|
"The World Storytelling
Institute, a part of Chennai's Storytelling
Scene" October 2016 The World
Storytelling Institute, directed by Dr Eric Miller (PhD in Folklore, MSc in
Psychology in process), has for the past ten years been conducting Storytelling Workshops
for adults in Chennai. These
workshops typically meet on Sundays, 10am-Noon, and go for 7 weeks. One focus
of this training is to encourage storytellers to at times psychologically and
emotionally act-out story characters, letting the characters speak for
themselves. We explore ways
storytelling can help one to develop one's imaginative and creative, as well
as logical, thinking and communication abilities. The next batch of this workshop is
scheduled to begin on Sunday 30 October.
The
approximately 350 people who have participated in editions of this workshop
form the core of the Chennai Storytelling Association. Numerous graduates of this workshop have
gone on to found and direct their own storytelling organisations, including:
"Madras Story Works" (directed by Vasugi Ram Manohar),
"Talespin" (directed by Asha Sampath), "Regina Pacis - Zone of
Confidence" (directed by S.W. Alvin), "Katha Kamamishu"
(directed by Lavanya Srinivas), "The Narrative" (directed by Indu
Divya), "Fables N Tales" (directed by H. Banumathy), "Story
Train" (directed by Srividya V.), "Pumpkin Chariot" (directed
by Sai Pradeep Indhirran), and "Once Upon a Time ... Tells a Tale"
(directed by Kavitha Thyagarajan). Other
organisations in Chennai that offer storytelling-related services include:
"Eloquens" (directed by Dr Sandhya Ruban), "Virginia Academy
of Training and Development" (directed by Daniel Joseph),
"Artworkshop and Communications" (directed by K. Shanmugasundaram),
"Genius Factory" and "Square Heads" (directed by Sheetal
N), and "Thangam Talkies" (directed by Pooja Giri). And then
there is Jeeva Raghunath, the First Lady of Storytelling in Chennai. Jeeva has co-founded an organisation,
Kathai Kalatta, which also presents an annual Storytelling Festival in
Chennai (and elsewhere), titled "Under the Aalamaram". This year this Festival would occur in
Chennai on Monday 17 October. Approximately
25 people -- most of whom are graduates of the WSI's 7-session Storytelling
Workshop for adults -- are members of "Chennai Storytellers", an
active group of professional storytelling performers and instructors. Individual members -- and Chennai
Storytellers as an organisation -- offer regular storytelling performances
for children. The World
Storytelling Institute offers a "Storytelling-theatre
Workshop for Children" (6 to 10 years old). Storytelling is a form of Public Speaking
that also at times may involve Acting (when one speaks and moves as characters). We feel it is important for children to
develop their Public Speaking skills even at a young age. This Workshop meets on Saturday afternoons,
at an activity center in Gopalapuram.
The current term goes from October to December -- seats are available! Two
member organisations of Chennai Storytellers offer regular "Storytelling
for and by Adults" sessions, open to the public. One of these organisations is "The
Narrative". The other is the World
Storytelling Institute, which is entering its 4th year of presenting
Storytelling for and by Adults sessions (usually) on the first Monday of the
month, at the Cafe Coffee Day Square (on Khader Nawaz Khan Road). The World
Storytelling Institute, with support from Chennai Storytellers and other
organisations, presents the Chennai Storytelling Festival each February. The 5th edition of the Chennai Storytelling
Festival is coming up in February 2017.
The
themes of CSF 2017 are 1) "Using Storytelling (and the other Arts) to
Teach across the Curriculum, especially regarding Languages, and Reading and
Writing", and 2) "Stories, and Storytelling Styles, from Many
Lands". This
Festival goes for ten days -- the last three days feature a day of free Storytelling
Workshops for college students, and two days of Storytelling Workshops for
parents, educators, trainers, coaches, psychological counsellors, and other
adults. Numerous
members of Chennai's storytelling community are dedicated to developing ways
storytelling can be used to teach any academic subject -- especially
languages, and reading and writing. We
are working for and with numerous schools in these areas. We are also helping to develop ways
storytelling can be used to assist people who have conditions such as
Attention Deficit Disorder (Hyperactivity), Autism, and Dyslexia. Similar
to Drama Therapy and Music Therapy, Storytelling Therapy (Therapeutic uses of
Stories and Storytelling) is emerging as one of the Arts Therapies. Storytelling Therapy would be one of the
therapeutic methods explained and demonstrated -- by Dr Eric Miller of the
World Storytelling Institute -- at the 1st International Conference on
Expressive Arts Therapy, presented by the Psychology Dept of Women's
Christian College, and the East West Center for Counselling and Training, on
8-10 December 2016. World
Storytelling Institute 98403
94282 info@storytellinginstitute.org
|