Posts Tagged Griot

Elaine Wynne on Healing Children with Stories.


Press Play to hear Elaine Wynne who is a clinical psychologist speak's on uses healing stories with children on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

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 Storyteller
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.

You can read more about her in this cool article in the Daily Planet

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Loren Niemi – Honoring Elders and Apprentices.


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.

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.

Storyteller - Loren Niemi speaking in Bad jazz Tickled Pink<br /> 25th Anniversary performance, Kevin Kling on the horn and<br /> Michael Sommers on drums.

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 the rest of this entry »

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David Novak – Storyteller’s Compass Using Narrative as Guide.


Press Play to hear David Novak who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on storyteller's compass using narrative as guide on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Press Play to hear David Novak who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on storyteller’s compass using narrative as guide on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Storyteller - David Novak spoke about the storyteller’s compass using narrative as guide on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf podcast.

The Scattered Brain

by David Novak

“I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies
I saw boys, toys, electric irons and T.V.’s
My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there”
David Bowie, Five Years

I’m dreaming about a legless blind man when the radio alarm wakes me. In the short time it takes me to crawl to the bureau to turn off the radio (an arrangement designed to get me out of bed) I hear the DeeJay tell me that 5% of men surveyed admitted to wearing women’s underwear. I drift to the kitchen to feed the cat and dog and pour the coffee and juice. I go to the front door to collect the morning paper which informs me of the multimillion dollar judgement against O.J. and of an area magnet school which teaches children how to play the bagpipes. By the time I step back inside, my son is awake and Darkwing Duck is “getting dangerous” on the TV. I’ve been awake for less than 30 minutes and already I’m drowning in a sea of information, images and stories.

The day is far from finished. Everything is far from finished. I feel like my life is in the hands of an insomniac
channel-surfer: unfinished stories in constant collision with one another adding up to one story: life today. It is all so scatterbrained. I worry: what am I adding to the noise as a voice telling stories in the thick of all this? Who am I to enter the fight for everyone’s attention? What is the point of storytelling in the technologically determined culture of today?

Exo-Brain

Technology enhances us: clothes enhance skin, glasses enhance eyes, wheels enhance walking. Such enhancements extend our physical bodies outward. Our techno-bodies can “see,” “hear,” and “reach” farther than our bio-bodies. We technologically express our Read the rest of this entry »

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Janice M. Del Negro – Revising Feminist Folk-tales: Naming the Women.


Press Play to hear Janice M. Del Negro  who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on revising feminist folk-tales: naming the women. on the Art of Storytelling.

Press Play to hear Janice M. Del Negro who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on revising feminist folk-tales: naming the women. on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Dr. Janice M. Del Negro  speaks on revising feminist folk-tales: naming the women. on the Art of Storytelling with Podcast.

Dr. Janice M. Del Negro writes
When Eric and I talked about a topic for this interview, he asked me what was I passionate about? I am passionate about naming the women.

That being said, I was reluctant to use the word “feminist” in the title of this podcast. The word “feminist” is a trigger word that elicits, in many people, a strong emotional response. Since I agree with Mark Twain – “the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug”- the choice of the word “feminist” was problematic, because nearly everyone has a distinct personal definition of that particular word. Eric bypassed that concern, however: “people will search ‘feminist’ online,” he said to the library school professor. So here we are, “Revisioning the Feminist Folktale,” and I am not sure that two people on the planet have the same definition of what “feminist” means, never mind folktale, or oral tradition. So I’ll stick to passion.

I am passionate about retelling folktales. I am passionate about excavating old tales, tales that have already survived for centuries, for emotional truths that resonate with contemporary listeners. There is no definitive version of a folktale, no “original”; we can point to Read the rest of this entry »

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Memoirs of being a Honolulu Ghost Tour Guide with Lopaka Kapanui

Fill out the form and press play to hear Lopaka Kapanui as he speaks on memoirs of being a Honolulu Ghost Tour Guide on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.





Lopaka Kapanui professional storyteller and ghost story teller at the 2008 Talk Story Storytelling Festival in Hawaii.

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Memoirs of being a Honolulu Ghost Tour Guide.

Most valued Family, Friends and Fans,

The Mysteries of Honolulu experience does involve the otherworldly and the supernatural. But it also explores the great mysterious essence in our own lives. It explores the wonder and privilege of being born and the mystery that has eluded man for centuries, where our final hours on this earthly plane are concerned.

More often than not, the road I travel in order to take people to that pinnacle is a rough and rugged one but at it’s conclusion is the spiritual Shangri-La that we all seek; the sustenance of the immortal ambrosia. The unique quality of this experience is that it is presented to all of you from the aspect of the Hawaiian culture while it also lends a keen insight to the belief systems of other local cultures as well.

Please join me and become a part of this great experience as we all, together, explore the Mysteries of Honolulu and this great mystery called life.

Mahalo Piha,

Lopaka Kekaikunanea’opele Kapanui

More about Lopaka Kapanui

Native Hawaiian, Lopaka Kapanui, has been described by many as one of Hawaii’s foremost storytellers. Following in the footsteps of his close friend and mentor, Obake Tales author, Glen Grant, he shares more than just Hawaiian ghost stories, he shares his knowledge of Oahu and Hawaii. Through his tours and activities, he weaves the tales of Old Hawaii with a passion and a mystery you won’t soon forget.

Myths of Hawaii and its gods and goddesses, legends of spirits and demigods, stories of mystery and hauntings… let Lopaka show you a glimpse of his world, where the “paranormal” becomes the norm.

To learn more about Lopaka’s work visit his website at: http://www.mysteriesofhonolulu.com/

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7 reasons to Join the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf NING!

In reverse order like a letterman top ten list… http://storytellingwithchildren.ning.com

Drum roll please….

7) You love Eric’s podcast and want to make him feel accomplished for the hundreds of hours of work he has invested into the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Podcast.
6) You never heard of Eric or his podcast and feel sorry for him spending hundreds of hours on his podcast.
5) You love children (not in a weird Read the rest of this entry »

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Dovie Thomason – Building Young Adult Audiences:


Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on Tuesday June 3rd at 8 p.m. SWC #057 with storyteller, Dovie Thomason - Building Young Adult Audiences.

Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on Tuesday June 3rd at 8 p.m. SWC #057 with storyteller, Dovie Thomason – Building Young Adult Audiences.

Dovie Thomason writes…

I enjoy listening- I enjoy dialogue-I hope to learn something from every group of listeners or every chance conversation. SO-.join me/us for this podcast, which isn’t about “The Answer”, but a collaborative search for alternatives and new visions that speak to a question many of us are asking: Where are the Young Adults in our Audiences?

There is considerable conversation going on about the “graying”
(I prefer silvering-) of the storytelling community. Yet, these conversations seem to deal primarily with the age of the Storytellers, not the age of the Listeners-. How can we issue an invitation and create a sense of inclusion and an appreciation for the vital role of stories at all ages, but particularly with the extraordinarily responsive and interactive and “plugged-in” 15-30 year olds (more or less-).

Overseas, particularly (in my experience) in Europe, it is not unusual to have strong representation from Read the rest of this entry »

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