Western Regional Showcase - Call for Proposals
This News from Karin Hensley, NSN Director of Operations
Greetings Western Region NSN members,
You have an opportunity to perform at the National Storytelling Conference in Phoenix/Mesa, Arizona July 24-27, 2014! We will have showcases during the daytime sessions specifically reserved for our Western region tellers.
Qualifications to present are:
*Must be a current NSN member living in the Western Region (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming). If you are NOT an NSN member, you may submit an application, and if selected, join! (Share with all your colleagues who are not currently NSN members to let them know about this opportunity.)
*Must have at least two years performance experience.
*Must pay your own expenses to be at the National Storytelling Conference on Friday, July 25, Saturday, July 26, or Sunday, July 27 (the date will be determined as the showcase schedule is finalized.) .
You will also need to purchase either a conference performance package ($100), a daily registration for the day you are performing ($150), or a full conference registration ($330), depending on your preference. These rates are the early-bird rates that are valid through May 15, 2014. The conference hotel (Hilton Phoenix/Mesa - info available on www.storynet.org) is giving NSN conference-goers a $89/night + tax rate (for 2 people per room, add $15/night if 3 or 4 sharing).
Note: There is no honorarium payment or travel expenses paid for your performance; this is an exposure opportunity.
Submission Requirements:
Send two identical copies of an 8 to 15 minute recording of the story you would like to tell at the showcase – your best story! - on You Tube, URL, DVD, CD or MP3. Your story recording must be RECEIVED by Monday, March 17, 2014, along with the title of the story, your full name, home address, email address, and phone numbers, sent to Karin Hensley (karin@storynet.org) at the NSN office: NSN • PO Box 795 • Jonesborough TN 37659.
We highly encourage you to send submissions electronically as an email attachment rather than by snail mail if at all possible. This helps us get submissions to all the reviewers much more efficiently. (If you send electronically, only one copy is needed.)
We also encourage you to send a video recording if at all possible, in order to show your non-verbal telling skills. The quality of the video will not be judged – as long as it is clear in picture and sound, only the telling will be evaluated, so flip video recorders, cell phones, digital cameras, etc. are fine. You likely have a friend or family member who has one of these tools to help! If you are unable to send a video, audio recordings will be accepted.
There will be a review process to make showcase selections, and individuals will be notified by early May, just in time to register by the early-bird deadline.
For questions:
Please contact your Western Regional Director, Kate Lutz, k8lutz@gmail.com or Conference Coordinator, Karin Hensley, karin@storynet.org.
No reason not to submit! Go for it, and good luck!
Deadline for submission to be RECEIVED: March 17th, 2014.
Kentucky Storytelling - Another opportunity to showcase your talents! Call for Proposals
The Kentucky Storytelling Association is accepting proposals for workshops for their 2014 conference, to be held November 7-8.
All ideas for educational sessions on any aspect of the art of storytelling will be considered. Past sessions have addressed such topics as storytelling in preschools, storytelling to enhance leadership and management skills, creating fairy tales, planning a gig, working with an ASL interpreter, Native American culture, digital storytelling, and more.
Evaluations from previous conferences have suggested the following topics: participation techniques, using puppets, storytelling with other arts, African folk tales, storytelling in school, toddler stories, using props, teen stories, beginners, historic stories, taking written material into oral story, ethics.
Got any other ideas? Send them on - the deadline is April 1st
Loren Russell Performs Loren Russel sent me a note last week to let us know that he will be telling stories and playing his flute at the Wild Horse Pass Resort every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 6:00pm until March 15, 2014. Hear the soft sounds of his Native American flute, and meet Grandfather!
75 Stories for Turning 75 Our own local storyteller (and graduate of SMCC Storytelling Institute) Sharon Gilbert is turning 75 this week, and she's proud of it! Her birthday is actually on Friday the 21st (the day of Return to the African Village Concert).
