Australian Bush Dance meets Kamishibai: Newport Fiddle and Folk Club

Autumn is a wonderful time of year in Melbourne. The wind drops out and the heat fades. Festivals spring up in the regional towns and in the city.

At this time every year, in Newport, only 12 kilometres from the CBD, the local Fiddle and Folk Club host a classic event - the Aussie Bush Dance. The setting is an old blue stone quarry that has been carefully revegetated with indigenous plants. Now full of wildlife, wild flowers and tall eucalypts, Newport Lakes Park is a small piece of bushland nestled in suburbia.

This year over 300 people turned up for the dancing, singing, storytelling and bush ballads.

Vic Guild Storyteller, Jackie Kerin entertained the crowds with her Kamishibai (paper theatre) , made by folk club friend Ted Smith. Mounted onto the back of her bike, she was able, like the Kamishibai storytellers of old, to ride to the park and work from her portable elevated stage.

Jackie is enjoying planning her festival appearances for 2011 where she will be performing and speaking about the art of traditional oral storytelling and her work as a writer for children.

Williamtown Literary Festival

Torquay Froth and Bubble

Aireys Inlet Festival of Words

Learn more about: Jackie

Venues, festivals and opportunities in Victoria

Interstate and overseas storytellers frequently ask us for suggestions for storytelling venues and events where they can perform or participate. While we can’t do the legwork, we have come up with a list of links for storytellers to explore. This is an evolving and ever-changing list. As we receive feedback we’ll add or subtract suggestions. You’ll find asterisks by the links that we know have been receptive to storytelling.

If you know of any other possibilities or if you discover any of the links are no longer working please let us know: jackie@jackiekerin.com.au

ART GALLERIES

* National Gallery Victoria NGV The Gallery has two campuses in the CBD: International and Australian (The Ian Potter Centre).

* Mornington Regional Art Gallery This small and dynamic gallery supports storytelling. It’s out of town and a little difficult to get to if you don’t have a car

MUSEUMS

Museum Victoria NB there are 3 campuses: Melbourne, Scienceworks, Immigration

LIBRARIES

* State Library Victoria

* List of suburban public libraries in Melbourne

Libraries are generally near public transport. Story time for children happens throughout the metropolitan area.

FOLK CLUBS

* Newport Fiddle and Folk Club

FOLK FESTIVALS

Some of these are in Country towns. Hard to get to in some cases. Most spoken word seems to be poetry and Australiana. Trying to broaden tastes but some festivals are set in their ways. But have a look just for fun. Times are a changin’!

* Maldon

* Port Fairy

* Newport Folk Festival

* Yackandandah

* PAVE

LITERARY, WRITER’S AND OTHER FESTIVALS

Melbourne Writers Festival

*Williamstown Literary Festival

White Hat list of Literary Festivals This is really worth trawling! White hat also list some of the most beautiful historic homes in Melbourne and surrounds. Many of these can be used as venues.

* Midsumma Festival

Australian Festivals (list of festivals around Australia)

VENUES FOR HIRE

Gemco Situated in the Hills accessble by public transport

Trades Hall Situated in the CBD

Mechanics Institute Williamstown

The Theatrette Glen Eira

OTHER

Dromkeen The home of Australian Children's Book Illustration

Newport Substation

Footscray Community Arts

NEW FORUM IN CYBERSPACE

**** Re-enchantment – a new transmedia documentary project exploring the hidden meanings of fairy tales

Explore the enchanted forest with its six different story spaces (Red Riding Hood, Hansel & Gretel, Bluebeard, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Snow White); the Gallery where you can scroll through artists' interpretations of fairy tales and, if you like, upload your own artwork; and the Forum where you can have discussions with people from all around the world.

Julie Perrin wins the Pat Glover Award: Port Fairy Folk Festival 2011

The Pat Glover Memorial Storytelling Award has been part of the Port Fairy Folk Festival for many years. Named after a local storyteller, the aim of the award is to celebrate and preserve the art of oral storytelling. Over the years it has been won by both amateur and professional storytellers and reciters.

The event is hosted by the indefatigable Jim Haynes from NSW. Jim performs, hosts and organises a packed program of spoken word events for the Folk Festival every year.

This year the award attracted a stella lineup of tellers from the country and the city performing polished tales in verse and prose. However the judges were unanimous when it came to Julie Perrin's story, The Lost Dog is Home.

The standard of this event is ever growing and Julie did well against such old hands at the Pat Glover like Rob England, Mick Coventry and Terry Rooney.

Thankyou to Jim Haynes, to Rosemary and David Stewart who Stage Manage the Pat Glover every year, to Jamie Mckew (Festival Director) and of course to Pat, without whom there would be no award.

Julie ... the Storytelling Guild Vic are proud of you!

Learn more about Julie Perrin.

pic: Julie with Margaret (Pat's daughter) and Rob England

JB Rowley: the story of Sheherezade

Once upon a time there were two brothers who ruled Arabia and Persia. King Shahryar had his palace in Baghdad and his brother King Zaman had his palace in Samarkand. The two brothers ruled their kingdoms and lived contented lives until one day disillusionment and unhappiness entered both their lives.

