Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Listeners Wanted!

The time has come! Golden leaves announce that the season for ghost stories is here - It will, of course, be dark and cold at the annual Festival of Ghost Stories. Come prepared for the weather - and listen to the radio or check with the library to see if we have moved indoors. If it is clear, we'll be at Cascades Park, if it rains we'll be in the Monroe County Public Library.
It is this Friday, October 23, stories to begin around 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Festival of Ghost Stories Coming Up!


We are partnering with City Parks and Recreation and for the second year in a row we will be a part of their “Festival of the Falls” in the Lower Cascades Park. The date for our annual Festival of Ghost Stories is Friday, October 23, 7:30-9:00pm.


Anyone who attended or told last year will be pleased to know that the City Parks and Rec. has arranged to have that road closed so that loud cars will not disturb the mood we strive to create.


If you are intersted in telling at the Festival, plan to audition your story on Weds., Oct. 14 4:00-6:00pm in the Children’s Program in at the Main library of the Monroe County Public Library. You are welcome to drop in during those two hours.


It would be ideal if you would email Stephanie Holman at sholman@mcpl.info with your intent to tell, the length of your story, and a brief summary/synopsis of the tale and also let me know what time you can make it to auditions. There are several on our email list that have not told for a long while and we want to invite you to tell again. We miss you and you know who you are! We would love to have some of our old friends back on stage with us as well as some new friends we have just discovered.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Twice -told, storytelling with a translator

"Art Across the Americas" brought a group of young artists from Guatemala together with kids from Bloomington to work on a mural along the B-Line Trail. When the painting was done, they celebrated with a picnic - and storytelling. Sitting on the lawn beside a small pond, the stories were told with a background of water splashing and birds chirping.
It was interesting working with a translator - figuring out when to pause and how to keep a story flowing with such frequent breaks. The audience reaction was interesting too - first the English speaking half would respond, then after the translation, the Spanish speaking half would join in. The translator had not heard the story before, so there were times when she had to grope for an unfamiliar word. The audience was forgiving and enjoyed the novelty of the experience, as did we.


Monday, May 11, 2009

Farm day

The old farm is a great place for storytelling, and we're delighted to be part of the traditional "Farm Day" when it opens to hundreds of children.


The old farmhouse, the barns, the fields beyond - all set the scene perfectly.

Early in the morning the storyteller takes a deep breath and mentally runs through stories about chicks and ducklings and piggies.




Here come the buses!


Here are the kids, pouring off the buses!
Now it's time for story after story after story, as each group takes a break to sit on the hay bales and connect the characters in the tales to the live creatures they've just seen and touched.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Spring Stories


Have you heard the frogs out calling?
They seem to have inspired several tellers lately.
Preschoolers at Ellettsville were entertained by Miss Stephanie's lively puppet rendition of "Jump, Frog, Jump". Everyone was happy when the frog escaped from the basket.
First graders at Highland Park weren't sure about the Korean folktale of the "Little Green Frogs". They liked the sons doing just the opposite of their Mother's wishes, but they were concerned when the Mother died.
'The Wide-mothed Frog" in two different variations entertained both groups.
Do you have a favorite frog story?

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Children's Storytelling Workshop

Pamela will be introducing the world of gardening through stories to children ages 3 and up at Hilltop Garden and Nature Center.
This special event is sponsored by Bloomingfoods Community Outreach.

Saturday, Feb.28

call 812-855-8808 to register or for more information.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Wintertelling Tellers


It was a lively - and thoughtful - evening of stories at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium last night. Stories that explored themes of love and fortune and the strange ways of fate, with a little malice and a cup of tea tossed into the mix.
The audience was enthusiastic and well entertained by this collection of skillful storytellers.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wintertelling









Wintertelling 2009

is coming up:


Feb. 6


Monroe County Public Library


Auditorium


7:30 p.m.


Thursday, January 8, 2009

Hope premieres her Lincoln piece!



Of the People: Stories and Images of Abraham Lincoln

told by Hope Baugh
In collaboration with the Indiana Historical Society
Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center Frank and Katrina Basile Theater
450 W. Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Sunday, January 18th
4 -6 p.m.
Tickets $10/Advance, $12/Door
Call 317-232-1882 or www.storytellingarts.org/store/category/Tickets


To commemorate the 200th anniversary of our 16th president's birth, Hope Baugh will premiere her original piece Of the People: Stories and Images of Abraham Lincoln as part of the Sharing Hoosier History Through Stories Series presented by Storytelling Arts of Indiana and the Indiana Historical Society.

Hope drew inspiration from Lincoln's unique position as the first president to be widely portrayed via photographs and other visual images. This, she imagines, gave the American people a sense of "ownership" of their President that had not existed before. His humble childhood in a one-room cabin and lack of formal education made him seem truly "of the people" -- an image that lingers even today.

Hope Baugh currently works full-time as a department manager for a public library, and part-time as a freelance storyteller and teacher. This year, she will be teaching a graduate workshop in storytelling for Master of Library Science students at IUPUI, and will serve as an Encore Association judge for community theater in the 2008 - 09 season. She also maintains a blog, http://www.indytheatrehabit.com/, where she reviews several local theater and storytelling performances per week. While not teaching, blogging, judging or performing, Hope enjoys spending time in her garden.
Hope is a long time member of the Bloomington Storytellers Guild.