Science and Storytelling

I have been working for a while together with William Docherty, a storyteller from St Mungo's Museum in Glasgow on a storytelling event that showcases the narrative aspects of science and I ran accross this video from MIT talking about the way science uses a narrative to convey its messages. I found the article fascinating becuase it is so much at the heart of our current work. Science Stories will be presented at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on April 16th 2010 from 4-6 pm. Children will hear stories from scientific and technological developments and will be encouraged to create their own science stgories using a variety of media. It is aimed at children from 7-11 years olf. The event is spondored by St Mungo's Museum and the Science, Religion and Technology Project, Church and Society Council.

Contemporary Storytelling Course

I have been away from the blog for quite a while but not wawy from storytelling. I have taken a full time job and this inevitably impinges on the time I can spend writing and learning about storytelling, however, my love for storytelling has not decreased. I have continued taking workshops here and there. More importantly I have started telling stories to adults within the context of the Storytelling Cafe which meets every month at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. I am slowly working on my repertoire and with this in mind, I decided to enrol in the Contemporary Storytelling Course given at Newbattle Abbey College.

Formal and Informal Learning.
I found the experience really invigorating. The weekend from the 25-27 September was run by Donald Smith and Bea Ferguson. The weekend gave us an opportunity to work in groups having the advice and feedback of both tutors and this was invaluable.

I met and worked with people who specialise in ghost stories running storytelling tours in the dark streets and alley-ways of Edinburgh; people who specialise in stories from The Orkney Islands; people who specialise in writing and telling stories with a religious context. There were also academics from abroad using stories as a teaching aid to teach and learn English as a foreign language. There were early years teachers and people who work with young people in a variety of challenging environments. I was able to compare ways of working with children, particularly some of the techniques that I honed in within the DigiStory Club. All in all, I realised how fantastically varied are the applications of storytelling.

The first weekend was stuctured as a workshop in the morning, with opportunities for groupwork and feedback time. Afternoons gave further opportunities to work on specific stories. The second day we worked more in fleshing out individual projects either based on the work done in the previous day, or our own personal project. I worked on a project about bringing together the stories embedded within scientific discoveries with the magic of storytelling. This project is fleshing itself more and more and I will be able to share more of this as the project develops further.

The final day was for actual performance with group feedback and later on, individual feedback by the tutors. I was able to present a story based on mythology from the region of Oaxaca in Mexico. I had already told this story at the Storytelling Cafe in Edinburgh, but through the work at the workshop I was able to develop it to a much finer point, taking in side characters and descriptions that helped the audience understand the context of the story. All in all very satisfying.

What did I learned?
My repertoire of stories was enlarged. I explored different methodologies with which to study the core of each story. I became aware of the very wide applications that storytelling has. I saw the importance of freeing my body and my voice in order to make the story a more "lived-in" experience. I am working on a project that works with science narratives and storytelling. I made friends and established working partnerships with a number of people and I had 2 glorious evenings of endless storytelling.

However, for me the most important thing was the close cooperation and feedback from fellow storytellers. It was wonderful to meet up and get to work on projects with people who have woven storytelling within their professional activities. Every evening we met by the huge fireplace in the medieval part of the college and told stories. This was a fantastic learning experience for me. The feedback, advice and encouragement I got from my colleagues was invaluable. So, after the first part of the course, I am back with renewed energy for more writing about storytelling.

The landscape as a metaphor for context within a story

I have recenlty become interested in the work of Patrick Gedes because it shows the ways in which our environment, whether a rural landscape, or a city dwelling influences our creativity, whether in our manufacturing of technology or in the creation of artistic works. He had a tremendous influence on the development of the city of Edinburgh. The natural features of the city influenced his architectural work as well as his ideas about town planning.

As I was listening to all of this at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in a joint workshop lead by Donald Smith and Bob Pegg it dawned on me that most of my preocupation had so far been on finding techniques to sketch out the macrostructure of stories to the detriment of the context of the story. I resonated very much with the need we have as storytellers to get our audiences to "see" the location where the story takes place. How to use our voice, our gestures and our body language to aid this visualisation is definitely a whole area of inquiry but, and perhaps more poignately, how do we as storytellers work our stories and develop a sense for "seeing" for ourselves, the landscape of our stories?

The physical landscape map
During the workshop we were encouraged to visualise, smell and feel the scenery. We were asked to concentrate on particular elements of the landscape that could have an influence in the visualisation that the audience would have. I found this particular exercise very fruitful, since at the moment I am working on a story from the Aztecs and I needed to visualise the famous city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). I was taken as a child by my grandmother to Zocalo, (the central square, as it was rebuilt by the Spaniards after the fall of Tenochtitlan) however, I had not really thought about how the square would have looked at the time of the Aztecs.