Calamity first came to King Zaman when he set out on a journey to visit his brother. However, he had not gone far when he had to return to his palace for a precious gift he had forgotten to take with him. When he returned he discovered, to his horror, his wife asleep in the arms of a giant slave. Shortly after, King Shahryar discovered that, when he was away, his wife was in the habit of organising and enjoying erotic orgies with the handsome young slaves at the palace in Baghdad. Of course the faithless wives were executed and Zaman and Sharyar came to the conclusion that women were not to be trusted. Sharyar set about killing the beautiful young virgins of Baghdad and there might have been no limit to his madness had it not been for his chief minister’s daughter, the beautiful, wise and intelligent Sheherezade who became a legendary oral storyteller.

The story of Sheherezade is often in JB Rowley’s storytelling programs. High school students are enthralled by the story and, in 2009, JB told Sheherezade’s story to very receptive audiences as part of the dinner program while on a storytelling tour of the bushfire affected areas of Murrindindi shire. Out of that tour evolved the story of The Flowerdale Tattoo which won the Hope 2011 story competition at ABC POOL. Now, as a way of contributing to POOL, JB is working on a project to honour Sheherezade and her stories, starting with, of course, Sheherezade’s story.

http://pool.abc.net.au/media/sheherezade

Healing the Mind through the Power of Story: the Promise of the Narrative Paradigm

Dr Lewis Mehl-Madrona, University of Vermont

Date | 22 March 2011

Time | 1.00 – 2.00 pm

Venue | Melbourne School of Population Health,

Room 515, Level 5, 207 Bouverie St, Carlton

ABSTRACT: A movement in psychology and medicine is arising that sees lives as stories and people as storytellers. This movement has allowed European-based psychology to connect to the world's indigenous cultures, since these cultures think in a similar vein - that lives are stories enacted in the world. In this talk, Dr. Mehl-Madrona will consider the relevance of this approach for mental health and discuss his use of this narrative paradigm with aboriginal people in Canada and the United States, comparing this approach to that of traditional elders in those cultures.

BIO: Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, PhD, is a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine (US). He completed both of his residencies in family medicine and in psychiatry at the University of Vermont, where he currently resides in Brattleboro and serves as a core faculty to the Clinical Psychology Graduate Program at the Union Institute & University as well as practicing family medicine, geriatrics, and psychiatry. From his own Native American background, he has also studied extensively with traditional healers and combines knowledge from both worlds. He is the author of the Coyote trilogy (Coyote Medicine, Coyote Healing, Coyote Wisdom) about the wisdom that indigenous North American culture has to offer modern medicine, as well as Narrative Medicine and his most recent book, Healing the Mind through the Power of Story: the Promise of Narrative Psychiatry.

All Welcome - NO RSVP REQUIRED

Contact Erminia Colucci for more information: ecolucci@unimelb.edu.au

Anne E Stewart asks, 'So who was the first Gay in the Village?'

So who was the first Gay in the Village?

A History of colourful Daylesford

Award winning local storyteller, social historian and writer Anne E Stewart has put her research skills into gear to uncover little known facts, legendary characters and the origins of the Chillout Festival. The show explores why and when our little village became so GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) friendly.

Highlights include photos, documents and oral histories that tell the story of our town. Anne will also feature photos and discussion behind her last contribution to Chillout, the 2010 ‘St Dorothy of Daylesford’ float featuring the fabulous Miss Mille Minogue.

Where: The Convent Gallery Chapel

When: Saturday 12 March

Time: 3.30pm Altar Bar, Drinks available

Show: Starts 4pm

Tickets: $20

Contact: The Convent on 5348 321

pics: Dr Gwenyth Wiswould (Trentham Doctor)

Captain Moonlite (The Gay Bushranger)

Robert Lindsay (brother of Norman )

Rocket Clock story slam: 2011 Trades Hall

Have you visited Rocket Clock yet?

Rocket Clock is a story slam competition. Ten people each have five minutes to tell a story around a particular theme. Judges in the audience rate each story on both content and performance. Everyone has a great time.

Upcoming Slams

Wednesday February 9, 2011: “Good Intentions”
Wednesday March 9, 2011: “Small World”
Wednesday April 6, 2011: “Lesson Learnt” *Comedy Festival special*
Wednesday April 13, 2011: “Secrets” *Comedy Festival special*

Rocket Clock is not a Vic Guild event but our roving reporter has been along and reports that its loads of fun and very welcoming.

Chloe Boulton is the organaising force behind Rocket Clock. I asked Chloe to tell us the story behind this fabulous event.

In October 2009, I was lucky enough to be in Chicago for work (I run a children's film festival called Little Big Shots and was on my annual film finding mission) when I first saw a story slam. The experience blew me away and my most overwhelming thought was, "why isn't this happening in Melbourne?". When I got home, it was impossible to shake the idea and, though it took me almost a year to start up Rocket Clock, it was never far from my mind. I approached Bella Union about being the venue for the night, as I really like the relaxed feel of their bar and stage, and the Trades Hall building certainly has a strong tradition of storytelling and speeches. The fact that it was also close to the most delicious (hazelnut) gelati on Lygon St was purely a coincidence, I swear! My favourite thing about Rocket Clock is the variety of different people who have come along to tell stories, and the really diverse range of stories that they've told. We love funny people at Rocket Clock, but we're definitely looking for stories, not stand-up routines: something that has a consistent narrative, and a beginning, middle and end. The name Rocket Clock came to me after I was brainstorming different times and places in which people tell stories. I thought of how I loved the Rocket Clock stories on Play School when I was a kid, and liked how that name implied the element of time (as in, each storyteller only has five minutes) and also an element of movement and excitement (that you could never be too sure in which direction the stories were going to take off). It's been fantastic fun so far, and I hope it continues on for a long time.

Check EVENTS under Links on this blog for more details.