Talespinner
August – September 2010
The Newsletter of the Story Circle of the Capital
District
Editor and Publisher:
Claire Nolan 11 Norwood Street Albany, NY 12203
(518) 209-6477 E-mail: cbnolou@yahoo.com
Visit our web site at www.story-circle.org
"September twenty-second,
Sir, the bough cracks with unpicked apples,
and at dawn the small-mouth bass breaks water, gorged with spawn."
- Robert Lowell
Story Circle Business News
Meetings 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. are at
the William K. Sanford Public Library (Colonie) and 6:15 to 9:00 p.m. at the
Guilderland Library (GPL). At GPL we will have a topic for panel/roundtable
discussion.
Upcoming
Meetings: August 18 6:15
pm at Guilderland: Louise Koenig Topic: Story Telling and Listening with the
Emphasis on the latter! (How listening intently helped me.) Story Telling
is a way of Communicating and the part that listening plays in Story Telling. Upcoming Meeting - Tuesday September 21,
Annual Anniversary Dinner at Blu Stone Bistro 5:30 The Blue Stone Bistro is located at 661
Albany Shaker Road, Albany NY 12111. Call (458-1781) or e-mail Dee
Wind at we_tell@verizon.net for more information and to make a reservation.
Meeting at Colonie Library after dinner at 7:00 pm.
Meeting
Notes: June 15, 2010 Story Circle Meeting: Facilitator Carol Connolly
Stories Told:
Joe Doolittle--Hector's Picture--S. African historical tale
Lousie Koenig --"How Nana Missed Her Own Seder"--personal
story
Sandy Schuman-- "The Beginnings of Language"--teaching tale
Listener:
David Ross, Carol Connolly and Don Darmer
Meeting
Notes: July 20 2010 Circle Meeting: Facilitator: Kate Dudding
Adam
Hoffman - Shoes
Danced to Pieces - German Folk Tale (Grimms)
Joe Doolittle - Both the Harvest and the Seed
Kate Dudding - A Path to World Peace - Original
Dave Ross - My Mysterious Childhood Home - Original
Dan Ciufo - Whimsy's Pet Clown - Original
Listeners: Nicole Diehn and Joshua Barella
Did you Know?
Dues are STILL a
bargain at $10.00 per year.
Please use the form on
Page 8.
Story
Circle Meeting Cancellation Policy: Use the following guidelines to cancel a
meeting or to check on a scheduled meeting: It is up to the facilitator to decide to cancel a
meeting. The facilitator may consult with Carol Connolly or Kate
Dudding. If the facilitator decides to cancel a meeting: 1) Send out an
e-mail message via the Story Circle listserv (or ask Carol Connolly or Kate
Dudding to do it) and 2) Notify the library.
Story Circle members who are planning to attend a meeting may call or e-mail
either the facilitator or the library to determine if a meeting is being held.
Ongoing Events
Story by Story is our weekly TV show;
tune in on Sunday nights at 8:30 and Tuesday afternoons at 1:00 on Schenectady
Public Access TV, Channel 16.
Children
at the Well
(CATW): Interfaith Youth Storytelling Group. http://www.interfaithstory.org/children-at-the-well.shtml.
Find them on Facebook!
OPEN MIC in
Saratoga
– Signups to tell stories at 6:45 p.m. Stories begin at 7:00 pm.
September
13 with featured teller Betty McCanty. Mark your calendars.
Prepare for belly
laughs and
other wonderful side-effects of Betty’s storytelling. Caffé Lena. 47 Phila Street
Saratoga Springs 12866 (518) 583-0022. 6:45; telling from 7 until 9 pm.
Adirondack
Storytelling Guild
– Contact Fran Yardley franstory@gmail.com.
Interfaith
Story Circle
Listeners
always welcome. http://www.interfaithstory.org/events.shtml
Caffé Lena Weekly Open Mic –
7:00 pm. 47 Phila St. Saratoga Springs 12866 (518) 583-0022.
Held every Thursday and open to all styles of music and spoken
word performance, including poetry, comedy, and storytelling. The
producers warmly welcome whatever you have to offer.
