sisters and all three of my brothers. The medical term, I believe, is clinodactyly. I found a blog post other than mine about crooked little fingers and wasted quite a bit of time reading all the "me, too!" comments before I came to my senses. I guess that's my version of nudging the person next to me and whispering.

My nursery school art project, plaster painted with gold paint. Crooked as can be.

Another post on schools in Argentina

2012-07-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

Students at St. Gregory School in BA. This was a school where I was in a music room, not a cavernous hall. It's so nice to have that intimate feel and not to need a microphone.

I had good intentions to blog regularly during the tour in Buenos Aires. However, with 63 performances in four weeks and a cursed headcold for half the time, I didn't have the energy. I'll try to catch up now.

There really was no such thing as a typical day. I might perform only in the morning or only in the afternoon. I might have three shows at one school and nothing more for the day. I might do one show at a school far to the south and then travel for an hour to another school for three performances. Some days I didn't have to meet the taxi until late, say 8 a.m. or even noon, though usually it was 7 a.m.

The schools were different one from another. The level of English varied from almost native to very poor. Some schools had auditoriums, some used echoey common areas, some put me in classrooms or music rooms. If it was normally the time when they were studying in Spanish, the teachers might not understand English.

These children had a good level of English. Even at schools where the level was lower, the kids understood this stretch.

The students wear their uniforms, sometimes with their warm school jackets.

I'm wearing my fleece vest and scarf in this school, as I did quite often. Schools in many countries are not kept as warm as in the US. It was winter in Argentina.

This high school boy really was paying attention. He turned so that Yoli could take a picture that included the girls in the row ahead of him listening while leaning on each other's shoulders.

I performed at private schools, not at state schools. Most were wonderful. I only had one school where the teachers were talking among themselves, and fortunately, the children ignored them. I only had one school where the kids were poorly behaved and I had no help from the teachers. That may have been partly because of the low level of English, partly because it was a difficult space, partly because I was feeling bad because of my cold.

Generally, the students in Argentina were well behaved and we all had fun. I left a few minutes for questions at the end of the show usually and the students were brave about asking. Some of them have since become my Facebook friends or have liked Trixie's Facebook page or have sent me e-mails. Some have subscribed to my Youtube channel.

On my last day, I was at St. Luke's. It was a fabulous end to the tour. Everybody at the school was welcoming. I was in the brand-new library, a pleasant intimate space. The librarian, Sol, reads to the students every week. They were anticipating my visit. The level of English was excellent, even among the youngest listeners.

This was the day DreamOn was filming the performance. We had only one problem: between the first and second of three sets, the power went out on the whole block. Fortunately, the kids were such good listeners I didn't need the microphone and the videographer was able to reposition me to take advantage of the natural light from the windows.

I left that school feeling good about the performances there and about the whole tour. Whew!

Propolis

2012-06-26T16:19:00.000-05:00

I'm always looking for the best throat soother, especially when I have a heavy storytelling schedule and a headcold. I know the rules: warm up the voice before performing, drink lots and lots of water to hydrate the vocal chords, avoid mint and decongestants (they dry the throat), don't whisper, rest when possible, keep the throat warm. Still, there are times when I need to take decongestants because I straight out can't breathe through my nose and there are times when I need to use cough drops. When I'm having a coughing fit in the middle of a performance, as I did today, I have to do something quickly.

My very favorite are propolis candies. Here's a selection of caramelos de propoleo (caramelo is the general word for hard candy) I've found here in Argentina:

Not all of these are created equal. The very best are those in the brown wrappers, available from health food stores and some pharmacies. I put one in my mouth and had an immediate sense memory: Bulgarian Orthodox churches. Huh? They taste like beeswax candles, which are lit in profusion in Bulgarian Orthodox churches. The other two kinds have a small amount of propolis, but are mostly sugar candies.

I've also been using regular cough drops:

These are not considered to be cough drops in most of Latin America, as far as I can tell. They're eaten as candy or breath mints and they're available at kiosks, newsstands and grocery stores. I've also been drinking a concoction of lemon, chopped ginger and honey, heated with water. Yum! Though my cold is mostly gone, I'm going to be drinking this for the rest of the tour. I've done 54 performances in the last four weeks, with nine more before I leave for home on Friday.

