Storytelling: Going Back to the Basics

Sondra: I started storytelling as I was getting divorced ten years ago. I went to a house concert performed by Susan Marie Frontczak and asked her if she taught. I was in her next class. I had a long-time theatre background, but knew nothing about storytelling. I asked Susan where to find stories. She told me to just walk into the library, find the section with folk tales, and open a book. Amazingly, when I did that, I opened a book of Jewish folktales to The Woman Who Was Almost Stoned to Death, which is still the only "feminist" Jewish folk tale I've ever encountered. It is intense and dramatic and fit my emotional state at the time to a "t." After that, Susan encouraged me to perform, as did others. I've been a professional storyteller ever since. Storytelling gives me the flexibility to schedule my own rehearsals and programs around my day job and my life.

Helen: I wanted another avenue/venue to express myself creatively. And, unlike stage acting, with storytelling a storyteller does connect, directly, with audience members.

Q: What are the key elements to good and successful storytelling?

Helen: Being in the moment -- for example, if the character I'm portraying is sad, express sad. If happy, express happy. Also, it pays to be excited about the topic I'm telling about. I've always chosen stories that touch me in some way, or that I am just compelled to share. For example, next week at a storytelling "extravaganza" sponsored by the Arapahoe Library District, I'm going to be retelling Shel Silverstein's classic, The Giving Tree. For me, the story just has so many layers (like an onion), and the more I practice and tell it, the more I understand about relationships and loss.

Sondra: I don't know that I can summarize in an article like this. There are several styles of telling. There is the old-timey method of sitting in a comfortable chair and "chatting" with the audience. Others are the volunteers who go to the library and read from a book to the children there. Some tellers think that those of us who use props or music aren't really "pure." For me, with my background, the most important elements are eye contact with the audience (unlike being a character in a play, it is important engage the audience in this way); character development

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