Saturday, November 16, Workshops 

Session 1 (you’ll be able to attend Workshop A, B, or C)

A.   Once Upon A Time, I Became a Storyteller Presenter: Judy Baker.

In this nuts and bolts approach to storytelling for beginning storytellers, participants will build a story from scratch and work on plot, character development, sequence and beginning stagecraft and presentation. Storytelling etiquette will also be covered. You’ll leave with a foundation on story development and presentation and resources for future story development. You are also welcome to bring a story in progress or one presentation ready (5 – 7 minutes in length). Intended Audience: Appropriate for adults and young tellers ages 8 – 17. This session is especially appropriate for folks interested in taking their stories from the dinner table to the stage.

B.   WURDZ! A Feeling for Language Presenter: David Novak.

Learn the dynamic spoken word music of the storyteller through exercises in ear training, phonetics, text analysis, rhythm, and silence. You’ll participate in breathing and vocal warm-ups, vocal placement, speech production, text analysis and read-aloud, work with rhythm, and verse, and the effective use of silence. At the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Identify and use oral/aural dynamics in spoken word;

• Expand their performance vocabulary;

• Make effective use of silence in performance;

• Enhance their storytelling experience with greater command of language.

Intended Audience: Beginning to advanced storytellers, writers, educators, and anyone working with Spoken Word.

C.   Grant Writing for Storytellers  Presenter: Denise McCormack.

In this hands-on interactive workshop, you’ll learn best practices for grant writing for artists. You’ll review grants and grant proposals, jargon associated with grant proposals, and how to identify and stay focused on the goal. Handouts, worksheets, and group discussions will be integral parts of this informative session. Intended Audience: Storytellers and other Artists.

 

Session 2 (you’ll be able to attend Workshop D, E or F)

D.   Going Home: Exploring Memory Recall for Stories both Original and Revisited Presenter: Jo Ann Dadisman.

Use your own memories to recreate traditional tales and original tales, some true.

After a 5- minute ice breaker, you will use story modeling (Jo Ann’s story) and discussion to uncover at least 3 techniques of memory recall. Following a short  review/handout discussion, participants will break into small groups to explore techniques of memory mapping, language webbing, alphabet free writing, and writing from photographs. Using a story of your choice, time will be spent crafting/discussing/drafting and if time permits, sharing, glimpses of a tale you will be equipped to finish.  You’ll end this workshop with a small tool box of strategies for fleshing out stories by identifying specific language, images and characters from your own memories. Intended Audience: Suitable for older teens and adults; anyone who tells stories in their profession (or avocation) can benefit from adding to their repertoire of strategies/techniques for writing from memory.

 

E.   Black Dogs and Horse Collars: Superstition and the Storyteller Presenter: Susanna “Granny Sue” Holstein. 

Deepening a sense of place in stories -- This workshop will rely on active audience participation in sharing and discussing the role of folklore and superstition in our lives, and how to incorporate these traditions and customs into our work. Participants will:  

• identify what superstitions and omens are and how they influence daily life

• share personal superstitions and family folklore • explore the impact of superstition and folklore in their community

• appreciate how customs, language, folklore, superstitions, and omens enrich our culture

• use folklore to imbue stories with a unique sense of Appalachian culture.

• know where to find additional information and resources for research.

You’ll also receive a resource list. Intended Audience: All ages, and all levels of storytellers. In addition, of particular interest to teachers, writers, regional publications,  Appalachian Studies students, and those who do regional promotions such as tourist bureaus.

 

F.  Stories that Create Movements Presenter: Francis Wilson.

Learn to tell a story that unifies and builds movement. You’ll hear a brief history of storytelling in political/social movements, be introduced to the storytelling methodology of such stories and have time to begin developing your own story. After this workshop participants will be able to recognize what makes a story useful in public discourse and how to tell their own story to make movement and change in their community. Intended audience: Appropriate for anyone at any age, at any level. This thinking behind this training is used by senior politicians fighting for healthcare reform and 15 year olds fighting for climate change. All are welcome.

 

Session 3 (you’ll be able to attend G, H or I)

 

G.  Enchanted Visitors: Leprechauns and Fairies Come to Kentucky Presenter: Ann Roseberry.

What happens whan a Celtic fairy tale comes to Kenutcky? Learnhow a story can travel in many different directions. Discuss and imagine how a fairy would encounter a Louisville and the Kentucky Derby or Lexington and the Bluegrass or the Mountains of Eastern Kentucky. The United States has a rich and varied collection of stories because they come to us from so many wonderful cultures and countries. Workshop participants can have fun together to creating a new story from an old one. Intended Audience: All ages and levels from novice to experienced tellers. Teachers and librarians may find a helpful model for using classic tales to create new stories unique to their students. Others may enjoy the session as an exercise on how a story can change with the location and culture but maintain the theme and essential story.

 

H.   Story of Us: Story Circles as Truth-telling Spaces Presenter: Amy Brooks.

Learn to facilitate story circles as a community-building tool. Participants will learn to:

·         facilitate story circles using the SNCC/Junebug formal methodology

·         apply this methodology as a tool to encourage radical truth-telling and revealing of self in community, academic, and professional settings.

Intended Audience: This workshop is best suited to participants ages 15 and older. No formal storytelling experience is required. It is equally designed for people of all professions, genders, and levels of ability or education.