Thank you, Emilio!

2012-06-22T18:18:00.000-05:00

Two posts in a day, yet again!

It's nice when kids draw me pictures, especially to show that they've really been listening. Emilio at Southern International School drew this for me today. It's his version of the ghost in The ghost with the one black eye, along with the baby (note the smell lines rising from the diaper). On the other side of the paper, he drew the puppets Peeps, Stephanie, Trixie and the table behind me that held water and cups. Emilio and I had a little issue at one point in the program (it's so hard to sit on the floor with your friends and NOT poke them), so I think this was an apology. It was very kind of him.

Thanks, Emilio!

More on schools in Argentina

2012-06-22T18:06:00.000-05:00

Sorry not to have written. I've been a little busy. Today I had my 47th school performance of the tour (three weeks so far), with 17 more next week. I've also been sick. I got a head cold, which I thought I was over last week, but I had a relapse. The pharmacist suggested this cough medicine. It sounds funny in English, but it was effective!

The schools have been mostly wonderful. The kids have been great listeners and many have asked good questions. Sometimes they get shy and don't want to ask the question in front of everybody, so they come up to me afterwards.

At schools like Las Nieves and Glasgow College, the students have showed up at the performances well prepared, having listened to stories on my website or on my youtube channel. This preparation makes a big difference.

Here are a few pictures of the listeners. You'll notice that the children wear uniforms at all of these schools. They have had excellent questions at the end of many of the sessions.

Boys helping me tell "Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle."

Just a stretch between stories, to make it easier to listen.

The teachers listen as well.

In the pictures, these are primary (elementary in the US) school kids. I've also had fun telling to high school students. Yesterday I was at Highest College, performing for the older kids. The coordinator told me that they were all (both students and teachers) nervous about what I might do, worried that it might be only for young children. As I do in the US when I have middle school and high school, I started with a gory story, one I don't tell to the younger students. I could see the audience relax bit by bit and then they all had a good time. So did I.

Time to stop writing so I can get ready to go to a tango show.

Street music

2012-06-16T18:19:00.002-05:00

Two posts in one day? It must be a weekend on tour! I promise, I'll get back to writing about storytelling in the schools soon.

But first, did somebody say "tango"? This is Buenos Aires, after all!

I had a lovely day wandering first around San Telmo, then on down to Calle Florida, a pedestrian shopping street. I wasn't terribly interested in shopping, but then I heard music. On the street. A mix of tango, jazz, swing and who knows what else. I stopped to put some money in the hat, then stayed to listen longer. I ended up buying a CD of El Metodo. Here are a few clips:

There were no tiny children in the crowd today, but I could well imagine this scene!

Maybe it's time to get my concertina out when I get home. The bandoneon player was great! (My apologies to Spanish-speakers--I can't figure out how to put the accent over the o in bandoneon.)

Food, glorious food at Don Carlitos

2012-06-16T10:23:00.000-05:00

Oh, my. It was a good week in the schools (more on that later) and so we celebrated with a meal. Last night we went out to dinner at Restaurante "Carlitos," otherwise known as Don Carlitos or Don Carlos. This was an experience as much as it was a meal.

It's a very simple restaurant in the neighborhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires, right across from the stadium where the Boca Juniors football (soccer) team plays. It looks like an ordinary diner, nothing at all fancy. As soon as we sat down, the owner came to talk to us. When he heard that I was from the US, he spoke a bit of English with me and pointed at a framed movie poster signed by Sophia Coppola. Apparently, this is one of Francis Ford Coppola's favorite restaurants in BA.

The fellow in the blue shirt is Juan Carlos Zinola, the owner (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Looks are deceiving. This was no ordinary diner. The meal was incredible. We didn't order. The food just arrived with a flourish, plate after plate. We shared from most of the plates, though we each got our own steaks. We had empanadas, and in the vast array of food, I've forgotten what they were stuffed with. Here are a few excellent pictures taken by Iva Grbesic on her blog One Chic Mom--we had these dishes and so much more.

