Talespinner
June - July 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
“Don't tell fish stories where the
people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish.”
- Mark Twain
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: June 16 6:15
pm at Guilderland:
Facilitator Carol Connolly: Topic: Questions for Evaluating Storytelling Performance. Carol will use a series of questions to open a
Round Table discussion. The questions were presented by Storyteller Bill
Harley as part of his keynote address at this year’s Sharing the Fire
Conference. Here are Bill’s questions:
Narrative
Form
Is
the structure of the piece strong? Does it show an understanding of narrative structure? Are there parts that do
not belong? Is there an awareness of narrative tension? Is there a dramatic
build that reaches some form of climax when a truth is revealed? Is this
revelation presented in a way that delights or enlightens or moves the
audience? Does the piece show an understanding of character's place in the
narrative? Is there resonance in the piece, with elements introduced early
bearing fruit later on? Is there an understanding of an underlying subtext in
the story? Is it clear that the storyteller knows what the story is about? Has the
teller made choices about what material to present to best serve the heart of
the story?
Language
Does the storyteller have command of the language? Does the storyteller have an
adequate vocabulary? Is the style of language consistent throughout the piece?
Is it authentic - especially if it represents some culture other than the
performer's own? If it is a caricature of a culture, is there an understanding
of what that means? Is there a consciousness of it being an oral language,
rather than oral presentation of written language? Is there breath in the
words, or do they sound as if they are coming from the page?
Voice and physical instrument
Does the storyteller have command of the vocal instrument? Is the storyteller
understandable? Does the vocal instrument serve the story, or does it attract
attention to itself? Is the voice flexible in its presentation of different
aspects of the piece, varying in timbre, pace, and dynamics?
Does the physical movement of the storyteller serve the story? Is the
storyteller conscious of how the use of the body serves the story??
Performance skills
Are
all skills integrated into the story (for example, music, movement, juggling)?
Are the skills used developed enough so that they are not hindrances? Is the
story is served, rather than the demonstration of technique? Does the
storyteller use different modes of presentation in the performance? Is there a
spectrum, or vocabulary, of content and presentation? If the storyteller has
committed to characterization in a piece, are the characterizations consistent
throughout?
Relationship with the audience
What
is the storyteller's relationship with the audience? Is the performer open to
the audience - is there an awareness of the nature of the fourth wall between
the audience and the performer? Is there a consistent understanding of where
the storyteller is at any moment in the delivery of the narrative? Is there
some understanding of the isolation of characters from each other and the
narrator? Has the storyteller made conscious choices about those relationships?
Show structure
Does
the performer have a sense of how an entire performance builds? Over the course
of the performance, is there a flow from one piece to another and some sort of
arc? What is the performer's relationship with the audience between set pieces?
Aesthetic
Does
the storyteller have a sense the aesthetic – the teller’s reason for performing
and manner of presenting the material? Is the teller consciously making choices
about what is shown and how it is shown? Does the storyteller have a unique
voice? Does the teller have something to say?
©2009 by Bill Harley
Upcoming
Meeting -
Tuesday July
20, 2010
at Colonie 7:00
pm
Meeting
Notes: May 18, 2010 Story Circle Meeting: Facilitator Don Darmer
Stories
Told:
Tales
& Tunes with
Carol Connolly and Don Darmer – Puerto Rican version of the Squeaky Door
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.
June
14 Monday
at Caffé Lena. 47
Phila Street
Saratoga
Springs 12866 (518) 583-0022. 6:45; telling from 7 until 9 pm. No Open Mic in Saratoga during July and August.
See you in September! Here is a note the Talespinner editor recently
received from Eileen
Egan Mack,
a satisfied
Open Mic in Saratoga listener: “I just want to say how
much I enjoyed being a part of the storytelling at Woodlawn Commons. The
stories were wonderful to witness and I am impressed at how supportive the
storytellers are of one another. The setting of Woodlawn Commons also gives
the storytellers the chance to interact with the audience in a way I did not
anticipate; The audience becomes like old friends as the residents come month
after month and there is a very personal touch from the moment the first
listener walks or wheels in the door, until the cookies are gone and everyone
says good night. What a beautiful thing! I am very happy to be associated with
this amazing group of people. Christie Keegan and Jeanine Laverty
were perfect hosts and really help set the tone. Great things have taken root.
