Tellabration  (Bellingham, WA)

Tellabration 2005

Other events featuring Donald Davis, Nov. 2005

Performances
Thursday, Nov. 17 & Friday, Nov. 18 
Donald Davis will also be performing at WWU as part of the Performing Arts Center Concert Series
Info at: http://pacseries.wwu.edu/davis.html

Thursday, Nov. 17 & Friday, Nov. 18
Donald Davis will inaugurate the College of
Fine & Performing Arts’ “Exploring Roots, Taking Wing” school matinee program, featuring the professional performers of the college’s PAC Series.
(As of early November there are just a few places left in Donald Davis’ Thursday, November 17, 10:30 a.m. student matinee performance in the PAC Mainstage Theatre. This 50-minute storytelling program is aimed at students in grades K-5. The Donald Davis Friday, November 18 student matinee performance in the PAC Concert Hall is sold out.)
Info at: http://pacseries.wwu.edu/education.html

Workshops
Thursday, Nov. 17.  2-4pm 
Western Washington University, Fraser Hall 3
Donald Davis will present an educational workshop based upon his book,
Writing as a Second Language: From Experience to Story to Prose
(see below for a description of this book)
This workshop is free and open to the public.
Sponsored by Woodring College of Education
For information on parking on WWU campus, go to http://www.ps.wwu.edu/parking/info/visitor.aspx

Saturday, Nov. 19.  Morning
Bellingham Public Library - Fairhaven Branch, 1117 12th Street.
Donald Davis will present a performance workshop for storytellers and storytelling enthusiasts based on his book Telling Your Own Stories: For Family and Classroom Storytelling, Public Speaking, and Personal Journaling
(see below for a description of this book)
$40 general $20 students 
Sponsored by the Bellingham Storytellers Guild. 
Have you ever wondered why one person can start telling a personal story and you want more and others not?  Donald Davis has a knack for taking his personal memories and turning them into stories that delight audiences of all ages; funny, heartwarming and poignant all in the same story.
Join us for this 3 hour workshop in which Donald Davis, often called the king of the personal story, will share his wisdom, tricks and will point out pitfalls of turning your memories into stories to share with others.  Whether to share with an audience or only at family gatherings, learn to craft a story that speaks to others as well as yourself. This is a rare opportunity to learn from the master right here at home. 
To sign up and for more information contact 360-714-9631

Donald Davis book descriptions:

Writing as a Second Language:
From Experience to Story to Prose

About the Book  (courtesy of www.augusthouse.com )

From the moment they are born, we encourage children to talk. We enunciate for them, applaud their expanding vocabularies, and hang on their every word ... that is, until they enter school. At that time, we expect them to stop talking and measure their language abilities through a new medium, writing.

While the educational system focuses on the written product as the sole measurement of language development, many children fail to measure up to established standards. Why?

Because, Davis observes, writing is not our first communications tool; for most of us it functions as a “foreign language.” The problem is, individuals are not capable of “creating” or “thinking” within a foreign language. Davis argues that we must step back into our familiar “first” language—the spoken word—as our creative medium and learn to “translate” into that new foreign language called writing. With enough success, writing will eventually become a second language, instead of a foreign language.

When we talk about language arts in our school, we focus on reading and writing instead of nourishing the whole oral and kinesthetic package which is our spoken language. Davis argues that talking and writing need not be mutually exclusive in language development. In this book, he lays out the method he has used in countless residencies in schools across the United States, working with adults, teens, children, and teachers.

About the author
DONALD DAVIS grew up in a family of traditional storytellers in North Carolina. After twenty years' service as a United Methodist minister, Davis became a full-time storyteller, now giving more than three hundred performances each year. He has served as guest host on American Public Radio's “Good Evening,” and appeared on CNN and “Nightline.” He is the author of seven books, incluiding Listening for the Crack of Dawn and Telling Your Own Stories, as well as seventeen audiocassettes such as The Big-Screen Drive-In Theater and The Grand Canyon.