We were then asked to draw a map of the physical landscape of our story. I found that exercise particularly powerful. I realised that a crucial element of my story would have to be a depiction of the central square of Tenochtitlan. Just as crucial would be the canals, circling the city and providing major commercial waterways connecting the city, which was built on an island on a lake, to the mainland.
I also realised that the market was crucial to the story because the smells and sounds of the market should permeate the story.

After I finished my physical map, I could actually see the central square, with the two main pyramids and the surrounding waterways with barges. The drawing of the map, embedded the square in my mind to the point that all I have to do now, is close my eyes and "see" it. I think that I can now tell what I "see" of this once great but destroyed city, to anyone that listens to my story.


The action map
We were then asked to use our physical map, and incorporate within it specific actions or sound elements (i.e. movements, music etc) that might help the audience to visualise the environment of the story. I used this opportunity to develop the idea of using clay flutes and perhaps small percussion instruments to introduce a feeling of mystery and hussle and bussle of the market streets adjacent to the ceremonial square.
I also thought of using scented copal or incense at a specific time within the story to illustrate the significane fo the religious activities being performed at the central square. the action map became a fantastic visual image helping me prepare and "own" my story.

CreditsThe photograph of the clay plaque of Patrick Geddes was taken by Gary Thomson. The photograph of a painting of Tenochtitlan was taken by Steve Cadman. The picture of a small representation of the market was taken by Senor Codo.


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Flesh & Bones: different types of macrostructures

I attended on Saturday at workshop at the Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. The workshop was called "Connecting with stories". It was an interesting workshop conducted with Sarah Perceval. Throughout the workshop we were presented with different ways of connecting with the story which we had chosen to tell.

I have often been puzzled by the constant tugg of war between learning by heart every minute detail of the story or the opposite approach, which is to determine the basics of the story and then depending on your life experience and the audience, let your imagination embroider around the story. The workshop addressed these tow questions in a useful manner although the topics got explored somewhat indirectly.

Deconstructing the Story. The workshop leader distributed stories to read and then made us select what she termed "the bones of the story". "Bones" are those elements without which the story would collapse or make no sense at all". "Flesh" are those elements that add context, or meaning, or embellish the story. I find the analogy of bones and flesh rather confusing becuase a squeleton would not be able to walk if the muscles would not be there to prop-up the bones.... but... nevermind. Each team had to work together to select the "bones" and the "flesh" and to our amazement, there was often quite abit of controversy over what was considered "bones" and what was considered "flesh". Some people felt very strongly that some "bones" were actually "flesh" and vice-versa. It also became very clear that depending on the audience, sometimes, "flesh" would be turned into "bones". All this discussion exemplified very clearly to me the need to work throuogh your story quite thoroughly and adapt it before presentation to an audience.

Storyboarding. After the discussion of "Bones & Flesh" we moved into representing the story linearly through storyboards. It was quite interesting to have the linear representation converge (or not) into the skeletal elements of the story. Several elements of my story for example fitted into just one or two main skeletal branches. The discussion then centred on the extent to which a storyteller can tap into personal experiences in order to unpack these "fleshy-contextual-embroidery" elements to an audience. Some people felt that the story had to have fidelity to factual elements. For example, if the story takes place in an an onlive grove and we feel that this embellishment is appropriate to the story and we have never been to an onlive grove, is it appropriate to use experiences of a Scottish pine-forest? here is where adaptation comes into play. I tend to favour throughough research. Having been both in olive groves and Scottish pine-forests, the experience is quite different in both, so although we are speaking of masses of trees, both experiences are definitely not interchangeable.... None-the-less, I found the use of storyboarding and "flesh & bones deconstruction" quite useful in helping me connect not just to the story, but to an audience.

Visualisation. Finally, we worked on visualisation of one of the elements of the story. This helped quite a lot becuase suddenly the imagination came into play and sensory elements like sound, taste, and feelings came into play. All in all, I thought that visualistion provided an emotional way of connecting to the materials within the story, and storyboards and "skeletons and flesh" techniques provided an analytical way of connecting to the story and the audiences.

Credits. The picture of the skeletons was taken by Wonderlane.


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Searching for stories

I have not written for a while, mostly because I have been busy attending workshops at the Edinburgh’s Storytelling Centre, and also because I have been busy looking for stories to tell my audience of children and adults during my children’s address time.