Empanada (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Spinach fritters (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Smoked sausage (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

One of two cuts of perfectly-cooked steak (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Here's the full list of what we had (though I may well have forgotten one or two dishes):

Eggplant with white beans, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs
Fresh mozzarella rolled around arugula, with dried tomatoes
Tuna salad
Rolls
Mashed potato stuffed with cheese and deep fried--they looked like little potatoes
Spinach crepe
Spinach fritters
Spinach or chard ravioli
Fried cheese (provolone?)
Smoked sausage
Steak, two different cuts
Tiramisu (the best I have ever had)
Dulce de leche mousse (dulce de leche is an exquisite sort of caramel, though that doesn't do it justice)
Bread pudding squares
Passionfruit cheesecake
Espresso
Saint Felicien wine
Sparkling water

It was pricy for Argentina, almost $45 USD each including tip, but well worth every centavo.

Buenos Aires views

2012-06-12T18:08:00.002-05:00

I've got a heavy school schedule here, so lots of my views of Buenos Aires are from the cab on the way to or from schools. On the weekends, I've had time to see a little bit. Here are a few pictures.

On Sunday, walking through San Telmo, the neighborhood where I'm living, Alberto and I saw people dancing in the street. The woman with her back to the camera is leading the dancing. Notice the drum on the far left.

Wait, is this Buenos Aires or Moscow? On the way from San Telmo to La Boca, the neighborhood to the south, we stopped at the Russian Orthodox Church.It's fully functioning--there was a service going on when we went in.

Caminito is a street museum, a touristy area of La Boca, with artisan shops, tango demonstrations and plenty of kitsch. The story is that the buildings are painted with the leftover paint from the shipyard nearby. Some of them have sheet metal siding, also from the ships.

Here are some life-sized statues of Diego Maradona, Eva Peron and Carlos Gardel.

This is the fileteado style of sign painting seen all over Buenos Aires:

And here we are, back in Moscow, with the restaurant El Samovar de Rasputin. Not sure I'd like to eat there!

Schools in Argentina so far

2012-06-08T09:50:00.002-05:00

Today is the fifth school day of the tour. Because schools in Argentina teach at least half the day in Spanish, I tend to be at schools either in the morning or the afternoon, not both. Today I have three performances beginning at 1:30, so I have the morning here in the apartment. The school day runs until 4:30.

I've been having a grand time! So far, I've done fourteen shows at six schools, for students ranging from age 6 to 12. The level of English varies from school to school. Very few of the students so far have been native speakers of English. A few come up to tell me that they used to live in Florida or Connecticut. Of course, the younger kids generally understand less, but the puppets help me on that score.

The baby is always a hit.

The children wear uniforms and often the boys and girls are seated separately. I was at an all-girls school on Tuesday and Wednesday--perfect opportunities to tell Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch.

Here's a 2nd grader joining in on Poor Little Bug on the Wall.

That's it for today. Off I go to work!

More from Argentina

2012-06-06T20:02:00.002-05:00

I am going to write about the schools, I am. Not today, though. I've done ten shows in the past three days and am tired. A few people asked to see the inside of my studio apartment, so here it is:

No, just kidding. That's a picture of a fireplace at the Michael Ham School, where I was today and tomorrow. Here's the studio apartment:

The view as you walk in the door.

The view right by the front door, before you get to the main living area.

The kitchen and dining area.

The view from the other direction. Notice the Moderne chairs. Not comfortable, but the bed is.

There's a balcony, though it has been too cold to spend much time out there (I think it was in the 30s fahrenheit here today, colder than usual). Oh, and there is a very polite elevator--a voice says, "Welcome!" when I get on downstairs. She announces the arrival to the right floor. When I take the elevator down, she says, "Thank you for your visit."

Greetings from Argentina!

2012-06-05T08:30:00.001-05:00

I'm here! I arrived in Buenos Aires on Saturday. It's a loooong way down here. The flight from Dallas was 11 hours, after a couple of hours from Kansas City.

I'm sitting in my studio apartment in San Telmo, a lovely historic neighborhood. Here are some views from my third floor window:

Looking left into San Telmo, my neighborhood

Looking right toward Av. 9 de Julio. Can you see the Basque restaurant? I haven't tried it yet.


