Six P's, and perfect isn't one!

This past week in class we performed for the first time.  As discussed in class, nerves or lack thereof as an instructor, and nerves as a performer are inherently different.  I had always known that many celebrities suffer from performance anxiety as I have always had this challenge.  Growing up as a student in gifted and talented programs I always had to get in front of my peers.  I sang and performed in school since I was 12, and although I survive, I have had numerous sleepless nights trying to perfect my performances.  I only wish that we had programs like storytelling and National Forensic Leagues to aid in my anxiety because the more experience you have the less nervous you get.  Once I begin talking I am usually fine, it is the volunteering or walking up on stage that sometimes gets me.  At VOX, this week Mig really wanted me to perform, but I wanted to wait until I had seen the layout/structure of the competition.  Weird, I know.  I certainly agree with Jerry, I’d rather be in the casket! 

In class we talked about the 6 Ps, I found them extremely helpful and shared them with my speech class. As for my own performance, I practiced extensively in front of my classes (both Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication, who got the pleasure of critiquing ME), and my family.  I bet they can all sing the canoe song.  Then I practiced in a tape recorded to not only check my timing (which was more like 8 minutes) also to work out any kinks.  Revise, revise, revise…I visualized my kayaking experience and success at telling the story.  And even tried stretching and walking across the street before my presentation.  I took a deep long breath prior to beginning and away I went!  Once I got started I was good, except for a little cotton mouth. I think the hardest P was the paradigm shift, as I still knew that I was performing, not simply sharing one of my unusual tales to my class or family.  I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave out details, which I did; nevertheless, I did survive. 

Funny, although I get nervous, I love storytelling, performing and the idea of learning through personal stories. As long as I am not “thinking” about proving myself, nor being perfect, and concentrating on the paradigm shift, I will conquer!

With A Happy Heart,

Cynde

Fools for Love

For Valentine’s Day, I took my mother and mother-in-law to see Dolores Hydock at the Willow Theatre.  Hydock gave us a host of fascinating imagery of the reign of George IV and his lavish parties and secret life with Maria Fitzherbert.  Hydock shared her “Fools for Love” story and insight into the art of Georgian miniatures, paintings of eyes, mouths, and “other” parts. I found Hydock’s story structure and organization very compelling and was able to see the similarities with Lebov and Waletzy story structure.  As Hydock entered the theatre she was chanting (or calling out) 1700s British “cheapside” phrases to grab the attention of the audience pulling them into creating the atmosphere for her story.  Lebov and Waletzy might consider this Hydock’s abstract leading to her orientation.  As she stepped onto the stage, she immediately began tying her abstract into her first set of characters, the Cockney or British “cheapside” people with George IV, and how one day per year the peasants were allowed into George IV’s home.  Hydock weaved story after story, each following the four traditional components in a story: orientation, conflicting action, evaluation and resolution, some had abstracts and codas and others did not.  Overall, it was a fascinating and informative evening that every aspiring storyteller should attend.  Hydock is a true artist that I felt honored to have heard and look forward to writing a Rhet Crit review on her show.

Later in the week, in my Rhet Crit class we spoke about visual rhetoric. The Lover’s Eye miniatures remind me of the purpose an image.  The miniatures portray the gaze of the lover, The rhetorical purpose of the gaze in the 1700s (and today) helps us remember people important to us, and anything intimate in nature, making the making the holder of the keepsake an exclusive beholder and in return create a reciprocal gaze from far.  It would be an interesting research project to look at the visual rhetoric of the Georgian miniatures.  It was fascinating and out of the ordinary how Hydock’s story tied into teaching/learning about  storytelling and visual rhetoric.

Make It A Great Day!

Cynde

L&W

As I sat in church on Sunday, somewhere I haven’t been in a while.  I realized that the sermon is a story, not only in the biblical sense, but in structure. Last week in class we talked about two researchers, Labov and Walesky and how they breakdown the narrative structure of an oral story.  I am sure that the priest would have preferred me to be listening to the content to his sermon on light and salt; however, my mind continued to wonder to class.  The priest began his story with orienting the parish with lighthouses being a beacon or light that people follow.  He spoke about his small village in Ireland where the only electrical power was in the lighthouse.  This light guided everyone in darkness.  Next he paralleled the lighthouse to our lives, basically providing the “ok, so what?”  for us.  And finally I saw how he tied everything back together revealing that lighthouses are within each of us, and we can either provide the light or walk in darkness.  As I think back to class, I am not certain I would call the biblical passages either the abstract or the coda, but one could loosely say that the priest used them as such. 

It is interesting to me is to see that stories, and storytelling IS everywhere.  Furthermore, Labov and Walesky’s structure provides a great approach to breaking down the components of any narrative form playing a central role in communication, especially interpersonal communication. 

Fonda on Fonda

 

Spending a few days under the weather allowed me to catch a few documentaries that I might never have had the chance to see.  One such documentary was “Fonda on Fonda” where Jane, Peter, and Shirlee Fonda along with many other celebrities talk about the late, Henry Fonda.  As one of my favorite acting families, I never knew that Henry Fonda was an illustrator and storyteller.  Apparently, when he was stationed in the Navy, he would write and draw stories to Peter and Jane when they were little.  It was his way of staying connected across the miles. Fonda created an ongoing fairytale about a fish called Wilbur that he would write about sharing stories of the Navy and being at sea. 

What amazed me the most about Fonda being a storyteller is that he has always been considered (at least by his children) as someone that feared spontaneity and real emotions, especially after his first wife committed suicide. This led me to think about storytellers lacking pathos in real life?  Is storytelling simply a performance? I tend to think, no. Storytelling is about revealing true emotions and heartfelt thought.  Perhaps Fonda expressed in his writings things he could not express orally; many artists cannot express their true identity, so they turn to their art. 

This is one clear distinction between oral storytelling and stories.  It is the storyteller that brings the action alive causing the “ audience affect.”. Affect is the energy that pushes people toward pleasures and fascinations, as each of us perceives differently, remembers differently, and takes our own journeys.  According to Aristotle, an audience attends to things which affect them, and if they are not attentive, then the subject means nothing to them personally. Concerned more with energy or various combined energies, affect actualizes how people interact.  These energies are not necessarily controllable, giving people that ability to connect to things, people, ideas, sensations, ambitions, relations, and a number of other internal desires.

With A Happy Heart,

Cynde