I have looked at a number of websites and have become member of a number of podcasting services like Brother Wolf (which is wonderful) but I have not yet found my ideal combination of short, meaningful stories. I have been working on some of the stories of the Lion’s Book of Tales and Legends and I think I can indeed use some of them, but I would love to be able to incorporate stories where the meaning is indeed more subtle. I find it difficult to locate stories that can capture the attention of children and adults, convey a thoughtful message and do not sound moralizing. I suppose it is an exercise of constantly being in search of stories and creating a repertoire.

Some weeks ago, I attended a storytelling workshop where some participants were speaking passionately about working with a story for years. I think this is a wonderful idea, because the story, like good wine will mature an grow on you. I can see that you can develop different ways of telling the story and experiment with emphasis on different parts of the story. However, if you have the same audience every month, or every two weeks, how can you let the story work on you? Can you develop the story over time without an audience? How can you do that…. The audience participates so much to any storyteller… they provide ambience, interest.. etc. I wish I could find a way of developing and working on my stories without having the need to have an audience. I currently rehearse on my own, or go to the garden and speak the story out loud, however, nothing beats trying things out with a live, responding audience.

Memory work or Re-inventing the story each time...

I had not been able to write on the blog because I have taken a full time job, and somehow have felt overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I had to learn. There was also sheer exhaustion and having to work with a very old computer.... so things got somewhat put in the back burner... however, as many blog writers know, soon the blog-bugg bites again, and here I am, with new energy and fever wanting to share with you more about my wanderings through storytelling.

Today after several weeks away from the world of storytelling, I became a teller of stories once more. This time it was in front of an audience of about 15 children and 50 adults in St Andrew's Parish Church. I told the Story of the Bamboo. It is a wonderful story of solidarity where a bamboo agrees to be cut down in order to serve his master who will use the bamboo to water a field. A colleague of mine sent me the story through the email on Saturday afternoon and I had little time to research it.

Memory work or re-invention....
When I started storytelling, I felt that I could never remember everything about a story. I was afraid of getting lost in the detail. Storyboarding worked wonders to help me pin thedown the important elements of the story, but now, with some storytelling years down my belt, I understand that a story is never the same, no matter how many times you tell it. No single storyteller will tell the story in exactly the same way to different audiences. A process of adaptation and incantation and improvisation occurs each time.

I am placing the story at the end of my commentary exactly as this friend emailed it to me. I tried to locate it on the Internet in order to give its full provenance, but I have not been able to find it. I am placing it for you to see, because it is an example of the work that goes on upon the transformation of the bare bones of the story into the art of storytelling. I think that in the process of taking possession of the story, or rather, allowing the story to dictate its meaning and poetry to the storyteller, each story takes on a different feel and personality.

In my case I chose to place the story in China, because our children would have seen bamboo when visiting either the Chinese garden in the Royal Botanical Gardens or the Edinburgh Zoo and the Pandas... anyway, as it so happens, we grow bamboo in our own garden in Bo'ness and I was able to get a few bamboo leaves to show to the children.

Let the characters speak through you.

I went to the garden for inspiration. It was cold but there was still light. the story was resonating in my head and I looked for a while at the bamboo and sat next to the rose bushes which are close-by. The bamboo spoke to me and I wanted to convey the sense of wonder whenever I see and feel the rustle of the wind go through the bamboo leaves in our garden. I wanted my bamboo to have a real voice in the story... so I started by giving a name to the bamboo.... Bak Choy (reminiscences of Chinese cabbage no doubt).

I also decided to develop a relationship between the bamboo and its master, so I invented a little ritual where the master would come every morning to great the bamboo as he took his morning walk through the garden. Bak Choy would be eagerly awaiting the visit of the master and would call in to his friend the wind, so that the leaves would rustle in welcome as the master approached. I also started making the sounds of the wind and swaying softly the leaves of the bamboo, so that the children would get an idea of the tree dancing through its leaves whilest waiting to meet the master. The visual and sound imagery worked really well. The children and the adults were enthralled.

Create a mood and wellcome the audience
Storytellers I admire, invite you into their world, and enthrall you within. I have learnt that props, simple props can help in this. I use a Turkish hat. I call it my storytelling hat and put it on as I sit on the floor amongst the children. This is my way to give them the idea that we were entering a different world, where, I am no longer me, and they are no longer themselves and we are about to embark on a magical world where, for example, bamboos can speak and their friend is the wind. In this particular story I used some bamboo leaves to give the children the sense of the plant and they way it could rustle in the wind. In other stories I have used percussion instruments, or little whistles that sound like pre-hispanic flutes. I use props to help me create a world of magic. I do not want to prop to be central to the story, just to help the audience to imagine a scene, or a sound or a mood.

