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| HCA Statue in Central Park |
June 1, opening day of the 2019 season of storytelling at the Hans Christian Andersen Statue in Central Park. It was a beautiful day and the storytelling was superb.
Sheila Arnold told ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ by Andersen and Laura Simms told ‘The Nightingale’ also by HCA. Salieu Suso accompanied Laura on the kora and Valentina Ortiz, from Mexico, kept us all safe and comfortable as monitor.
Sheila Arnold, an African American from Virginia, had such fun telling Andersen. True to the story she delighted in language such as ‘rouges and scallywags.’ Though the story is Danish, the way she told it, you could just see people from her community populating the story. Andersen coming alive in Virginia.
Laura Simms is an internationally known storyteller and current Artistic Director of the Hans Christian Andersen Storytelling Center’s summer series. She tells ‘The Nightingale’ frequently and, on this day, she told it without elaboration. The words, the language, her voice, intensity and focus brought magic to the space as well as the story.
It was clear that Hans Christian Andersen tales withstand diversity of place and of time. The stories were so fresh and fun.
Storytelling has been ongoing at the Statue every summer for over 60 years. Every Saturday morning, from the beginning of June through September, crowds gather at the feet of Andersen for an hour of free storytelling. Storytellers from all over the world are scheduled and often there are surprises when a storyteller visiting NYC shows up and shares a story.
I have been going to the Statue for over 20 years. For several years, I was monitor and attended storytelling every Saturday. I’ve been privileged to tell stories with wonderful tellers. I consider this time at the Statue my prime education in learning to tell stories. What a beautiful outdoor classroom in which to learn.
And what have I learned? First and foremost, to be my own storyteller. I believe the main way we learn is by observation and I have been able to observe many of the storytellers I’ve read about and many more. Laura Simms and Diane Wolkstein before her, have scheduled friends and colleagues they have known through their years of storytelling. These are professional storytellers who have honed their craft. The first thing I noticed was how different every teller is. Some tellers move around a lot, some are still. Some use funny voices to great effect, others do not. Some tellers are boisterous, some more restrained. But all are inspiring as they bring their tales to life. There are so many storytellers, so many artistic styles, so many types of stories. Often beginning tellers will mimic an established teller, taking on her or his persona. Observing and talking to a wide variety of tellers was liberating. It gave me the freedom and confidence to develop my own style.
But in this outdoor classroom I also learned many mundane, yet important, skills:
· how to use a microphone
· how to project in the open air
· stage presence
· audience control
· how to handle disruptions
· how to engage the audience
· how to pause for a laugh
· how to put a program together
I also observed techniques I wanted to add to my storytelling:
· how to teach the audience a song or chant
· how to invite the audience to join in
· how to ask the audience for suggestions and then incorporate them into the story
· how to bring the audience up on stage to help tell the story
· how to play and have fun with a story
I have had a number of mentors and a few real teachers, but almost everything I have learned about storytelling has been in Central Park at the feet of Hans Christian Andersen.
Storytelling throughout September.
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