Awards
Storytelling World Award

Ordering Information
Trade Paper Back, $13.95 
ISBN: 0-87483-567-4
Writing as a Second Language can be ordered through your local independent bookseller or from www.augusthouse.com  It will also be available at the workshop listed above.

Telling Your Own Stories:
For Family and Classroom Storytelling, Public Speaking, and Personal Journaling

This book is designed for families, teachers, counselors—anyone who wants to inspire storytelling either in themselves or in others. Through a series of memory prompts, the user is led through the creation of plots, of place, and of characters.

Whether the goal is fiction or family history, whether the medium is oral performance or written story—the exercises in this book will guide the aspiring storyteller through a series of confidence-building steps. Features include a family lifespan chart, a story-form format, suggestions for memory recovery, and more than fifty “crisis prompts” to break through writer's—or teller's—block.

If you've ever thought that you had no stories to tell, or suspected you did but didn't know how to get started, this book is for you.

REVIEWS Nashville Banner  (more reviews: search title at www.augusthouse.com )

"But I don't have any stories to tell."  "I have heard this lament thousands of times at storytelling festivals and workshops. People who delight in listening to stories frequently deprive themselves of the joys of telling them by invoking this mistaken belief.

Everyone has stories to tell; the trick is to tap the deep reservoir of memory that sits quietly in each of us. Donald Davis is just the person to help us draw from this source of images and narratives.

Telling Your Own Stories, Davis' new book, is the perfect companion to his other stories and traditional tales. But in this small volume he collects and shares the procedures by which he calls forth pieces of memory that can be woven into a larger narrative tapestry. His approach is simple, concrete, and right on target for anyone wanting to prime the pump of his past for stories.

Davis takes a picture-centered approach to remembering. He provides "a set of baited fishhooks for you to use in a pond of stories which has probably been virtually untouched, and is uniquely yours."

The hooks, or "prompts" as he calls them through the rest of the book, are all in the form of questions. The answers to these questions are the pictures that will make up the stories that are yours to tell.

Donald Davis is not simply one of the finest storytellers practicing his craft today. He is also one of the master teachers of other storytellers. Whether your goal is to tell stories in an arena to crowds of thousands or a classroom or your own living room to your children or grandchildren, Telling Your Own Stories is the perfect place to start or continue the process of telling your stories."

Ordering Information
ISBN: 0-87483-235-7
Price: $10.00
Telling Your Own Stories can be ordered through your local independent bookseller or from www.augusthouse.com  It will also be available at the workshop listed above. 

About Tellabration....

Every year, in celebration of National Storytelling Week, Woodring College of Education and the Bellingham Storytellers Guild sponsors an exciting storytelling event called Tellabration.  In 2005 the College of Fine and Performing Arts has joined us in sponsoring this premier storytelling showcase.

Many of you have attended Tellabration before and know that it is a world-wide event when folk around the world gather together in large and small venues to celebrate the art of storytelling and the oral tradition.  Bellingham's Tellabration is one of the largest in the nation, often drawing crowds of 300-500 to the PAC Concert Hall at WWU.  Tellabration concerts also take place in many other locations across the Pacific Northwest. To find other Tellabration locations and for more information on Tellabration worldwide go to www.tellabration.org

Since we started Tellabration at WWU in 1999 we have always included a young storytellers from local schools and colleges.  This year will be no exception as we seek to further the art of storytelling, passing on the gift of gab to the next generation of storytellers.  Auditions will be held in early November for storytellers wishing to try out for Tellabration. Proceeds from Tellabration support youth storytelling.