Performer registration from 7 to 7:25 PM. Performances start at 7:30. No
telephone registration permitted. No special preference is given to kids, pros,
or to those traveling long distances.
Participants play two songs or speak for 10 minutes. There is no
featured performer at Weekly Open Mic.
Albany
Open Mic - Dates and Location TBD - We are looking for storytellers
and listeners and a location for an Open Mic in Albany – call Claire at
209-6477 or e-mail cbnolou@yahoo.com if you are interested.
Family Programs
August
1 Sunday
6:00 pm Eshu Bumpus “Stories for Family Fun” Traditional Folk
Tales mostly from Africa. At the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site 129
Schoharie Street Fort Hunter NY 12069. Bring Lawn Chairs. Rain or Shine! (518)
843-5151. Free
August
4
Thursday 10:00 a.m. “Dive into Reading!” Takes ‘n Tunes sponsored by
Dolgeville-Manheim Library, Town Hall Community Room. Free
August
6 Friday
2:00 p.m. Tales 'n Tunes - Dewitt Community Library, Dewitt, NY. Free
August
7 Saturday 7:00 pm “The Mountains are
Calling” at Fowler Camp and Retreat Center. Benefit Concert. Fenimore Hall, Pelcher
Road, Camp Fowler. An Adirondack evening of story and song featuring
storyteller Kent Busman and singer/songwriter Scott Adams. 518-548-6524
August
8 Sunday
6:00 pm Niall de Burca “Ancestors’ Irish Tales”: Stories from the
Irish Imagination. At the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site 129 Schoharie
Street Fort Hunter NY 12069. Bring Lawn Chairs. Rain or Shine! (518)
843-5151. Free
August
11 Wednesday 7:00 pm. Indian
Lake Library. "Family Storytelling: Telling Your Story" with Kent
Busman. Pelon
Road, Indian Lake, NY 12842 518-648-5444. Free
August 12 Thursday 7:00 pm “Dive into Reading!” Tales 'n Tunes at the Village of Cooperstown
Library, Cooperstown, NY. 22
Main Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326-1170 (607) 547-8344
August
14
Saturday 10:00 am – 10:30 pm Mohegan Colony’s 10th Annual Storytelling / Music Festival
Event Workshop:
10:00 am - Noon with The Storycrafters. Performances from 12:30 pm. -
10:30 pm. How can you go wrong with storytellers like Michael Parent, Carol
Birch, The Storycrafters, Johnathan Kruk and more? Let's make
this a fabulous 10th Anniversary for the festival. Location: 99 Baron de Hirsch
Rd, Crompond, NY 10517. For more details go to
http://www.storycircleatproctors.org/hv/mohegan/ or email Judith Heineman at
juhestories@aol.com Phone: 312-925-0439
August
14
Saturday 10:30 – 11:30 am Janet Carter at the Kingston Farmers Market
328 Wall Street Kingston, NY info@kingstonfarmersmarket.org. http://www.kingstonfarmersmarket.org/index.html Free
August
24
Tuesday 6:30 pm. Frank Lee Speaking at the Stephentown Memorial Library 472 NY
State Route 43 in Stephentown, NY. The program is free and open to the public.
Phone: 518.733.5750.
Free
August
28
Saturday 10:30 – 11:30 am Kate Dudding at the Kingston Farmers Market
328 Wall Street Kingston, NY info@kingstonfarmersmarket.org http://www.kingstonfarmersmarket.org/index.html
Free
August
29 Sunday
6:00 pm “It Happened Right Here!”: From Paul Bunyan passing through, to
Tories getting out to adventurers settling in: Stories from New York State-
fact, fiction and fancy. With Nancy Payne at the Schoharie Crossing
State Historic Site 129 Schoharie Street Fort Hunter NY 12069. Bring Lawn
Chairs. Rain or Shine! (518) 843-5151. $10.00
September
4
Saturday 6:30 pm Campfire Storytelling at Thacher Nature Center. Join
us around the campfire for ‘end of summer’ tales with our favorite storyteller,
Claire Nolan. S’mores fixins will be provided. Suggested donation is $1
per person. 87 Nature Center Way, Voorheesville, NY 12186. Please register by
calling 872-0800.
