IT'S THE LAST DAY OF 2012! Storytelling is alive and well in Arizona!
It's been quite a year! There were well over 100 storytelling events in the state this year; concerts, workshops, slams, retreats, open mics and guild meetings. And that doesn't even include all the classes at SMCC! Some of the highlights were: The Myth Mob, Return to the African Village, La Lloronathon, Donald Davis workshops & concerts, the Arizona Republic's Live Storytelling and Community Christian Church's story concerts. And a BIG THANKS to Liz Warren and the SMCC Institute for sponsoring and assisting with the creation of the Storytelling Events Calendar!
In addition, Sean Buvala published several books, including the most recent How to be a Storyteller, which hit #1 in Kindle Performing Arts books! It contains essays and advice on storytelling from tellers all over the world, including Arizona tellers Glenda Bonin, Elly Reidy, Sean Buvala, and yours truly, Mark Goldman. Available from Amazon in paperback and E-book.
On a personal note, it has been a very fulfilling year. I assisted the NSN board with their Phoenix meeting and hosted a story slam in their honor. I started this weekly newsletter on May 1st, and (including today) have published 36 issues! I posted twenty blogs on storytelling. Every Wednesday morning I tell stories and teach storytelling to 5th & 6th graders at Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center - and they have taught me so much!. I attended the NSN Annual Conference, and was named NSN State Liaison for AZ, and the new ad rep for Storytelling Magazine.
I was able to attend the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Utah, and the Talk Story Camp in Hawaii. I have been very fortunate to have many long-time tellers as both friends and colleagues and have been able to spend valuable time with them while they visited the Valley, including Laura Packer, Michael D. McCarty, Donna Washington and Megan Hicks.
And a HUGE thanks to all of you, the storytellers, friends and colleagues who have given me so much support over the last year! It’s been a great year…and the next one promises to be even better!
Cassie Cushing to Call California New Casa Good News - Bad News
Congratulations to Cassie Cushing's husband Will, for receiving his Ph.D. He has already accepted a position at Berkley. That means the bad news is that Cassie will be leaving Phoenix in just a few weeks!
Cassie jumped in with both feet over a year ago by signing up for multiple courses at SMCC. She quickly began to connect with the storytelling community by attending as many events as she could. Eventually, she combined her coffee roasting business with storytelling and set up several of her own concerts in local coffee shops around the Valley, telling quirky, Irish tales. She even re-branded her coffee roasting business, Kaleidoscope Coffee as "Coffee that tells a story."
We will certainly miss her storytelling, her coffee, and her long, knitted, sleeve-gloves with finger holes.
SMCC Spring Classes Start in Two Weeks!
Classes start the week of January 14th, so make sure you register now! Here is the current lineup of classes: (seats available listed here are as of December 28th and are subject to change)
Art of Storytelling I - (various instructors, times and seats available) Using Storytelling in A Variety Of Settings - (9 of 20 Seats Available) Using Storytelling in Educational Settings - (3 of 20 Seats Available) Using Storytelling in Healing Settings - (15 of 20 Seats Available) The Irish Storytelling Tradition - (16 of 20 Seats Available) Multicultural Folktales - (21 of 25 Seats Available)
More Events Coming up
Lots of Storytelling events in the next few weeks. Make sure you check out the calendar section for:
Yarnball Storytellers Open Mic - Every Wednesday Evening Odyssey Storytelling in Tucson - Tuesday, Jan 3rd Terra Java's Open Mic for Storytellers - Sunday, Jan 6th Tales of the Sonoran Desert - Thursday, Jan 10th & 17th East Valley Tellers of Tales - Saturday, Jan 12th Catch a Rising Star Workshop at SMCC - Saturday, Jan 12th - Two Sessions Sean Buvala's Group Coaching - Thursday, Jan 17th Dustin Loehr's concert, Unconditional - Thu/Fri/Sat, Jan, 17th/18th/19th
Advice for Storytellers This sums up the best advice I can offer that I believe will enhance your storytelling:
Tell as often as you can.
More experience in performance settings can only make you better.
Tell stories you love.
This advice comes from so many long-time tellers. If you can't find stories you love, keep searching...they're out there.
Attend workshops and classes.
Learning new skills and revisiting old ones will enhance your ability to tell well.
Get coaching.
Having a coach assist you can open your eyes to things you weren't aware of. Coaches can see the things that you can't, and can ask you focused questions that can be the key to moving forward with your story and telling.
Reach out to other tellers.
You don't have to do this in a vacuum. Storytelling colleagues are your brothers and sisters in this great family of telling, and can support you, offer you guidance, and can help keep you stay sane in this wonderful, but crazy art form.
Come On In to the Fairy Tale Lobby
Here's one more place on the web for storytellers! The Fairy Tale Lobby is a lively blog/discussion space on the internet. This Fabulous Foyer is maintained by long-time tellers and colleagues, Megan Hicks and Mary Grace Ketner. Each month, they post new "questions" about fairy tales, structure, crafting, characters and such things that may amuse or puzzle the many readers and participants. Everyone is welcome to enter and comment, or just lurk. It's fun, interesting, informative and a little quirky. They call it, a dialogue for storytellers and story lovers.
- National Storytelling Network? You should be.
This sums up the best advice I can offer that I believe will enhance your storytelling:
