Most of the Bible in 90 minutes - Dennis Dewey

Last night we had the privilege to see and hear Dennis Dewey perform an array of Bible stories beginning, of course at 'The beginning... , going on to 'The Fall', 'Abraham, Sarah and their guests','The Exodus', 'The Daughters of Zelophehad', 'Jonah' (we all liked the fish - and the song of lament), 'Jesus' Birth', 'Jesus, the boy in the temple', 'Jesus Calms the Storm', 'Jairus' daughter', 'The parables of the persistent widow' and 'The two praying', 'Jesus death and resurrection', and a bit of 'John's revelation'.

Wow! It was a great performance! Dennis brought out the voices of the characters in the stories and let the emotion of the story speak. And we felt like we were part of the story. I couldn't imagine listening to a sermon (although I've endured my share of long sermons) for 90 minutes and wanting more. 90 minutes represents a lot of material, both for the storyteller and the audience, and yet we discussed different scenes on the way home and this morning as well. We're still talking over the stories with our colleagues and they are as vivid in our minds now as they were last night.

As a storyteller, it's great to be in the audience and see tellers like Dennis perform. It gives me more ideas of how I'll tell one of those stories in the future, not that I'll attempt to do as Dennis did, but his voice and performance gives me more to think about and to explore.

It was a great experience. Wish you could have been there.

Holy Writ as Oral Lit - Alan Dundes

I'm just finished reading Alan Dundes book, 'Holy Writ as Oral Lit', and found some gems to mull over. He states that 'Variation is the hallmark of folklore' (p.5) and that the variation within the Bible indicates that the Bible itself is folklore. Having asserted this, that the Bible is folklore is not saying that it is untrue, rather that its origins are oral rather than written, and the stories were passed on by eyewitnesses and audiences. He gives many examples of how the Bible accounts fluctuate (time, number, name, place, etc.) and states that he could've written much more on the subject. Robin Griffith-Jones in his book, 'The Four Witnesses' also discusses variation in the Gospels reflecting the point of views of their authors, each Gospel being written for a different purpose. Putting them together as a succinct account therefore does a disservice to the intent of the author. In the same way, storytellers have main points, or what Doug Lipman refers to as the Most Important Thing that they keep in mind when telling. In fact, the story is shaped by the Most Important Thing (Lipman, Improving your storytelling. 1999:87).

For me, the introduction and conclusion were the most interesting part of this book. Dundes states what folklore is, and that folklore doesn't stop being such once it is written. Generally people think of the terms of story, folklore and myth as things that are untrue. In the academic world, such is not the case.

Whatever your beliefs about the Bible might be, I think this book is a good read, especially if you also are interested in folklore.

Holidays and Family Stories

This good looking group of people are some of my relatives in Pennsylvania and are just a little older than when I took this photo. We'll be seeing them over the holidays and I'm gearing up to elicit some good family stories with the intent of archiving them and passing them on. They have some great stories from Depression times, aspirations, and the usual and unusual brother and sister adventures. Usually the best storytelling hearing or performance is at an event where they're all together. Thankfully, I've got some help this time such as books on eliciting family stories and a small unobtrusive digital voice recorder. In any event I'm looking forward to hearing these family stories again, and maybe unearthing some new ones.
Here is one resource from Dr Karl Franklin on storytelling, including a section on eliciting family stories.

I posted this over 10 years ago, and this group have all passed away, my mother being the last. In her 90s she spent much of her day reminiscing her life and especially her childhood, which I was told is the usual. So, there were stories of her life I had never heard in my childhood. 

Tell Me a Story - Late Don Hewitt video

Watch CBS News Videos Online I saw this on 60 Minutes in celebration of Don Hewitt, "Hewitt's Success Secret". It's a bit late to post this link, since this clip was shown back in August, but after having attended a couple conferences where people I met didn't see this video, I thought it would be a good idea to post the link. Don Hewitt, the founder of 60 Minutes, stated that his motto was 'tell me a story'. It was the premise for the show, news in the form of a story. I especially like the part where he says 'even the people in the Bible were smart enough to know, tell them a story..."
Personally I like telling stories, especially Bible stories. Stories engage listeners and tellers alike.
If you haven't seen this video, I hope you enjoy it.

A book I'm reading - Provoking the Gospel: methods to embody Biblical storytelling through drama

I'm still thinking about my prior post concerning the spectrum of acting and telling a story. Then my wife suggested I read this book, Provoking the Gospel: Methods to embody Biblical storytelling through drama. I'm just starting, but am finding good stuff from the start. Here's a quote from the preface, p viii

"Contentment with the same old readings of biblical stories leads to rigor mortis. We need to poke these old stories, to pole them and provoke them a little. And nothing does that textual poking and provoking like public, physical performance. If you can continue to pretend that these old stories are calm compilations of ideas (our ideas!), the "same old" readings will be fine. But public audiences will not sit still for dull, formulaic performances. So if we dare to accept the risk and challenge of playing these fascinating old stories for audiences who are free to see what is actually there, free to react, respond, and argue, then we will need to poke hard at these stories."

I'm sure I'll be posting more from what I learn from this author.

The spectrum of telling and acting a story

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. As they say in Vanuatu, sori tumas. Just recently I attended a Network of Biblical Storytellers Gathering in Asheville, NC and had a great time watching others perform their stories. This time I got into the act a bit by participating in a coaching session for storytellers. I would not have been ready for something like this at an earlier conference, but really appreciated the input I got from the coaches and other tellers. I would say it was for me the highlight of the gathering. My experience with storytelling comes from listening to family stories and living in cultures where storytime is a part of a normal day. But I don't have much of any background with drama, and both my storytelling coaches did. I appreciated being pushed to tell with more dramatic expression, making my gestures larger and my emotion fit the mood of the story. The feedback from the audience was very positive and the audience really liked the change, stating it more on the scale of a metamorphosis. I know some professional storytellers encourage new storytellers to find their own voice, tell their stories naturally, but I think knowing something of drama basics can add much to the storyteller's performance. Perhaps the goal is to find a good meeting place between culture, telling, performing or acting and one's style and identity or person.

Finding stories in daily life

While touring the National Museum in Jakarta's Taman Mini, we came across this alphabet chart of local scripts. Our cabbie was along for the tour and told us that there was a story associated with the alphabet. Using the consonants plus a vowel sound, a simple CV syllable pattern, a story was told about two great personages fighting it out till the death, something like a struggle between good and bad, with no positive resolution. What astounded us was not so much the story, but that it was tied to learning these alphabets, and that the cabbie, who learned it as a boy still remembered the story and the alphabets. There are several alphabets pictured here. I guess it goes to show how powerful stories can be as memory enhancers.
PS. Thanks for reading this blog and your encouraging remarks.