Looking straight--there's a real mix of architectural styles in Buenos Aires

I've explored the neighborhood and the next neighborhood over, La Boca, a little, mostly with Alberto, my tour manager and friend. Of course the first night we had steak, as this is beef country. Lots of Italians settled here, too, so on Sunday we had wonderful pizza.


Pizza caprese, with olives, fresh basil, slices of tomato and mozzarella. Yum!

I'm off to a school now. Yesterday was a great start to the school performances, at San Javier and Villa Devoto School.

I'll write more about the schools soon.

Cell phone videos

2012-05-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

Last week I gave a workshop on story hour stretches, games and songs for the Children's Services librarians at the Kansas City (MO) Public Library. I LOVE working with librarians, partly because I am still one to my core, even though I haven't worked as a librarian since 1994. It's not the diploma that proves it (though I have one). It's in my DNA. You laugh? Here's a quote from a piece my mother wrote about her mother-in-law, not officially a librarian but...

Like her father before her, she chose the books for Bristol's Rogers Free Library, and read most of them first. (Some categories she shunned, letting other Library people choose the romances and Westerns.)

Granny Howe referred to those as trashy novels, my father said. All but those were delivered to the house before they ever got to the library.

Sidetracked. Isn't this post about videos? One of the librarians at the Westport Branch sent me links for four videos she put on Youtube. Keep in mind that these were taken on a cell phone!

You can see another of the librarians recording the workshop on her iPad, so there may be more videos to come.

A few quotes on storytelling

2012-05-13T20:24:00.001-05:00

Frankie Bacon, earlier this spring when the daffodils were out. There is no real reason for this or the other pictures in this post. I just thought you might like them.

Ah, the old ploy: when you can't think of what to write, borrow from somebody else. Here are a few good storytelling quotes. I'll add more next time I'm flailing around for blog topics.

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.--Muriel Rukeyser.

I can only answer the question "What am I to do?" if I can answer the question "Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?"--Alasdair MacIntyre

All sorrows can be born if you put them in a story or tell a story about them.--Isak Dinesen

The healing touch of storytelling reaches deeply into the listener's heart as well, indelibly imprinting there the mark of the story and its message, weaving the listener into the dance of community.--Richard Stone

Because there is a natural storytelling urge and ability in all human beings, even just a little nurturing of this impulse can bring about astonishing and delightful results.--Nancy Mellon

Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact.--Robert McKee.

And one of my all-time favorites:

The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other's memory. This is how people care for each other.--Barry Lopez in Crow and Weasel.

Frankie with gargoyle, in contemplation.

Francis Bacon has made a nest in the coreopsis. Silly cat!

Moving a little in order to listen

2012-04-30T12:54:00.001-05:00

Some people learn better kinesthetically, moving slightly as they listen. I often build in movement to stories for young children who learn through their bodies. If kids aren't bothering anybody else, I don't mind if they are fidgeting or drawing or rocking. It would be great if we could let kids listen however they are most comfortable, from lying down to sitting to kneeling to wandering. I recently heard at a lecture on brain science that the best posture for learning is with the hips at about 135 degrees--slouching back. I ask kids to sit "criss-cross applesauce" (cross-legged) so everybody can see, even though I find that pose uncomfortable myself.

I understand kinesthetic learning on a personal level. When I'm listening to a keynote speech, if I'm not moving slightly, I space out in classic girl ADD behavior. If the images are strong enough, if it's a well-told story, I stay with it. If not, I go into deep daydreaming.

When I was in graduate school, I took notes and doodled, which always helps me focus. Partway through the year, I bought a small sewing kit, tiny scissors included. I began cutting small paper dolls, though not during class. There's something satisfying for me about tiny figures.

Eventually I found folding scissors at the grocery store. I've carried a pair of these since 1986. The blades are small enough that I can even carry them on an airplane.

The very first paper dolls I cut were the flame-head dancers (see yellow figures below). Then I branched out. When I cut hands, the pinky fingers are always a little crooked. Now when I go to storytelling conferences, this is what I do during keynote speeches so I can listen. I give the cutouts away because there are always more in my scissors. Many storytellers put them in their nametag holders.

I don't follow a pattern. I just look at a one-inch square of folded paper (like an accordion), and cut, leaving a little bit attached on either side. The conference program book is usually pretty good material, with nice colors. Occasionally I'll take notes if I hear something insightful.