Maintain the momentum
I only had 8 minutes for my story so things had to be quick. I was however keen to keep my audience with me, so i constantly keep eye contact with the children and the adults, to make sure that I am being followed. It is a wonderful thrill to see the children's eyes light up in amazement, or their faces drop in sadness if the story takes on a sad turn. I have also experiences panic when I know that I am losing the audience and this is a terrible position to be in. In those cases, I try to use my voice to bring them back, but, I have not always been successful. I need to work more and more on my voice. This time however, I was lucky and I had my audience with me all the way.

My endings aim at resolution
This is scary, but I sometimes change the endings of the story in order to fit with the mood of the moment. So much for accuracy; however, I feel justified because, depending on the audience, the setting and their response tothe story and to you as a storyteller, the ending can vary. What I try to keep in mind however, is that endings should bring peace and a resolution to the conflict created at the centre of the story. Maybe I am very traditional, but I yearn for resolution. This does not mean that the ending always has to be a happy one... it merely means that you might need to have several endings up your sleeve and select your ending to suit your audience and their moods. This is why it is so important to make sure that your audience is with you at all times, so that you can gage the mood and adapt and improvise as needed. storytelling then becomes perpetual improvisation.

Credits
The bamboo photo was taken by CheGuevara Paul


"The Story of the Bamboo Tree -- A traditional story from China

The Bamboo tree stood tall and straight, holding up its head proudly because it knew that it was the master’s favourite tree. When the master walked in his garden the Bamboo would bow its proud head in greeting.

One day the master stood before the Bamboo and said, ‘Bamboo, Bamboo, I must cut you down.’
‘Cut me down! Oh no, master! No!’
‘Yes,’ said the master. ‘You cannot serve me unless you let me cut you down.’ The Bamboo bowed its proud head, saying sadly, ‘Very well, master, cut me down if that is the only way I can serve you.’
‘That is the only way,’ said the master. And so he cut the Bamboo down.

The next day the master stood looking down at the proud Bamboo Tree lying on the ground, its trunk long and straight and its branches spread out. ‘Bamboo, Bamboo,’ said the master, ‘I must cut off your branches.’
‘All of them?’ cried the Bamboo.
‘All of them,’ said the master, ‘or you cannot serve me.’
‘Very well,’ sighed the Bamboo, ‘Cut all my branches off, for I would serve you!’ So the master cut off all the branches. The Bamboo lay alone for a time thinking sadly of its lost beauty, and wondering what else the master had in store for it.

Presently the master returned and said, ‘Bamboo, Bamboo, you have a fine, strong, straight trunk. I must split you in half from top to bottom and take out your pith.’
‘Oh no, no, master!’ wailed the bamboo. ‘I shall die if you do that. I will serve any way I can, but do not split me!’
‘Bamboo, Bamboo, you cannot serve me if I do not split you in two and take out your pith.’ ‘As you will, master,’ whispered the Bamboo.

So the master split the Bamboo from end to end and took out all the pith. Then he laid the two halves of the trunk end to end and fastened them firmly together. One end he laid at the mouth of a little spring of water, which bubbled out of the ground and lost itself among the moss and stones. The other end he placed in his rice field, which was parched and dry. Soon the clear spring water was running from the spring down the channel made by the Bamboo trunk into the dry rice field, bringing refreshment to the drooping, dying plants. So the Bamboo died and brought new life to the master’s rice field. The rice grew tall and strong and brought life to many hungry people."

Use of the storyboad when children create stories

So far in DigiStory we have experimented with two types of techniques to get children to invent a story. One of them is allowing them to work individually, developing their own characters and drawing the plot up within storyboards. I have developed a little video that illustrates the practice. The advantage of this approach is that the children develop their imagination and zero in on the characters that they like. We have found the use of storyboards highly effective for this because the storyboard presents a sequence where the children can develop a plot in an orderly sequential manner. Using blank pages does not seem to be as conducive to sequential plot development as children seem to then concentrate on doing just one illustration. Story boarding seems to be more conducive for the children to think in terms of small sequences of events tied together which then they can illustrate.





Individual work also allows children to explore the situations that are of importance or relevant to them. I had for example a little girl developing a story about a crab caught in a fishing net, and this story meant something to her because her father took her fishing frequently and her father was abroad and she missed him. Individual work therefore seems to allow children to explore their own emotional issues within a safe environment. Group work seems to do different things.... More about this later on.