Back to Top

Youth Storyteller Auditions and Workshop

Youth Storytelling Audition for Tellabration 2005
Audition is open to children and youth up to 23 years old.  Children under 18 years old must be accompanied by an adult at the audition.  Performers will be videotaped and judged by members of the Bellingham Storytellers Guild. Announcement of performers chosen to perform at Tellabration will go out within 2 days of the audition.
Audition will take place on Friday, November 4th - 7-9pm
Bellingham Public Library, Fairhaven Branch Fireplace Room

Young storytellers do not have to be part of a group or class to audition for Tellabration.  However, if you would like to learn more about the traditional art of storytelling or improve your current skills, come to the workshop being offered this fall....

Youth Storytelling Workshop
Six week performance workshop with storyteller/educator Rosemary Scott Vohs
In this active and hands-on workshop, students will learn how to become animated and engaging performers while learning the traditional art of storytelling.  Students will learn how to choose great stories from around the world, how to learn and practice effectively, and how to put on a lively performance.  Students will have lots of opportunity to practice their stories and receive constructive coaching as well as participate in theatre games and vocal/performance exercises.
Fee: $40 ($30 for additional family members)
Wednesdays, October 12th - November 16th, 3:30-5pm (Oct. 19 & 26 will be 4-5pm)
Bellingham Public Library, Fairhaven Branch Fireplace Room

For more information on auditions or workshop contact Rosemary.Vohs@wwu.edu or call 360-650-6446

Below you will find some guidelines for storytelling that you may find helpful.

Some of the Youth storytellers who auditioned for Tellabration in 2003 also applied for the National Youth Storytelling Olympics 2004.  Two of these storytellers were accepted and traveled to California to perform. Details on NYSO (as well as tips on telling stories) can be found at www.youthstorytelling.com
As of 2005 NYSO has been renamed. Details at:  http://www.storycast.biz/index.php/z-natyouth/

Several youth storytellers who told at Bellingham's Tellabration 2003 also performed at the National Storytelling Conference held on the campus of Western Washington University, July 7-11 2004. 

Storytelling is an excellent opportunity for young performers.  Let us know if you have a youngster with the gift of gab.

Storytelling at Tellabration - A brief guide to storytelling

If you are a young performer who is interested in auditioning for Tellabration, here are some guidelines:

Performance Description:  Performers will tell a folktale or authored story intended for an audience of children and families.  The story should be about 5-10 minutes long (not a strict time limit) and should be told by memory and without the use of notes.  The atmosphere of Tellabration is an afternoon of family fun and entertainment, therefore, lighthearted stories are encouraged.

Materials: If the story is an authored work, it is expected that permission of the publisher will be obtained to tell the story in a public setting.  If the story is a folktale, credit may be given verbally to acknowledge the cultural origin of the tale.

Delivery:

Wording:  Keeping true to the oral tradition, folktales should be delivered in an extemporaneous, spontaneous, style. The story should be should not sound “memorized” and should be told in the performer’s “own words”, not memorized from a specific printed/recorded version.  The ideal is a story told in a fluent, relaxed style with heightened conversational language and a strong sense of verisimilitude.  Literary (authored) stories will be more fully memorized but should still be delivered in a similar style with a feeling of natural spontaneity.

Focus:  Open focus (speaking directly to the audience) is the predominant focus for traditional storytelling.  Unlike in formal oral interpretation, closed focus points are not generally used for character dialogue.

Facial expression:  The face should be expressive and should enhance the sensory and emotive imagery of the story.  Effective triggering should heighten the natural spontaneity of delivery.

Vocal delivery:  The voice should be expressive, using phrasing and variety that brings out the imagery of the story.  Vocal quality should be resonant and clear unless altered to create character differentiation. The use of characterization during dialogue is accepted but should suit the style of the story.

Physical delivery:  Movement and animated gestures (suitable to the story) should be used.  The storyteller is not expected to stand in one place but may use the performance space to enliven the story with actions.  (Microphones will be used at Tellabration.  Either a standing mike or a lapel mike may be used.)

Audience participation:  Using audience participation elements is certainly acceptable.  Many stories are enhanced by inviting the audience to join in with repetitive phrases, actions, questions, etc.

Back to Top