September 5 HOOLEY ON THE HUDSON Irish Festival in
Kingston NY. On the SPOKEN WORD STAGE: storytellers Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi at 1:30
pm, The Storycrafters at 2:45 pm, Karen Pillsworth at 4:00 pm
and Claire Nolan at 5:15 pm. For
more information and a comprehensive schedule go to http://www.ulsteraoh.com/
September 11 Saturday 10:30 – 11:30 am Mami
Gillard and Maggie Whelan at the Kingston Farmers Market 328 Wall
Street Kingston, NY info@kingstonfarmersmarket.org http://www.kingstonfarmersmarket.org/index.html Free
Adult Programs
July
28 Wednesday 7:30 – 9:00 pm Summer Storytelling-Vespers Series “Stories of Portraits in a Family Album” with
Claire Nolan and Dee Lee. The Boght Arts Center “Where art &
spirit converge” 583 Boght Road, Cohoes, NY 12047 518-785-ARTS http://www.boghtarts.org/ $10.00
August
4 Wednesday
7:30 – 9:00 pm Summer
Storytelling-Vespers Series “Portraits of Women: Stories of people who made a difference” with
Nancy Marie Payne and Mary Murphy: The Boght Arts Center “Where art &
spirit converge” 583 Boght Road, Cohoes, NY 12047 518-785-ARTS http://www.boghtarts.org/ $10.00
August
15 Sunday
6:00 pm Onawumi Jean Moss “Precious Memories: Stories of Love and
life, Then and Now” at the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site, 129
Schoharie Street Fort Hunter NY 12069 (518) 843-5151. Free
August
22 Sunday
6:00 pm Judith Black “That Fading Scent: A seditious Comedy about
Women and Aging”. At the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site, 129 Schoharie
Street Fort Hunter NY 12069. Bring Lawn Chairs. Rain or Shine! (518) 843-5151
September
12 Sunday
5:00 pm. Elizabeth Ellis in "Stories From the Heart of the
Matter." Story Sunday at the Glen Sanders Mansion, 1 Glen Avenue, Scotia
($27 for newcomers to Story Sundays, $30 for those who have come before
--includes a 3 course dinner with choice of entree, coffee/tea, tax and tip). Reservations:
(518) 384-1700 or e-mail sc@katedudding.com
September
26
Saturday 2:00 Word Plays. Performers and program to be announced. In
the Fenimore Gallery at Proctors
Theater 432
State St. Schenectady NY 12305. $16.00. Tickets at the Proctor’s
Box Office: http://www.proctors.org/
Phone: (518) 346-6204
Workshops for Storytellers
July
31 Saturday
10:30 am – 1:00 pm (Lunch will be served) “My Story, My Journey, My
Happiness”. A workshop on the Four Faces of Woman. The ‘Four Faces’ show
us the stages of conscious understanding and identity women can go through in
their lives. This workshop will help each woman focus on her own story and
strengths. You will experience understanding and choice on your personal
journey towards greater empowerment.
• The Eternal Face is our natural, free and expressive self.
• The Traditional Face is shaped by society and culture.
• The Modern Face is motivated to change for the better, but does not know how.
• The Shakti Face has pure transformational energy to move us forward with
love.
Presented by the Brahma Kumaris . 870 Maplewood Ave. Schenectady,
New York, 12303 Contact: Ann Singh | 518 859 1671
August
21
Saturday 1:30 - 4:30 THE TECHNIQUES OF TELLING workshop
with Judith Black - open to anyone in Story Circle. During this
workshop we will play with and stretch all of your potential expressive assets
for making a story you love come alive. From dramatic use of your voice,
an expressive body, an imagination that creates images in thin air, to dancing
fingers, participants will play with techniques. Ultimately, you will emerge
with a broader palette of expressive tools to choose from in your storytelling.
TO RESERVE A PLACE For The Techniques of Telling workshop, please send a
check for $10 made out to Story Circle, by August 5 to Kate Dudding, 8
Sandalwood Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065-2700.
