Thursday 21 October 2010

Collecting Stories, putting down roots.

I've been buying books of stories to tell. As I'll be telling in English, in Finland, I've decided to concentrate on Finnish tales (familiarity for those studying English), English tales, London tales and possibly some Irish/Celtic tales (to reflect my own culture).

I have also been revisiting some of my folk CDs. I was particularly struck a song called Roots, sung by Show of Hands. It includes the line 

"Without our stories and our songs, how to we know where we come from? We need roots"

It reminded me that although I live in Finland I am still English, as is the Monkey. I was born in London, as were my parents and grandparents but 2 of my great grandparents were born in Ireland, 1 in Manchester and the rest in London. Of course my children's cultural heritage is even more of a mix - including their Finnish Daddy, grandparents, greatgrandparents etc. Further back there are links to Sweden and Russia - bearing in mind that Finland has only been independent since 1917. The Mouse was born in Finland.

So, my Finnglish family is more than just Finnglish. It is FinnEngIriSweRussian!?!?

The books I have started my collection with are collections of stories retold or simply collected. There are "Tales from a Finnish Tupa", "Siberian Folk Tales" (which includes Saame, or Lapp tales) and "London Lore". 

I also have an incredibly abridged version of the Kalevala, called "Songs of Power" with all the adventurous distractions and complicated language reduced to simple verses over less than 50 pages. It is a great introduction to the central characters and the basic themes of Finland's great Epic. It will allow me to start telling a simple tale which will be recognised by most Finns. Over time I can build on the central story, adding in the extra characters and their adventures.

I'm looking forward to my first storytelling - probably at a storytelling cafe; a sharing of stories with other storytellers - hopefully some others in English, although it will be good for my Finnish to listen to some in Finnish, too! 

If anyone has christmas, winter, winter solstice or just snowy stories to share with me, I'd love to hear them, I hope to be telling some at the Christmas Markets in December!

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Storytelling

I've just finished a 2 day seminar on Storytelling. It was actually for teachers but somehow I managed to find my way in... it was wonderful - a real revelation. This is my new venture... I'm going to try and be a Storyteller. On Saturday I went to the culmination of the Nordic Voices Festival. Ten storytellers from Nordic Lands telling ten stories in various languages - 1 in Finnish, 2 in Swedish, 1 in Danish and the rest in English - one from a German woman and the other a Danish/Faroese Man. The English storytellers were from Scotland and Norway! 

It was wonderful - inspirational... and I realised that this might be something I could do.  

So, I spent 2 days on this seminar and I found a mentor. Claire Hewitt is a Storyteller, a singer, a harpist and a handworker - she makes felt, among other things. She shared stories and taught us how to felt, she inspired us to listen to and tell stories and share this with others.

Stories on the beach

The Raven put his wing across his face!

raw wool ready for the felting

lovely view

story inspirations, and Claire's book

our workshop space

Autumn sunshine through the trees outside our wooden windows.
So, now I am started to collect stories for telling, in English. I'm looking for Finnish Tales, English Tales and London Tales. I already have several potential "gigs" so this really could be a great new start for me. 

It may be chilly but it's sunny, too!

Ruissalo - beach at Ulappa

Oak tree by the sea

it gets windy, too!

I love the sound of the waves lapping on the rocks

and the sun on the sea

oops!