 

I.     Surviving Trauma Through Story Presenter: Folktales Rising Storytellers, Dorothy Cleveland and Barbara Schutzgruber.

Using the Heroine's Journey Steps to Structure Stories of Trauma --  In this session, understand the steps of the Hero's and Heroine's Journeys in developing stories of trauma. Learn how to recognize and avoid landmines when preparing trauma stories for the stage. Intended Audience: Adult beginning and intermediate storytellers.

 

Our Workshop Leaders

 

Judy Baker is a regional teller from Cleveland, Tennessee. She is currently the Tennessee State Liaison for the National Storytelling Network and is the program chairman for the Cleveland Storytelling Guild and is event chair for their annual Ocoee Story Fest, now in its 24th year. She has told at various festivals, including the Cumberland Falls Storytelling Festival, the Storytelling Festival of Carolina, the Cumberland Mountain Storytelling Festival, Mountain Makin's, the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival, the Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival and in schools, churches and libraries in the region. She serves on her local Allied Arts Council and is past chairman. She has been a part of a local history and folklore program for several years and has developed stories for that program and serves as one of the tellers. She is currently also an educational docent for her local history museum and tells stories and leads workshops for student field trips.

 

David Novak is Founder and Artistic Director of A Telling Experience. An internationally touring storyteller he is a veteran of the National Storytelling Festival, USA. He was on the opening team of The Disney Institute as Director of Story Arts and is a faculty member of the Storytelling Program at East Tennessee State University. David keynotes for numerous library and educational conferences, including the Sydney International Storytelling Conference, Czech Children’s Theatre Festival and American Alliance for Theatre in Education. He has also toured for the Lincoln Center Institute and the LA Music Center. David is recipient of the Circle of Excellence for storytelling, and the Aurand Harris Memorial Playwriting Award for excellence in professional theatre for children. He is an A+ Fellow for the North Carolina Arts Council and a Teaching Artist for the Wolf Trap Institute. David holds an MFA in Acting from University of California at San Diego and currently lives in Asheville, NC.

 

Denise McCormack tells professionally to all ages and interests and promotes the role of story in examining and dealing with issues related to education, social justice, and business, as well as the neurological and physical impulses that connect us. To meet her goals and mission, McCormack has developed marketing and entrepreneurial skills to promote and produce events for herself and others. Among her roles and affiliations, McCormack is New Jersey state liaison for the National Storytelling Network, co-chair of the New Jersey Storytelling Festival, president of Patchwork: A Storytelling Guild in Philadelphia, and a board member of the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild. McCormack’s mantra: There is a story for every time and purpose under heaven.

 

Jo Ann Dadisman A retired educator and active storyteller, Jo Ann has been sharing stories about her beloved mountains for almost 50 years. Although she sees herself as an Appalachian teller, she also enjoys telling tales from around the world and frequently presents programs that combine true stories with tall tales, myths, legends, and family stories seasoned to produced both smiles and tears. After 20 years as a tandem teller in the Mountain Echoes duo, she is a solo teller who also offers workshops which weave memories and imagination through both oral and written traditions. She is dedicated to preserving her mountain heritage and promoting an understanding of who we are as Appalachians.

 

 Susanna Holstein Professional storyteller, writer, poet and balladsinger Susanna “Granny Sue” Holstein includes Appalachian stories and ballads, family heritage, and tales from history in her storytelling performances. She has produced four storytelling CDs and is a founding member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild. Her work appears in numerous print and online journals and anthologies. She was awarded the 2014 McWhorter Award for Service to West Virginia Storytelling and in 2015 was named a West Virginia History Hero.

 

Francis Wilson is a storyteller who uses narrative to build bridges between people and create movement. Francis has used methods of public narrative at his university and in his community to make policy change, elect minority candidates, and bridge cross-cultural gaps. He is well versed in communication theory and digital storytelling methods, which he translates and fuses with traditional public narrative theory trainings.

 

Ann Roseberry is also known as Lady Bug Roseberry, the Queen of Halloween, Ms. Sugar Plum Elf, the Queen of the Leprechauns, Highland Annie, and Elizabeth Ann Roseberry. As a Navy wife, Ann lived in Dunoon, Scotland for two years. She loves Celtic stories and music and dancing. She also has a Scottish fold cat named Mog Theora Roseberry.

 

Amy Books is the former Program Director and Dramaturg for Roadside Theater, the theater wing of Appalachian grassroots arts and media center Appalshop. A West Virginia-New York cultural hybrid who returned to Appalachia just before the 2016 election cycle, Amy works at the intersection of dramatic narrative (“What is the story we choose to tell onstage?”) and public narrative (“What is the story we are called upon to tell about ourselves, our community, and our future?”) in intercultural rural-urban performance. Amy holds an MFA in dramaturgy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she co-founded and produced the first two seasons of the UMass New Play Lab. She is the former Humanities Director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, WV, and received the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)’s 2016 Residency Program Grant and 2017 Bly Creative Capacity Grant for her work with Roadside.

 

Folktales Rising Storytellers – Dorothy Cleveland performs and produces events of folktales and personal stories about the shadows of life using humor and insight. Barbara Schutzgruber is an award-winning storyteller of folktales, ballads and personal stories of resilience and has presented workshops, showcases, and performances nationally and internationally. They are the authors of Beyond the Sword Maiden: A Storyteller's Introduction to the Heroine's Journey.