Storytelling Fest Celebrates Art of Spinning Tales

Storytelling Fest Celebrates Art of Spinning Tales

Get ready for an adventurous journey as the fourth edition of Chennai Storytelling Festival kicks off with performances and workshops for five days (Feb 5-6, 12-14) — a voyage that will probe the deep recesses of our soul.  For the GenNext who are used to texting and WhatsApp, the art of storytelling may not generate much interest.

But according to World Storytelling Institute (WSI) director Eric Miller there is a primary need to connect and engage with people which can only be accomplished through the traditional way of narrating yarns. Tales our grandmas are only too willing to recount. While there are five programmes in the evening with seven storytellers performing on each day,  two workshops — for students (Feb 12) and adults (Feb 13-14) — will explore the possibilities of using stories in our daily life to make living a joy.

The storytelling festival is jointly organised by WSI and Chennai Storytellers (CS), a group of 20-23 spirited people who hold monthly events that bring together the magic of tales, fables and anecdotes, that are tweaked to suit contemporary times.  “The aim of the festival is to revive the oral tradition of storytelling in cities. This year, our reach is better as we have made use of social media platforms,” says Kavitha Thiyagarajan, a CS member. All evening performances are priced at `200 per head for a show (single day) or one can book all five days (of storytelling) for `800.

The two-way dialogue between cultures and ‘Big Rains of 2015’ are the two main themes which will be predominant in the stories and workshops.  It will be a novel exposure to school students as nearly 200 children are expected to take part in the one-day workshop on Feb 12. At another level, the organisers will engage parents, corporates, academicians and business executives on how to use the nuances of storytelling to achieve their objectives. “Teachers and counsellors will be taught on using the techniques of storytelling to teach subjects at classrooms,” informs Kavitha.

Evening performances are tailor-made for families with kids. Chennai Storytellers are hopeful of attracting not less than 50 people for each session consisting of seven narrators. While the event will be held at Andhra Mahila Sabha on the first two days, the rest of the programmes will staged in the auditorium of Dr MGR Janaki College for Women.

For more details, contact Eric Miller at 98403 94282 or Kavitha at 99400 36390

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com