Randel McGee is another storyteller who makes cutouts, but his are quite different, beautifully done in the style of Hans Christian Andersen. I don't know if he does this in order to listen, though I know he does paper cutting as part of some of his shows.

Natural distractions

2012-04-26T12:08:00.000-05:00

It's hard to sit at my desk these days. Here are a few reasons:

These have gone by already but were great while they lasted. I also had tulips in many colors, snowdrops and grape hyacinth. I missed the flowering of the weeping cherry, but was consoled for this by the dogwoods.

I brought the purple irises from my house in Lawrence. The white were from freecycle last year, so I didn't know what to expect. Lovely!

Dianthus in a little strip next to the walk where I had the only bit of lawn on my property. I dug that up and added these, hardy chrysanthemums, sedum and snapdragons from the distressed plant shelf at the hardware store last fall. I added daffodil bulbs and the above irises. None of this is distressed now!

Notice the clematis climbing the fence--last year I thought that was chokeweed and tried to pull it out. Thank goodness for its survival instinct.

This flower alerted me to the existence of the vine.

The clematis in front of the house is amazing this year. The roses are hiding behind this vine.

Here's the clematis close up. Fancy variety!

I'm not taking pictures of the lettuce and peas, as there are way too many weeds in the vegetable bed. I may take some of this afternoon off to deal with them.

Back to storytelling soon!

More on renewal: Artist Dates

2012-04-15T19:24:00.000-05:00

Not long after it was published, I read The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.

I confess, I did only about eight of the twelve week course, but I got a lot out of those eight weeks. One of the basic tools Cameron recommends is a weekly Artist Date:

An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, a.k.a. your creative child. That means no lovers, friends, spouses, children--no taggers-on of any stripe.

Sometimes I break the rules and take Artist Dates with friends and/or for a shorter amount of time. It's a great way to renew my creative spirit. I don't do it with a goal in mind, say, to find a specific story, but I do it to remind myself of beauty in the world.

One of my favorite Artist Dates is visiting the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Last summer, I treated myself to a membership at the Nelson. There is no admission fee at the museum, but a membership gives me free tickets to special exhibits and lectures, and free parking. I live about 20 minutes away, so I can (and do) just stop in for a brief visit. I don't have to plan the whole day for a museum trip, as I felt I did when I lived in Lawrence.

Yesterday a friend came to town so we went to see the new exhibit at the Nelson. I'm definitely going back--it's the kind of show that deserves several visits. The exhibit is of functional art, beautiful and useful pieces from earlier times.

While we were in the museum, we also saw the Bill Viola video installation, 'The Raft," a thoughtful and thought-provoking look at isolation and connection. I found a clip of it on Youtube, but it doesn't do the full piece justice (the clip is about half the length of the total). If you get a chance to see this, do!

We went up to see the statue of Kuan Yin, then meandered down through the gift shop before leaving, refreshed.

How do you renew your creativity?

Inspiration and renewal: Farfalle

2012-04-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

As a self-supporting performing artist, I find that it's important to take myself out of my little world of storytelling or marketing my storytelling, to enjoy other artforms.

Today I drove over to Lawrence to see a wonderful show at the Lied Center of Kansas. This was part of the 2nd grade residency, Exploring the environment through the arts, which I've worked on in the past. The centerpiece of that residency is a performance at the Lied Center. Today it was "Farfalle," by Italian dance company TPO. It's a magical dance of the lifecycle of the butterfly, with music, color, light, shadow and lots of audience participation. Normally audience participation makes me slightly nervous, but it worked splendidly in this dance. The company uses what they call a "cheering carpet," which has sensors that create different effects when touched. Here's a look:

I love live performance. As an audience member, sometimes I lose myself in the performance and sometimes I watch with an analytical eye. I did both today, enjoying the sensory experience and also watching how well the two dancers worked with the children.

More on how I find inspiration and renewal in the next few posts.

Website re-do

2012-03-27T17:14:00.000-05:00

Soon, very soon, my website will have a new look. My wonderful webmaster, also known as my sister, and I are working at a complete makeover. You'll be able to read this blog on the website, watch videos, listen to stories, find out more about what I do, and find out more about storytelling in general. You can listen to stories on the website now, but it's going to be a bit different.