So glad I got to be there to feel it.”
Adirondack Storytelling Guild – Contact Fran Yardley
franstory@gmail.com.
Interfaith
Story Circle
June 15 on Tuesday from 7:00-9:00
pm, promises to be a
prayerful, heartfelt circle at the Hubbard Interfaith Sanctuary College of St. Rose, 959 Madison Avenue, Albany. Facilitator: Rev.
George Brennan. Theme: Stories about Forgiveness. Father Brennan
ministers in the inner city of Albany.
He has recently founded The Reconciliation Project to share stories about
people who are working to promote forgiveness and reconciliation. Come
share your personal stories and wisdom tales about forgiveness - stories about
enemies becoming allies...strangers becoming friends...stories about
resolving conflicts, facing dilemmas...finding compassion...stories about
reaching out to people on the margins...restoring right relationships
with people who suffer in silence...and more! 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
June
5 Saturday
10:00
am- 4:00 pm.
“Town of
Niskayuna Arts Fair 'round the Gazebo” located just east of Niskayuna High
School on Nott Street across from the Library (please park at Town Hall and NHS
parking lot) WITH...Food, Fun, Hand-picked Art; Bel Canto Voices; Mental
Trigger; Dave Owens Strings; 2 Lonesome + 1 of Dyer Switch; Jordan
McCann young soprano soloist. Also performing: The Schenectady Theater
for Children with Claire Nolan as Mother Jones inside the
Town Hall and in the Gazebo with musical selections from their recent
production of The Mermaid of Edam. Contact Lisa Lambert, Bon Art Designs Organizer
and Artist (518) 391-8339 Lisabonart@aol.com. Free
June
5 --
Tales 'n Tunes -- “Stories and Songs from South of the Border” -- SUNY Cortland Migrant Education
Program, Cortland, NY.
June
12 --
Tales 'n Tunes --“Sing Us a Story!” -- Saratoga ArtsFest Center Stage, Broadway. 1:00- 2:00 p.m. Admission: free and open
to the public; ARTSPASS required for seating. www.saratogaartsfest.org
June
11 & 12 Friday
7:30 pm and Saturday 10:00. “A Happy Ending”
Storytelling Festival. Celebrate with the Storytelling Center of Oneonta, with
storytellers Laura Simms, Steve Gorn, Lorna Czarnota and Marni
Gillard. Events are held on the SUNY Oneonta Campus and at the nearby Swart-Wilcox House Museum. Contact Bill Swain (607)
432-0562 swainwa@oneonta.edu. Free
June 13 Sunday
2:30 pm, Bairbre McCarthy
and Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company will participate in the Saratoga
Arts Fest in Celtic Footprints at the National Museum of Dance,
South Broadway, in Saratoga at, www.saratogaartsfest.org. The dancers and Bairbre collaborate
with stories and dances tracing the migration of the Celts from Europe to America. More information at http://www.sinopolidances.org/
July
1--Tales
'n Tunes --“Dive into Reading!”--6:30 p.m. Horicon Free
Library,Brant Lake, NY. --in the Town Hall
Community Room.
July
8-- Tales
'n Tunes --“Dive into Reading!”--10:00 a.m. Cicero Library, Cicero, NY.
July
8-- Tales
'n Tunes --“Dive into Reading!”--2:00 p.m. Salina Free Public Library, Mattydale, NY.
July 16 Friday --
Tales 'n Tunes -- “Stories from a Small, Small World”--Mercy Cares for Kids, Albany, NY.
July
21--
Tales 'n Tunes --“Dive into Reading!” --2:00
p.m. Mary
Wilcox Library, Whitney Point, NY.
July
22--
Tales 'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!” --6:00
p.m. Pember
Library, Granville, NY.
July
25 Sunday 6:00 pm Not Just for Kids
Storytelling with Regi Carpenter. Schoharie
Crossing State Historic in front of the Visitor Center.
