2009 Forest Storytelling Festival Workshops
Saturday, Oct. 17th

Storytelling: From Mountain To Modern - Connie Regan-Blake

Stories are our link with humanity and inspire shared family time, bring listeners to original sources of literature, and pass on cultural traditions. They also entertain and educate our listeners and ourselves. In this workshop, emphasis will be on traditional tales and personal experience. You'll discover where and how to find stories that speak to you and how to put stories inside of you, as we explore different approaches to storytelling.

Using Humor in Personal Stories - The Safe Humor Workshop - Andy Offutt-Irwin

Participants will explore humor and theatrical comedy as it is used in storytelling. Being funny is more than just about being "silly" or "wacky." Andy will give a brief overview of comedy theory (yes, it exists) and will explore how humor can be used as a vehicle to express all kinds of emotions, how incongruities in even tragic events can give attention the human condition, accentuate a sense of pathos, and bring understanding. Be ready to laugh and take comedy seriously.

Ballads As A Narrative Source Or How Barbara Ellen Forgot The Melody- Dan Keding

The ballad is not only a sung story but also a gold mine of material that can be used to create spoken narratives. In this workshop we'll look at the ballad both as a sung story and as a source for spoken narratives. We'll go through the process step by step to use a ballad to create a new story. Participants will learn the steps involved and the way to create their own spoken narratives based on traditional ballads.

Puppets and What Moves Them - Dayton Edmonds

Giving life and story to puppets of all shapes, sizes and kinds. In this participatory workshop, using fingers, hands, wrists, arms, elbows and voice participants will plan and experiment with puppet movements while giving them story and allowing them to help us tell our story, and in the process we and the puppets become friends.