September 10 Friday - September 12
Sunday. A
weekend-long intensive workshop with Elizabeth Ellis at Kate
Dudding’s home in Clifton Park. Sign up today! Six slots are taken,
only 2 slots are left. This workshop is for not-new storytellers and is
limited to 8 participants. Bring a story to work on that is important to
you. Elizabeth is a wonderful teacher who shares valuable information
without imposing her own style on her students. WORKSHOP COST: $300,
plus one meal for nine participants. There is a friendly payment plan available.
Just ask! Since there are 8 of us to cater 6 meals, you will be responsible
for
providing, preparing, and serving one meal:
(a) either Saturday or Sunday breakfast or lunch; or
(b) half of Friday or Saturday dinner.
TO SIGN UP: send a deposit check of $100, made out to Elizabeth Ellis, to:
Kate Dudding, 8 Sandalwood Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065-2700.
Elizabeth is a versatile
and riveting teller of Appalachian and Texas tales and stories of heroic
American women, though her personal stories are arguably her best. In her 25
year career as a storyteller, Elizabeth's journey has taken her from her local
library to as far away as New Zealand.
From Judith Black’s Website
Judith Black will perform on Sunday
August 22 at the Schoharie Crossings State Historic Site. On Saturday she will
give a workshop: The Techniques of Telling. Judith is a performer, not
to be missed: “Judith Black should be sought after by one and all for her
wisdom, for her wit, for the risks she takes on stage and for her genuine
warmth which she abundantly shares with one and all” (The Jewish Advocate).
A quick look at her website www.storiesalive.com will show you a
storyteller who, like most of us has many interests and strengths. She has
available several intriguing workshop topics, including Techniques for Tellers.
Because Judith is performing at an historic site in the Mohawk River Valley
(although her program: “That Fading Scent” has absolutely nothing to do with
The Schoharie Crossings State Historic Site) for this issue of the Talespinner
I decided to highlight one of her History Series Programs.
Judith provides comprehensive workshops for historic
and environmental interpretation. Judith’s workshops will give interpreters
(docents, teachers, historians) assistance in communicating to the public “the
wealth of material they have been entrusted with”. As we all know, it is
the stories that draw us in and when we go to the museum or an historic site it
is the stories we hear and create that bring history to life.
In her workshops for interpreters Judith’s goal is to get the
audience invested in the experience to increase the knowledge that they bring
away with them after the experience.
The
two Workshops are as follows: (text is taken directly from Judith’s website)
A Palette of Possibilities
The
focal question is: How can you shape your tours so that your visitors have a
personal relationship with the characters, episodes, artifacts, and environment
that you are sharing? Creating an Investment: Participants will learn
to pose questions to visitors of various backgrounds and interests that will
enable them to draw upon their own experiences in relating to the history and
environment of the park site.
Guided
Imagery:
Drawing visitors into the world of your site via sensory and emotional identification,
participants will experience the power and possibilities of guided imagery.
This technique can waken peoples' hearts and imaginations to places and issues
that only their intellects had previously contemplated.
Enlivening
Artifacts:
There are two ways to approach an artifact or natural resident of an
environment. You can tell the story of where it came from and how it got to be
'here.' These are often quite interesting, tracing the roots of people,
movements, and our natural resources. There is another possibility. You can
imagine telling an objects story from the object’s vantage point!
Creating Original Tales
Creating
original stories based on authentic fact allows the interpreter to integrate
their knowledge and objectives into an ancient art form that speaks to the
hearts and minds of visitors. History books tell us the 'who' 'what' 'where'
and 'when' of an event, place, or era. They often venture a political,
economic, social, or philosophical answer to the question 'why.' What they
almost never include are the details that make a piece of history into a story.
That is the human 'why' and the idiosyncratic human details that elevate an
episode from text into the imagination. In this workshop participants will
learn how to use historic episodes, era information, characters, and natural
environments to weave vital human stories.
Tellabration News
What’s New for 2010?
Check this out!!
Tellabration
2010: Laughing
Fits: Stories of Smiles and Surprises
Sunday,
Nov. 14, 2:00p.m. GE Theatre at Proctors, 432 State Street,
Schenectady
$12
(discounts for groups and new people and students)
1.
