Posts Tagged Poetry

Odds Bodkin – Storytelling in the Bardic Tradition

Odds Bodkin Bard and Storyteller Press Play to hear Odds Bokin speak on Storytelling in the Bardic Tradition on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Press Play to hear Odds Bokin speak on Storytelling in the Bardic Tradition on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Odds Bodkin Writes…
Bardic storytelling–that is, spoken words with live music–is a tradition that dates back to Homer and more deeply into almost all
shamanic traditions. Homer plucked a lyre, scholars believe, and recited The Iliad and The Odyssey with character voices. Shamanic traditions have used music with spoken narrative to transport audiences ever since local history and the religious impulse demanded human expression. Read the rest of this entry »

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David Gonzalez – Bringing Storytelling to Broadway. (Almost)


Press Play to hear David Gonzalez talks about how he almost had a storytelling event on Broadway on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Press Play to hear David Gonzalez talks about how he almost had a storytelling event on Broadway on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

David Gonzalez Storyteller

David Gonzalez writes…

The Way of the Artist

What compels someone to commit themselves to the absurdly uncertain, and certainly absurd, road of being an artist? It is a wonder that so many of us actually make the decision to take a detour and get “off the grid” when so many viable possibilities, alternatives and conventions surround us. Sometimes it is ego pure and simple, but that is rare, and often passing. The truth is, while each of us has a story, at the root of that story is the overwhelming necessity to matter to the world through our capacity to imagine, create, and wonder. The artists I admire have found the balance of personal expression and service to a common good – an idiosyncratic voice calling out to the world.

Storytelling on Broadway (almost)

The New Victory Theater on Times Square has exactly 499 seats, a number calculated to render it exactly one seat short of Read the rest of this entry »

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Jackson Gillman – Refining your performance Using Outside Critique.


Press Play to hear Jackson Gillman speak on refining your performance using outside critique on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Press Play to hear Jackson Gillman speak on refining your performance using outside critique on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Jakcson Gillman performer and humorist.

Jackson Gillman Bio.
“Stand-Up Chameleon” Jackson Gillman magically transforms himself into a wide array of eccentric characters through his many talents as mime, actor, songsmith and storyteller. As adept with children as he is with adults, his interactive Read the rest of this entry »

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Grandaddy Junebug – Mitch Capel – Poetry and Storytelling

Fill out the form and press play to hear Granddady Junebug aka Mitch Capel speak on poetry and storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.



Granddady Junebug - Mitch Capel - Poetry and Storytelling

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #067 Mitch Capel Grandaddy June Bug

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Grandaddy Junebug writes…
Good storytelling is like poetry to your ears…good poetry is storytelling at it’s best. Storytelling and poetry go together like hand in glove. Ninety percent of the stories I tell are in rhyme so I coined the term “sto’etry” to describe my unique style of telling.

At the tender age of three, my paternal Grandmother read to me the story poem
“A Cabin Tale” from the “Life And Works Of Paul Laurence Dunbar”. The genius of this work coupled with the joy in my Grandmother’s eyes and the passion in her delivery left an indelible impression in my heart. Since 1985 I have been performing the works of Dunbar, myself and others at festivals, schools and other venues throughout the United States.

Storytellers in general are unaware of the vast potential poetry can add not only to the repertoire of the teller but, also to the “flavor” of the performance. This is especially true with venues for children. A vast majority of young audiences are familiar with the “Rap” genre of music and are, therefore, more inclined to not only enjoy the performance with greater appreciation but also to digest more of the content of the morals and affirmations. “Sto’etry” is “Rap” without the music with each child supplying his or her own “beat” to the vocals, which, in turn actually seems to garner more satisfaction as one seems to “enjoy the book more than the movie”. Older audience members are also appreciative of this style because most, in their youth, were taught the values of poetry and the importance of memorizing and reciting for different groups within their respective communities.

Come with me as we explore the unlimited possibilities poetry can add not only to storytellers, but, to story listeners as well.

Most storytellers shy away from utilizing poetry in performance because of the need to “memorize” verbatim as well as the inability to “ad lib” during the show. It is true that poetry lends itself to a certain rhythm, however, once you’ve crawled into the skin of the poet your voice becomes the vehicle and your words become the steering wheel that guides the listeners (travelers) on the journey. A good storyteller wouldn’t have any problem “playing” to an audience or “ad libbing” while utilizing the “sto’etry” style of telling. Read the rest of this entry »

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Charlotte Blake Alston – Breaking Barriers Through Storytelling

Fill out the form and press play to hear Charlotte Blake Alston speak on breaking barriers through storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Charlotte Blake Alston storyteller in the Afriacan American Tradition

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Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of
Interview #069
Charlotte Blake Alston

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Breaking Barriers using Storytelling

Charlotte Blake Alston writes…
My introduction to literature and the planting of seeds that later bloomed into storytelling, came in the 1950’s. In the midst of a social, political and cultural climate that suggested that my family and community were devoid of intellect, history or culture, my father began reading to me the literary diamonds and jewels that came from within our culture. Somewhere around 6 years old, my father read out loud the words of James Weldon Johnson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes. My father relished and touted the genius of these writers. He handed me the Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, selected a poem for me to memorize and launched me, as a child, onto a spoken word path. Numerous church banquets, teas and special community events were staging grounds for “a reading by Miss Charlotte Blake”.

I’ll share some memories of that time and fast-forward to the place where those germinating seeds and my experience in an independent school crossed paths with storytelling and an Read the rest of this entry »

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