Festivals last month

I enjoy festival telling. Last month I was in two. The first was the Fairfield Bay Storyfest in Fairfield Bay, AR. The bay is on Greer's Ferry Lake. I had a great time having wide-ranging conversations with my hosts, a delightful couple who live in a quiet wooded area with no neighbors in sight. I did see deer, fox and carp (whew, those are ugly fish!). This small festival is in its second year in this idyllic spot. It's a favorite area for retirees, so many of the audience members were older folks. Kudos to the festival director, Stas' Ziolkowski, who convinced the residents that a storytelling festival would be a unique event for the area. He did a great job.

On Friday, we visited schools. I had two sets, one with 400 kindergarten through third graders, the second with 300 fourth through sixth graders. On Saturday, for the festival itself, I was on the bill with Willy Claflin, Barbara McBride-Smith and Bobby Norfolk. Very fun to be with these top-tier storytellers. The last time Willy and I shared a stage, my baby puppet and his moose puppet did an improv story together. We realized too late this time that we could have worked another in.

On the way home, I had a layover in Memphis (yes, I had to go east to go west, but at least it wasn't to Atlanta, as it was on my way). We had been talking at the festival about needing to have a clock clearly visible so we didn't go over time. It's awkward to look at one's watch while performing. Even though we're just checking to see how much time there is left, it always looks like we are hoping the set is almost over. If it weren't for that conversation, I might not have bought this $10 watch in the airport:

Now that's a watch I can see!

The next week I drove over to Jefferson City, MO to the Mid-Missouri Storytelling Festival. I think this might be my sixth time at this festival. It feels like a family reunion, as the same storytellers tend to be invited back. The main part of this festival is visiting schools in the area. At Eugene Elementary, where I performed with Greg Tyler, the kids had made a sign for us.

I think the whole school signed it.

For the first time at this festival, I was in the evening performance for adults on Friday, where I told "Razzles," a personal story of giving in to temptation and the ensuing guilt.

Now I'm home for a few more days, packing for my next trip.

Mid-Missouri Storytelling Festival, part II

Back to the festival. Did I mention that it's put on by the Missouri River Regional Library and the Daniel Boone Regional Library, with tons of other sponsors? This year was the 10th anniversary, and there were 13 storytellers.

I performed at two Catholic schools on Thursday, two public schools on Friday, and twice at the Columbia Public Library on Saturday. On Thursday, I had kindergarteners through eighth graders in one group, then kindergarteners through sixth graders a the other school. Though I can perform for such a wide range of ages (5 to 13), and everybody did have a good time, I find a smaller range of age to be more effective. Obviously, kindergarteners are developmentally different from adolescents, so what fits for the younger kids might feel too small for the older kids. I end up spending extra time reassuring the older kids that I respect them.

On Friday I had a smaller range, kindergarteners to third graders (age 5-8). This made more sense. I was reminded of how every performance is different: the morning show had 60 kids who listened with quiet enjoyment. The afternoon group was about 250, in a sweltering gym just as a storm was rolling in, and the kids came in already excited. I had a good time playing with the energy, watching how the students settled in to a quiet story and then got a little wild with a more active tale. I always try to bring them back down to a manageable place before I send them back to class.

On Saturday at the Columbia Public Library, in the shows I shared with Beth Horner, we had families. The morning show was full of active tinies, the afternoon listeners had that post-lunch quiet energy. The really tiny children must have been at home having their naps.

Mid-Missouri Storytelling Festival, part I

I meant to blog while on the road last week, but I left the power cord to my laptop sitting quietly on my desk. I jumped online for a few minutes each day, not daring to spend too much of my battery power. Oh, and if you tried to e-mail me near the end of last week, try again. Had a few other glitches, now resolved.

I was in Jefferson City and Columbia, MO at the Mid-Missouri Storytelling Festival, my third year in a row at this mostly school-based festival. Some festivals take place at one site, some are spread over a larger region. For example, the Cape Girardeau Festival was held in three tents, while Mid-MO took place at almost 50 sites, mostly schools and libraries. Depth and breadth? Each style has its merits.

One of the fun things about this festival is getting to see the other storytellers in between shows (and we get to see some of them tell stories, tra la!). We check in with each other, talk about what we're working on, see pictures of grandchildren (Jim Two Crows even brought his grandson Zach), tell stories and jokes, play dice, sing and generally behave like the kind of grownups we are. That is, the kind who still remember how to play.