Selection Process
Live
audition: Story Circle members can audition live in September at:
(a)
The Saratoga Open Mic at Caffe Lena Sept. 13 (FYI featured teller that night is
Betty McCanty); or
(b)
The Story Circle meeting on Tue. Sept 21.
People
who have told at a previous Tellabration can submit a tape by Sept. 13
to:
Kate
Dudding, 8 Sandalwood Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065-2700.
2.
Marketing Ideas – it’s all of us making connections
A
Tellabration flyer is available on-line: www.storycircleatproctors.org/Tell
flyer7-22-2010.pdf. (While this is in color, it prints fine on black and white
printers too.) Flyers printed on colored paper are also available from Kate
Dudding – please contact her and let her know how many you want: 383-4620 or kate@katedudding.com
Immediately
begin marketing to groups of adults, since groups need time to plan their
events. The committee asks all Story Circle members to give a flyer to each
adult group they belong to, such as:
Senior
centers and residences; Groups at places of worship; Red Hat groups; book
clubs; friends of libraries; service groups; etc.
Ideally,
each member of Story Circle will contact five groups. If you are emailing
people, you can also refer them to our Tellabration web page: www.storycircleatproctors.org/tellabration.shtml
3.
Things to be decided in August:
Who will chair the following Tellabration activities:
Artists’ Table
Discount Distributors (give out $2 bills to newcomers as they enter
the GE Theatre)
Door
Prizes
Photographer
Refreshment Co-Chairs
We already have the following volunteers:
Producers
Joe Doolittle and Kate
Dudding
Copy
Editors Carol Connolly and Don Darmer
Emcee
Karen Pillsworth
House Manager Kate Dudding
Program Design Kate Dudding
Publicity Kate
Dudding
There
will be a discussion on the above items via email. If you don’t use email and
you have opinions about the above items, please call Kate (518)383-4620 to
share your opinions.
4.
It’s time to start selling program ads. Ads typically bring in $400 so
the more we get, the more library programs can be underwritten. The form to buy
an ad is available from Kate and is also on the web site www.storycircleatproctors.org/Ad-Form-7-22-2010.pdf
5.
Commit to selling 10 tickets, either by buying 10 tickets at the group
rate ticket and reselling them, or referring folks. A full house is a
major success for supporting storytelling regionally which is a main Story
Circle
Among Ourselves
Kathleen Gill's book Story Walking the Appalachian
Trail has been accepted at the Appalachian Trail museum in Gardners
Pennsylvania for inclusion into their library.
Looking Ahead
October
2
Saturday 10:30 – 11:30 am Betty Cassidy at the Kingston Farmers Market
328 Wall Street Kingston, NY info@kingstonfarmersmarket.org
http://www.kingstonfarmersmarket.org/index.html
October 16 Saturday 10:30 – 11:30 am Claire Nolan at the
Kingston Farmers Market 328 Wall Street Kingston, NY info@kingstonfarmersmarket.org http://www.kingstonfarmersmarket.org/index.html
See You Next
Time
All meetings are held from 7 to 9 p.m. on the 3rd
Tuesday or Wednesday of the month alternating between Tuesdays in odd numbered
months at the William K. Sanford Library and Wednesdays in even numbered months
at the Guilderland Public Library.
DIRECTIONS:
The Guilderland Public Library is located at 2228 Western Avenue,
Guilderland, 1/2 mile west of Rte. 155 on the south side of Western Avenue. (August
18).
The
William K. Sanford Library is located at 629 Albany Shaker Road, just off Northway Exit
4, and 1/4 mile east of the intersection of Wolf Road and Albany Shaker Road on
the left side. (September 21)
*****************************************************************************
Name_____________________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________________
Phone__________________Email_______________________________________
(
) I want to be a member of Story Circle, enclosed is a check for $10.00 for the
newsletter and a roster of members. Renewal is in January of each year.
(
) List my name among performing storytellers for referral.
(
) Send my newsletters via US mail. ( ) Send my newsletters via E-mail.
Membership
renewals are due each January and are good for one year. Please make checks
payable to “Story Circle” and send to Carol Connolly, 1100 Niskayuna
Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309