129 Schoharie
Street at Schoharie Crossing. Call (518)
829-7516 to confirm location. Free
July
26--
Tales 'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!”-- 7:00
p.m. -
Howard Public Library, Hornell, NY.
July
27--
Tales 'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!”--11:00
a.m. -
Hornell Public Library, Hornell, NY.
July
27-- Tales
'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!”-- 2:00 p.m. - Canisteo Library, Canisteo, NY.
July
27--
Tales 'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!”-- 6:00
p.m. -
Almond Library, Almond, NY.
July
29--
Tales 'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!”-- 1:00
p.m. -SouthEast Steuben County Public Library, Corning, NY.
Adult Programs
June 12 Saturday 1:00
– 4:00 pm --
"Stories from the Porch" Storytelling Festival at the historic
John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge, Roxbury, NY. For more info: 607.326.2978.
July
7 Wednesday
7:30 – 9:00
pm Summer
Storytelling-Vespers Series “Mohawk
Valley Portraits: Stories of The Valley We Call Home” with Joe Doolittle, storyteller
and Ed Munger on guitar playing jigs and reels. The Boght Arts Center “Where art &
spirit converge” 583 Boght
Road, Cohoes, NY 12047 518-785-ARTS http://www.boghtarts.org/
July
21
Wednesday 7:30
– 9:00 pm Summer
Storytelling-Vespers Series “Adirondack Portraits: Stories from
the Adirondacks and High Places”
with Betty Cassidy and Margaret French.
The Boght
Arts Center
“Where art & spirit converge” 583 Boght Road, Cohoes, NY 12047
518-785-ARTS http://www.boghtarts.org/
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/
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/
Workshops for Storytellers
June
7 (skip
6/14) June 21, June 28, July 5, July 12, July 19 6:30-8:30 p.m. Six Monday evening classes.
“Storytelling: Finding Ourselves through Archetypes and Images” EASTLINE BOOKS
on the LEFT side of Rt 9 just north of corner of Rts. 9 and 146 in Clifton
Park. Participants will choose one or more stories to explore and eventually
tell to the group. We’ll work with the characters, motifs and images that intrigue
us through exercises - exploring them like we might a dream. We’ll try life
tales as well. The tale you dive deepest into could be a memory, a fairytale,
myth, or narrative poem. YOU search out a tale. I’ll bring books and ideas to
class one, but feel free to BRING a tale you’d like to work with. We might do
some reading aloud but our focus will be on entering the archetypal worlds,
characters, emotions and images dramatically. They’ll teach us about ourselves.
It is summer so if you have to miss a class, it’s OK! Come anyway. Cost $120. To
REGISTER contact ROBYN RINGLER. RLDSR12@aol.com or call 518-371-4151.
Jul 23 – 25 Friday
– Sunday $130.00 (for everything!) Storytelling Weekend at the Pyramid
Life Center.
A gathering to give experienced and beginning
storytellers the opportunity to explore ancient tales and the stories within.
The weekend will include workshops, coaching, a concert and story swaps. Teen
tellers are welcome. Presenters: Kevin Brooks, Marni Gillard, Laura Packer
and Nancy Payne http://www.pyramidlife.org/programs/.
Pyramid Life Center, Paradox NY, 12858 call 518.585.7545
Opportunities for Tellers
June 26, Saturday 9:30 am – 9:00 pm. The GATHERING of New York State Storytellers. At the
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 67 South Randolph Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. COST: $40 for workshops,
lunch and performance. $5 performance alone. $35 for workshops and lunch.
Please make checks payable to Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi and send to 108 Hibernia Heights
Drive, Salt Point, NY 12578. Please let
us know if you plan to attend! For updated info check out our web site:
www.nys-storytellers.org. We are continuing our
tradition of getting together, sharing stories, and sharing dreams - getting to
know one another! Here is our tentative plan for the day:
9:30 - Coffee & Registration
10:00 - Welcome
10:30 - Workshop with Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi & Muriel Horowitz
Midrash- Looking inside the story
Midrash, a classical Jewish form of interpretive literature, becomes the
creative process for examining stories and finding new meanings!
