http://www.storytellinginhope.com en-gb storytellinginhope.com 2010-7-4T00:00:00Z storytellinginhope.com http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#69541 One of the group had a brain wave for a new game called Heads for Tales and everyone else was happy to give it a go. So someone starts a tale and when they have told enough they flip a coin and if its heads something good happens in the story or if tails something bad. Then the next person takes up the tale and when they have told enough they flip the coin. Heads for Tales a fun game of free form storytelling that really gets the imagination going. So we had the story of Shy Jack with the amazing singing voice and his competition with nasty Nigel the Tax inspector. Followed by an old man who goes on a very strange journey with a collection of animal friends. We then experimented with some different rules and outcomes. Some also had a story they wanted to try or tell. Its strange. You can read a story you can hear a story but you only know if it really works and how it feels when you tell it yourself to appreciative ears. Mary told the beautiful sto... 2010-6-29T00:00:00Z http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#69234 Five of us present Chris Mary Maggie Deirdre and Tony. Discussed the forthcoming storytelling session at Lewisham Hospital on Thursday 17 June. Chris Tony and De and Mary. Chris told the Little man on the Little island our passitround story where each teller adds their own ending. It was great. Deirdre told The Dead Moon the story from the English Fens where the moon is captured by the Bogles and Boggarts and the fens loose their night light. The moon is saved in the end. Tony told a Polynesian story Saving Time a young boy Maui confronts the speeding sun and bargains with it to slow down thus giving more hours of daylight. Mary told a story about a manycoloured coat that was recut into a jacket then into a waistcoat to a cap and then a bowtie. All this during the growing up of a mans family each item for a new member of the family. Maggie told a true story about a kitten stuck in a tree saved by a ... 2010-6-16T00:00:00Z http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#67780 Well Parish news and exciting details of forthcoming events were dealt with as quick as possible so we could get on with some storytelling. We kicked off with Deirdre telling her version of our tell it and pass it on story the Little Island. Its really great to hear the same story told over and over evolving as it goes. Will we ever agree on what the end should be Come along and find out. Now as is often the case one story leads to another and the story of the Little Island reminded Debbie great to see you back of a Japanese story that she had been told while she was in Indonesia The Golden Sea. It had resonance with the Little Island and after Debbie had told it it resonated with the whole group. And then we were really going with Chris and the Mouse Princess a couple of true stories from Tom and Claire. Followed by Ben reworking an old tale to fit a new situation and giving it some local colour. Anne told us a wonderful story of Scottish Kelpies which are wa... 2010-6-8T00:00:00Z http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#66277 We kicked of with trying to come up with the Top Ten childrens stories that a teller really should know and inevitably we couldnt agree and came up with a longer list than ten. Here it is in no particular order Jack and the BeanstalkThe Emperors New ClothesThree Little PigsGoldilocksLittle Red Riding HoodThe Princess and the Pea but told along with The Paper Bag PrincessRapunzelBilly Goats GruffHansel and GretelAladdinRumplestiltskinGinger Bread ManThe Ugly DucklingCinderellaBeauty and the BeastSnow White Well thats what we came up with. Anyone want to try a list of stories for adults You can use the Comment link at the bottom of this post to give us your ideas for essential stories for children or adults or any other feedback on TnB. What do you do when you dont have an ending for a story You bring it along to SiH and start a Tell it and pass it on. So one of our tellers had an original story that h... 2010-5-25T00:00:00Z http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#65870 We got physical How much should we use our bodies in telling How can we use gesture to greater effect And an experiment in storytelling to help us do this Well once we got going it was another lively night. I must find a better word than lively otherwise Im doomed to repeat it every week. So first we had a discussion about Gestures what they are and if we should or need to use them did I say discussion perhaps I should say a debate We then considered Descriptive amp Emphatic gestures and how we should think about how we can fit them naturally to our own style. And then after Tea and bickys we had a bash at Shadow telling. Hum whats that Well the audience faces a wall Stay with it and the story teller stands behind the audience and is lit from behind Get it. So what the audience watches is the tellers shadow. This means that if you are nervous about telling or just want to experiment with a story the audience isnt watching you. They are watching your shadow tak... 2010-5-18T00:00:00Z http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#65869 A night of just good old random storytelling and story chatter. Amongst the tales we heard from Tony an Italian folk tale Quack Quack Stick to my back A story about a very strange duck. A Chinese story from Ben The Jar. An Urban legend in the form of the Cat in the safe from Tom and to round it up from Deirdre a Duncan Williamson story of the Seal folk of Ireland Mary and The Seal. A nice relaxing evening of stories. Great fun. 2010-5-11T00:00:00Z http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#65868 Well what a lively night looking at how varying our Pitch Pace amp Power can help to bring a story alive. The alternative of course is to keep an even pitch throughout the sentence which at best sounds odd and at worst dull boring or confusing. We all modulate our voice naturally while we are speaking to fit the mood or emotion of what we are saying. However put an audience in front of us and nerves and anxiety can take over draining our voice of its life and spark modulation puts the life in. The Devils Breeches story from Italo Calvino gave us a chance to analyse what parts of a story call for modulation and then to have a go at using some of the techniques we discussed. Great to see engaged and ready to have a go. 2010-4-20T00:00:00Z http://www.storytellinginhope.com/page2.htm#65867 The Devils Breeches gave us all an introduction to the Italian folk tales collected by Italo Calvino. Italo Calvino One of the most inventive of European writers and a master of allegorical fantasy Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 but grew up in Italy and spent most of his life there. An essayist and journalist as well as a writer of fiction he was awarded the prestigious Italian literary award the Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985. Italian Folktales Meticulously selected and artfully recreated the selection of stories in Italian is vast and ranges geographically from Corsica and Sicily to Venice and the Alps. This is a really interesting collection of folk tales better some would say than the brothers Grimms. The flavour of raw hard peasant life comes through on every page and very little imagination is needed to transport you back to 17th century taverns where storytellers spellbound their listeners with these even more ancient stories of ogres bandits princes... 2010-4-13T00:00:00Z