Here's the insider tip: every time you refresh the listen-and-watch page, you'll get a different video and a different audio clip (whole stories only). I'm putting ALL the stories that I've recorded on the site. That's a lot of page refreshing! Yes, I still am selling the recordings on CDbaby.com, filmbaby.com and amazon.com but I also like making them easily available.

Oh, and there are new pictures. Here are a few:

Some of you have seen this on Facebook. It might be my favorite.

I...want...my...appa' juice!

The hair color is a little funny--don't worry, Baby still is more of a redhead than a blonde.

Peeps has come out of his shell.

I'll try to keep the calendar up to date, too. Look for the new site in the next few weeks.

ESL Storytelling

2012-03-05T13:57:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I'm a little slow. I recently realized that after having given more than 200 performances and workshops for non-native speaker of English, in Belgium, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Bulgaria and Germany, as well as at schools in the US where there are many non-native English speakers, I might have a specialty. I have become an ESL storyteller.

Students listening to me at a school in Brazil in 2008

Let me be clear about a few things:

I'm not a bilingual storyteller. Well, I am, in a way--sometimes I'll tell stories in French and occasionally in Bulgarian, but when I go into ESL classes, I'm there to speak English.

I'm not a teacher of English as a Second Language. I'm a storyteller.

I am a storyteller who goes into settings where students don't speak English as their mother tongue. Here's how I make this most effective:

I speak distinctly and clearly.
I use lots of synonyms.
I use my facial expressions and body language to buttress the spoken language.
My choice of stories includes lots of repetition and universal humor.
No puns or wordplay.
With younger kids, my puppets do a little pre-teaching. For example, when I introduce Robert Munsch's brilliant story Stephanie's Ponytail, I point out some of the girls who have ponytails and some who don't in the audience. Then I show the audience the ponytail on my puppet.

Stephanie and her ponytail

Also with younger kids, I include fingerplays and songs. Some of these involve the whole body. No matter the language, some of us are kinesthetic learners, taking information in through our bodies.

Primary school students in Mexico, 2009

The fact that I understand a lot of Spanish helps with groups where that is the predominant language--for example, if kids say "Una bruja!" when they see my puppet Trixie I then can say in English, "Yes, she looks like a witch but she's not one, she's just very old. She's one hundred and eleven years old."

With older kids, I often explain an unusual word or two before I begin. For example, I tell the Bluebeard variant "Mr. Fox" to older kids. Within that story, there's a refrain that includes the word "bold." Most students don't know that this means courageous, so I tell them in advance. If I don't, I risk losing their attention--they'll stop listening to try to puzzle out that word.

After a story for older audiences (age 10 and up), I pause for about ten seconds so the students can explain to each other the parts they were unclear on within the stories. I'll also answer specific questions about the stories.

At the end of the session, as I like to do with audiences who are native English speakers, I invite the students older than about age 8 to ask questions about stories, storytelling, puppets or about me.

My goal is to provide a language-rich, story-rich, laughter-rich experience to extend the students' knowledge of English. Oh, and there's that other goal, the one I have for every performance, residency or workshop: that we all have fun.

Stories with the dulcimer

2012-02-14T17:53:00.000-06:00

Last week, I did something new: I used my mountain dulcimer in performances with preschoolers. I've had this beautiful instrument for about twenty years, a present from a friend who used it as a wall decoration. I've played it occasionally for my own entertainment. I don't pretend to play terribly well, but I can pick out a tune if I hear it in my head, in the way I play harmonica and various recorders and folk flutes.

But use it in performance? Nah. Then I was asked to do a series of shows in conjunction with performances by Chiara String Quartet for the Lied Center of Kansas' program, Performing Arts 3 to 5. The quartet played for the children and collectively told a story. My goal in following them was to underscore what they did and extend it with stories, music and puppets.

First I asked the children what they remembered from their field trip. They went to the Lied Center and sat on the stage, not swallowed up by the theater seats, for the show. Most of them remembered that they'd seen violins and a cello (a jello, some said). Some remembered the viola. Some proudly announced that it was a quartet.