Noon – Lunch
1:30
- Workshop - Karen Pillsworth - There's No Place Like Home - Finding story
venues in your community
3:00 Round Table Discussion/Story Swap
5:00 Dinner - Out
7:00 - Spoken Word with featured tellers Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi, Muriel
Horowitz, Karen Pillsworth and Mary B. Summerlin.
Funding
for Career-Advancing Opportunities for Artists. Strategic Opportunity
Stipends (SOS) are designed to help individual artists take advantage of unique
opportunities that will significantly benefit their work or career development.
Artists working in all disciplines; Literary, media, visual, music and performing
artists may request support ranging from $100 to $600 for specific, forthcoming
opportunities that are distinct from work in progress. Please note: SOS
is only available to New
York State artists EXCLUDING
residents of the five boroughs of New York City
(including
literature, media arts, visual arts and performing arts) are eligible. Send
your grant to The Arts Center of the Capital Region's SOS grant administrator
Contact Lainy Slyder at lainy@artscenteronline.org or (518) 273-0552 x 229. http://www.nyfa.org/level2.asp?id=21&fid=1
Tellabration: the Event that Keeps on Giving
Nancy
Payne,
chair of the Community Storytelling Program Fund, announces the recipients for
the 2010 grants.
Galway
Public Library: May 14 , 7:00 pm "Funny Stories From the
Farm" with Joe Peck
Watervliet Public Library: May 22, 1:30 pm "Family StoryTime"
with Peggy Cimino
Indian Lake Library: Aug. 11, 7:00 pm "Family
Storytelling: Telling Your Story" with Kent Busman
Easton Library: Oct. 4 7:30 pm "Laugh With Us" with Dan
Testo
East
Greenbush Community Library: Oct. 16 11:00 am
"Slightly Scary Halloween
Stories" with Kate Dudding
These
programs are underwritten by the Story Circle of the Capital District through funds raised by Tellabration.
Nancy has taken over the
position of chair for the grant committee from Carol Connolly who faithfully
chaired this committee from its beginning in 1997.
Among Ourselves
Marni
Gillard
recently enjoyed the delightfully unique experience of teaching her teachers.
She conducted a workshop for the nuns who were her elementary school teachers
at their Dominican Mother House in Sparkill, NY. Twenty nuns attended the workshop and after listening
to Marni’s tales of childhood they told stories of their own girlhoods, their
teaching days, even of their mothers and fathers, many of whom were immigrants.
The highlight of the event for Marni was her visits with three of her
elementary school teachers. She has especially fond memories of her 7th grade
teacher who used to jump double Dutch on the playground, rosary and habit
flying in the wind.
Want
to have some fun? Go find the teachers of your youth and ask them for their
stories.
Marni’s show Granuaile: A Notorious Woman was recorded on May 1 and can
be heard at www.1streformed.com the website of the First
Reformed Church of Schenectady. Click on RESOURCES to find it. Marni welcomes
more opportunities to perform the piece regionally with Irish musicians. Suggestions
for venues to host the two-hour show can be sent to Marni. Contact her at marnigillard@earthlink.net. The complete work
consists of six individual stories with original music and was inspired by the
life of Grace O’Malley, 1530-1603. Grace O’Malley was a contemporary of
Elizabeth I and the two women met near the end of their lives. Marni perform a
shorter version of A Notorious Woman with a fiddler at Bull Feeney’s in Portland, ME this summer at the
monthly Seanachie Night organized by Maine teller Lynne Cullen.
Looking Ahead
August
4-- Tales
'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!” 10:00 a.m. Sponsored by Dolgeville-Manheim
Library, Town Hall Community Room.
August
6-- Tales
'n Tunes -- “Dive into Reading!” -- 2:00 p.m. - Dewitt Community
Library, Dewitt, NY.
August
11 Wednesday 7:00 pm. Indian Lake Library. "Family
Storytelling: Telling Your Story" with Kent Busman
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. (June 16).
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. (July 20)
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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