Runs in the Family
I hope Sun will forgive me for a little boasting, since she recently commented on one of my other posts.
She has just started teaching RE to secondary age schoolchildren at a South London comprehensive. (Well, calling takes people in odd and unaccountable ways.) She told me how she was telling the story of the Ramayana to a class of 12-year olds, (with some powerpoint slides, but I'll forgive her that) and they were so enthralled that they gasped when the holy man turns back into the demon and Ravana and kidnaps princess Sita. It seems she's inherited a storytelling gene from me and Alison. And is grateful for it. So am I - that's my girl!
But in truth, this is one of the things that thrills me about storytelling. If I had attended a masterclass with, say, Yehudi Menuhin, I would probably have thought, That was marvellous: I could never do that. But when I first heard Duncan Williamson - the first professional storyteller I ever heard - what I actually thought was, This is marvellous: I could do that! We already have some mastery of the instrument - though there's always more of it to learn. We are all storytellers. This is what makes it such a special art, or craft, or mystery.
She has just started teaching RE to secondary age schoolchildren at a South London comprehensive. (Well, calling takes people in odd and unaccountable ways.) She told me how she was telling the story of the Ramayana to a class of 12-year olds, (with some powerpoint slides, but I'll forgive her that) and they were so enthralled that they gasped when the holy man turns back into the demon and Ravana and kidnaps princess Sita. It seems she's inherited a storytelling gene from me and Alison. And is grateful for it. So am I - that's my girl!
But in truth, this is one of the things that thrills me about storytelling. If I had attended a masterclass with, say, Yehudi Menuhin, I would probably have thought, That was marvellous: I could never do that. But when I first heard Duncan Williamson - the first professional storyteller I ever heard - what I actually thought was, This is marvellous: I could do that! We already have some mastery of the instrument - though there's always more of it to learn. We are all storytellers. This is what makes it such a special art, or craft, or mystery.
posted by Tony at 11/24/2004 08:00:00 pm
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