I told them I'd brought a stringed instrument, but it wasn't a cello or a violin or a viola. I brought it out of its box and showed them the similarities to those classical instruments. I showed them the pick and the noter (a little stick used to press the strings down next to the fret).

Then I told a story about a boy with a violin. I played songs in the story and the kids called out what I was playing: "Mary had a little lamb," "The itsy bitsy spider," etc.

The next part was magic. I carried the dulcimer to the children and let them strum it, one at a time. The kids were amazingly patient and quiet, waiting their turn, even with the big groups of 40 kids. Gentle, too, in the main.

I put the dulcimer away and moved on to more songs and another story, with help from my puppets.

I visited thirteen groups at five preschools last week. This week I have eight more of these sessions. It's a treat to try something new--a treat for me as much as it is for the children. We all have a good time.

Oh, speaking of puppets, don't you think the inside of the case looks like Elmo?!

Listening

2012-02-06T10:24:00.002-06:00

This young fellow, who shall remain unnamed here, listened intently to the stories. Engrossed, you might say. This was his first time hearing me in person, after listening to my CDs for months.

Telling stories on Skype

2012-01-28T17:48:00.002-06:00

Remember how wild the idea of a videophone was thirty years ago? We're there! I've been using Skype, the video calling program, for a few years. This afternoon I coached another storyteller by Skype. It worked pretty well. A couple of years ago I gave a puppet workshop by Skype. It was okay, not great. There was a time lag and I couldn't see the kids very well.

A friend suggested this morning that I could tell stories individually over Skype as a way to connect with kids who might only have listened to my stories on CD or on my website. We're going to try it out with her nephew and niece, who have all three of my CDs and want more.

I don't think I'll tell stories by Skype from my office, where the walls are blood-red. It's okay for coaching, where I'm not the focus, but for storytelling, it's a little startling.

The wall paint is enamel, so it reflects the overhead light.

For Skypetelling, I'd have to pay attention to what I'm wearing--no pajamas, for example. I'd need to check what's in the background. Too much clutter can be distracting. I might suggest to the cat that he go outside, so he's not a distraction. Or he could be part of the show?

And what if the quality of the Skype call is bad? I've had to hang up and try again with Skype calls.

Any opinions on this idea?

Announcing Master Classes

2012-01-18T14:04:00.000-06:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for a word from our sponsor...

Storytelling Master Classes*

Ready to move to the next level in your storytelling? In this series of three classes, experienced storytellers will consider aspects of storytelling from the theoretical to the practical. We’ll work on presence, pacing, body language, voices, crafting of language, rhythm, the deeper meaning of the stories we tell and more. These classes are hands-on, so bring a story to work on, please.

February 18, 2012
9:30-3:30
Beyond plot: discovering the backstory
One of the keys to strong telling lies in knowing the backstory, the unspoken history of characters and setting, as well as knowing our underlying motivations. We’ll also discuss—and practice—unusual ways to work on our stories.

March 24, 2012
9:30-3:30
Making it real: characterization, voice, rhythm and tone
Telling a story is so much more than just the words you say. We’ll push beyond the language, using various exercises to breathe new life into our stories.

April 21, 2012
9:30-3:30
Pulling it all together: telling your very best
Drawing on what we’ve done so far, we’ll add presentation skills to the mix. You must have attended at least one of the earlier sessions to come to this one.

Who: Participants must have at least 3 years of storytelling experience.
Where: Priscilla's Yellow House (e-mail for directions) in Kansas City, KS
This is in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood, so be warned—there are 12 steps up to the house. Also, Priscilla has a cat. If you’re allergic, act accordingly. In nice weather, the cat is usually outside.
How much: $85 for each session, $210 for all three.

A simple lunch of homemade soup will be provided, or participants may go out to eat. Drinks and snacks will be provided. This class is limited to a maximum of ten participants, minimum of six.

Email Priscilla for more info and to register.

*It's called a Master Class merely to indicate that it is for experienced storytellers. Classes for beginners and classes on using puppets will be forthcoming.

By the way, did you notice the newsletter signup in the sidebar on the right? I haven't yet written one, but it's on its way, my friends, on its way.