Sharon has a goal for this year to celebrate her age and her storytelling. She wants to tell 75 times this year. As of this writing, she has reached number 14 - that means she's only got 61 more to go!
Let's help Sharon out. Every time you see her, ask her to tell you a story. Before you know it, she will have reached her goal of telling 75 times and we will have helped her share her talents in the year of her diamond jubilee!
Return to the African Village & Oya's Market Friday - February 21
This year marks the fourth annual production of Return to the African Village. Join SMCC's Marilyn Torres and a huge cast of storytellers in a joyful extravaganza of dance, drumming, and story in celebration of African Culture. Performance starts at 7:00 pm.
And for the second year in a row, Oya's Market wil feature jewelry and clothing by many innovative vendors starting at 6:00 p.m.
Odyssey Storytelling - Ten-Year Anniversary Thursday, March 6th - Tucson
Odyssey Storytelling is throwing a FREE audience appreciation party at their March 6th show to say THANK YOU for ten years of support! A recent storyteller, amazed at the heart-felt reception from our audience said, “Odyssey Storytelling gives people the opportunity to be nice.”
The FREE March 6th show, Anniversaries, will feature 4 storytellers, allowing time before and after to mingle, snack, sip drinks and tell more stories. Please consider giving a donation in support of Odyssey Storytelling, a program of StoryArts Group, Inc, a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization. Your donation is tax deductible! Receipts will be provided at the door. Checks can be written to StoryArts Group.
"For ten years Odyssey Storytelling has bridged art and community building. Our stories are YOUR stories—not professionals, not actors, but every day folks who are never censored; we welcome anyone who wants to share from the heart."
Personification - Make it Personal Anthropomorphism, or personification, is the attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being. Like: talking animals, trees, or the walls of a house. Personification happens in folk tales and Fairytales all the time. The Three Bears live in a house; eat porridge, talk and act like humans. Personification is rife in these genres. Disney does it in every animated film.
But what about personal stories? Using personification in personal stories can add many different levels of interest for the audience. Instead of telling the audience that "My dog looked as though she wanted to go out," we could actually have the dog speak.
"Aw, c'mon dad. Let's go. I've been waiting here for hours just go outside. Are you blind? Do I not have the leash in my mouth? What the heck? YOU taught me to do that. So, now you don't understand? Sheesh! What do I have to do to train YOU?!?!"
One can add humor, insight, or even spooky, dark elements, like:
"The walls spoke to me. They whispered an eerie warning, 'Don't stay here. You'll go insane.' I felt as if I already was heading there."
Think about all the animals and objects in your story. Is there a way to incorporate them as living, breathing entities using personification?
A Tease - But Creative and Funny
Here's a little piece that's been going around the internet. Just another example of anthropomorphism, or personification, the attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being. Only this time, you actually can hear the dog talk!
Well... it would seem that the video has been deleted. Too bad.
------------------------------------THERE'S A LOT GOING ON EACH MONTH -------------------CHECK EACH WEBSITE OR CALENDAR TO CONFIRM DATES AND TIMES ---------------------------------CALL TO MAKE SURE THE EVENT IS STILL ON
- National Storytelling Network? You should be.
Call for Proposals
Loren Russel sent me a note last week to let us know that he will be telling stories and playing his flute at the Wild Horse Pass Resort every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 6:00pm until March 15, 2014. Hear the soft sounds of his Native American flute, and meet Grandfather!
Our own local storyteller (and graduate of SMCC Storytelling Institute) Sharon Gilbert is turning 75 this week, and she's proud of it! Her birthday is actually on Friday the 21st (the day of Return to the African Village Concert).
Friday - February 21
Thursday, March 6th - Tucson
Anthropomorphism, or personification, is the attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being. Like: talking animals, trees, or the walls of a house. Personification happens in folk tales and Fairytales all the time. The Three Bears live in a house; eat porridge, talk and act like humans. Personification is rife in these genres. Disney does it in every animated film.
