Last summer I pushed for the recording of important sessions of the National Storytelling Network’s (NSN) 2008 Conference I was recording my session on the future of storytelling online for this podcast. I figured why not do a little more? I exhausted myself and recorded the membership session and the regional NSN rep session. These recording are the property of NSN. Unluckily I work for myself like most artists and it took me two months to edit the work – then having finished it – I promptly forgot about it. Finally in November I got my copies to the NSN board. Jo Radner, the NSN board chair was very excited about getting some key sessions recorded. I got the feeling the board would have liked faster service – but you know the old saying you get what you pay for and I was free.
Others recorded the Keynotes and the Master storytellers concert. I don’t know what happened to these files. I’m sure the NSN got a copy of them somewhere. The master storytellers performance – Doc McConnell’s last performance – was almost not recorded! I saw the volunteer putting his equipment away before the performance, and when I asked why, I was told by NSN volunteers that the storytellers would never agreed to their work being recorded.
So I walked up to each storyteller and asked them for permission to record their performance for NSN with any other uses to be worked out later. They all said yes with a great deal of passion and Doc McConnell said we could do anything NSN wanted with his recording. I’m sure I was too pushy for bystanders
The reality is that storytelling has an advantage over other art forms, because new work is always being created. We all have material that we have not performed in years. We all have stories that were once primary to our performance, but now no longer capture our attention. What if all of that material was still available? Mostly I try to downplay storytellers’ fears by asking this one question: Re-framing the whole debate. Do you want to be a part of the historical record?
That is how I would frame this debate over recording conference sessions.
Five years from now if this material is available will it still matter to you? Won’t you be on to other things? Wouldn’t it be nice to have this historical moment recorded? The question is not “Do we record our conference sessions?” The question really is – “When do we release our recorded conference sessions? One year? Two years? Five years from now?”
The storytelling skill set is timeless – the skills and abilities we have today will not, unlike computers, internet or blogging, become old fashioned – they are ageless. I personally know that the storytelling movement has a lot to offer the world and think it’s time we stepped up to the plate to offer our skills. NSN or any other national organization could be the vehicle for that delivery. Who ever builds a content delivery system around the art of storytelling first will win that race and be the source for the international storytelling movement for the next twenty years. My website www.artofstorytellingshow.com is well on the way to being the source for all things relating to storytelling with children, but what about storytelling with seniors, in business, marketing, or any of a dozen different topics that I have not had time or resources to cover in the depth that should be covered?
NSN could be so much more then a network, using it’s conference it could bring the separate candles of the storytelling community into a bright light that would shine forth across the world.
Press Play to hear Elaine Wynne who is a clinical psychologist speaks on uses healing stories with children on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Elaine Wynne was a Storyteller first. Stories flowed freely around the kitchen table and from an Anishinabe/Irish man who lived on the farm where she grew up. She told stories to her young children and then in the early 70’s finished a degree in Storytelling and Image Development for Non-Profits. She began to perform as a storyteller and then in 1982 got a degree in the Psychology of Human Development (Storytelling and Healing as a main focus) and became a Licensed Psychologist.
She worked six years at Mpls. Children’s Medical Center and developed a story called “The Rainbow Dream”, used by children and adult cancer groups for many y ears. Later, her work using storytelling to teach self management to 2-5 year olds with asthma (with Daniel Kohen, M.D.) was published in the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, and in numerous medical and psychological journals in Europe. Research on using stories and games as teaching methods showed significant reduction in emergency clinic and hospital visits over a two year period.
Elaine has performed and taught storytelling (and storytelling as a healing art) in Norway, Sweden, England, Ecuador, Japan, and Singapore, as well as in numerous places around Minnesota and the US. Last year, she presented a performance workshop at the 12th annual Pediatric Emergency Management of Humanitarian Disasters in Cleveland. She won Grand Prize with her husband (Storyteller Larry Johnson) at the Tokyo Video Festival for a storied exchange between children in St. Paul and London. She and Larry conduct and teach about Cousin Camp which they developed with their 13 grandchildren.
The Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf podcast successfully fuels the rebirth of the storytelling community in a new technological format. The podcast has created a format where anyone can learn the ancient art of storytelling.
“Storytellers can reach children in ways that other forms of education fail,” says storyteller Eric Wolf. Mr. Wolf has told stories professionally since 1993. I have seen it again and again. The art of storytelling is essential to the development of moral and ethical behavior in children. Ethics and storytelling walk hand and hand into our children’s lives. You cannot have one with out the other.
The Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf is not for children. This program is for anyone who wants to learn how to use storytelling with children. Want to know how to be an amazing storyteller? How to use storytelling to hold audiences of all ages in rapt attention? How to get an audience to give you a standing ovation? Why thirty second stories are so useful? How storytellers are able to tell such great stories? All these questions on the art of storytelling are answered in considerable detail at www.artofstorytellingshow.com.
The Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf podcast has had a total of over 41,000 downloads from 140 different countries worldwide with 12,000 unique listeners and several hundred regular fans. This is a feat made more amazing because each show is over an hour long. More than 80 storytellers from all over the world have been interviewed. While long believed dead by many, the ancient art of storytelling is alive and well at www.artofstorytellingshow.com.
Press Play to hear Catherine Burns who is Artistic Director of The Moth speaking on diamonds in the rough, coaching new storytellers on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
The Moth is America’s #1 storytelling podcast with over 600,000 downloads a month and at least 100,000 listeners. Catherine Burns is one of the minds behind the curtain at The Moth storytelling main stage in NYC and LA.
I rarely write articles for this bog – but I started thinking about it and I thought as way of thanks I would write a short article giving thanks to all those bloggers who have been so supportive of my podcast over the years. Keeping in mind that many of these people have become my friends, I apologize to any worthy storytelling blogger who feels excluded form this list.
If you reading this post – I’m sure you are reading this post on my blog so I’m sure I don’t need to convince you of the value of this blog on the web. I have tried to bring to this podcast every storyteller of every merit in the international storytelling movement. I only have a few hundred to go – so please spread the word as to the value of this resource.
Tim Ernetta has a fabulous blog called “Breaking the Eggs: Performance storytelling in the 21st Century”. Tim planned years in advance for this blog by reserving the word storytelling in the blogspot universe – thank goodness he had the foresight. Instead of another dry examination of movies, theater or television, we get this entertaining look at American storytelling. He has one of the most refreshing views of what it means to be a modern storyteller. His examination of the boundaries of storytelling and his willingness to leave no stone unturned in his examination of what it means to be a storyteller, professional or other wise, makes this blog required reading for anyone who is serious about storytelling in the United States.
A Ning is a new word like Google, Ebay or Facebook – Nings are dedicated online communities with a common philosophical focus. The professional storytelling Ning founded by Dianne de Las Casus includes not just one blog, but Read more »
Press Play to hear Bil Lepp who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on How to Lie and not get Caught on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Bio: Bil Lepp is a nationally renowned storyteller and five time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest. His outrageous, humorous tall-tales and witty stories have earned the appreciation of listeners of all ages and from all walks of life. From elementary school to veterans’ homes, from churches to colleges, from festivals to formal dinners. Though a champion liar, his hilarious, insightful stories often contain morsels of truth which shed light on subjects such as politics, religion, death, relationships, and human nature. An award winning storyteller, author, and recording artist, Lepp’s release, The Teacher in the Patriotic Bathing Suit, received the Parent’s Choice Approved award, and Mayhem Dressed as an Eight Point Buck won a 2008 NAPPA Honors award. Lepp has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and at major storytelling and corporate events across the country. Says Bill, Everywhere I Read more »
Press Play to hear Loren Niemi who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on Honoring Elders and Apprentices on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Loren Niemi writes… I’ve been a storyteller for 30 plus years and yet in so many ways I feel like a beginner learning how to do now, what I learned how to do then. It is “LOL” a very “Zen and now” approach to storytelling: beginner’s mind.
At this point in time, I understand clearly and fondly what a gift I received when I came to storytelling. The gift of generous mentors – specifically, Ken Feit and Rueven Gold – who took a “Zen and now” approach offering friendship, access, who posed and (sometimes) answered questions, encouraged and gave permission for me to find and develop my own voice rather than adopt theirs. They welcomed me wherever they were telling and often made space for me to tell a story at those gatherings.
They were prolific in suggesting, cajoling, handing me books and lists of books to read that would ground me in the storytelling traditions. It is one of the laments I have about a significant portion of those coming into storytelling now, that they do not Read more »
Artistic Marketing, Brother Wolf, Creating Success, Extra Articles, International Storytelling, Storytelling Digital | Brother Wolf | 
April 17, 2009 4:54 pm | 
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