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Archive Number 2460 | ||
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Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2003 12:45:26 -0600
----- Original Message ----- From: "Limor Shiponi" >I have to > say, there were also "dead spots" that caught my attention. Mainly tellers > being "too nice". Dealing with texts that were either too sweet or too > detached from their personal dreams of fairies and butterflies or told in a > slow/sweet/lovely/attending/controlled etc. manner. I hardly saw any guts. > When those appeared they were powerful and moving. Not only to me but to the > whole audience. That means that everybody recognized the truth. But why are > there so little that use it? > They were > dealing with their lives in their own small and unique way. Many of them > "lost" the battle. But those are the true stories, not the "fixed" ones. It > is my way to reflect upon the real suffering of our people until today. I'm > sure the question will rise in more than one person's mind: "Is all this > really worthwhile? are we doing the right thing? Can't you tell nice > stories?" It is a frightening issue but I find it necessary to reflect upon. Limor and All, Your questions are important and are part of our earlier discussion on the personal story. My experience is as yours in the U.S.A. in general we do tend towards the nice and when a story is told that is darker there is often negative reactions and the story and teller are dismissed as anomalies. However, there are also the tellers such as Elizabeth Ellis and others who are willing to push the limits. I have seen at times some of the national level storytellers tell some pretty hard stories. Recently, I saw a storytelling performance by Dorothy Cleveland at the Mpls. Fringe Festival called Grendl's Mother. It was a gutsy performance in which the darkside of revenge and anger of the myth and motherhood were explored. My sense is that in the Performance Arts community there are those who are pushing the edges of storytelling but they do not even think of themselves as storytellers. Thus in the storytelling community in general nice or sentimental or "it all works out in the end stories" are the norm. I would be interested in hearing the experiences of others and if it is similiar "why is this?" and if not, "Some reflection on what they have seen and their thoughts?" Andre ------ http://USFamily.Net/info - Unlimited Internet - From $8.99/mo! ------ | ||