And on Sunday, 40 of them will gather for the annual New Jersey Storytelling Festival
By: Jessica Emili
"It’s so easy to make up a model of what storytelling is, but there are as many ways to tell a story as there are storytellers in the world," said Eva Foster, a professional storyteller from Princeton.
Ms. Foster is just one of more than 40 "tellers" from all over the state who will be performing at the annual New Jersey Storytelling Festival on Sunday at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton.
While they come from varied backgrounds, all of these artists are impassioned about the possibilities that storytelling creates. As storyteller Tara McGowan of Rocky Hill puts it, she is "addicted to that energy that comes from a live audience."
Like many local storytellers, Ms. McGowan was inspired by Susan Danoff, a Princeton teller who founded Storytelling Arts, Inc., a nonprofit group that trains New Jersey teachers and works with more than 2,000 students per year.
While completing a teacher’s preparation program, Ms. McGowan was given the opportunity to become Ms. Danoff’s intern for two workshops before completing a year-long internship with her. Ms. Danoff then trained her to become an associate storyteller with Storyteller Arts.
Since then, Ms. McGowan has worked on various school programs, including working with fifth and sixth graders in Montgomery Township and Morristown. She has also taught workshops for teachers at Storytelling Arts Summer Institute for Teachers at Princeton University.
Ms. McGowan, who studied folklore for a year at Kyoto University in Japan, often focuses on Japanese culture through her stories. "For my own repertoire, I choose things that really speak to me personally. Learning a story (to tell) is like reliving an experience over and over again, so you have to enjoy it," said Ms. McGowan.
While Ms. Foster also took a workshop with Ms. Danoff and later completed a weeklong residency with her, her interest in storytelling began a long time ago. "Some people would say I’ve been doing this all my life," she said.
When a childhood friend once hired her to tell stories in a local bookstore, her friend’s father responded, "Oh no I listened to her stories the whole time you were growing up," recalls a chuckling Ms. Foster.
This is the first year that Ms. Foster will be performing a solo slot at the festival. "It was very encouraging to be chosen, because other storytellers decide who will be performing," she said.
She is currently working on a group of stories having to do with her mother’s growing up in Austria before and after the arrival of the Nazis during World War II. "I’ll be telling a group of stories that are mine and nobody else’s. There won’t be any other stories like mine at the festival," said Ms. Foster.
Helen Wise, yet another Danoff disciple she heard Ms. Danoff tell a story in church one Sunday and signed up for a workshop with her on the spot said that most of the time, she simply picks stories she likes. "The stories choose us. As storytellers, we read and listen to a lot of stories. You read one or hear one and it suddenly feels like your story, you identify with it in one way or another," said the West Windsor resident.
Although she often chooses stories for specific purposes when she’s telling in schools, "most of the time it’s one that just delights me. You can’t tell a story you don’t like," said Ms. Wise.
Ms. Wise went from "not even knowing there was such a thing as professional storytelling" to becoming a prominent member of the storytelling circuit. She’s taught at nursery schools and has done a residency at the Princeton Friends school. The majority of her work has been done in Trenton, where she’s completed extensive, schoolwide K-5 storytelling and story writing residency programs.
This is Ms. Wise’s second year working at the festival, and her first as a co-chair. Through her co-chair position, she’s been responsible for coordinating the day’s schedule and managing convenience issues for tellers. She also served on the selection committee.
This year she will team up with Ellin Greene for a session that involves storytellers telling tales by other storytellers. Ms. Wise will tell Ms. Greene’s tales, and Ms. Greene will tell tales by Eleanor Farjeon.
Ms. Wise is excited to be working with Ms. Greene. "It’s an honor and a privilege to have Ellin at the festival. She’s had a long and illustrious career," said Ms. Wise, who claims Ms. Greene is "partly responsible for the revival of storytelling."
Ellin Greene of Point Pleasant grew up in a story-telling family. "I was very lucky because my mother liked to read to me and both of my parents told me stories," she said. Her mother, who grew up on the border of England and Wales, where there was a lot of folklore, was especially influential in Ms. Greene’s becoming a storyteller. "Because of my background, I’m drawn to folklore tales," said Ms. Greene.
Ms. Greene got her storytelling start working with librarian/storyteller Augusta Baker at the New York Public Library. "I just fell in love with her work," said Ms. Greene.
After becoming Ms. Baker’s assistant at the NYPL, Ms. Greene became a storytelling specialist there. She has since taught at the Graduate Library School at the University of Chicago as an associate professor and at Rutgers as an adjunct professor.
In 2002, Ms. Greene was recognized for her work with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Storytelling Network.
"Winning was such a great honor because that award comes from your fellow storytellers they’re the ones who nominate the recipients," said Ms. Greene.
There are many benefits to the act of storytelling, for both tellers and their audiences. A sense of shared community is created in the process.
"There is a connection made to others. It may be in terms of something that happened or the feelings of the characters. After the stories are told, people talk about them, they talk to each other and they talk to the storyteller," said Ms. Wise.
For Ms. Greene, it’s what her audience doesn’t say that’s most striking.
"I think the greatest compliment for a storyteller is not for people to clap at the end of a story, but to be lost in wonder at what they’ve just heard, to be silent for at least a couple of minutes," she said.
Stories not only tell us more about ourselves and our culture, but also open minds to think about other cultures. "Stories from the beginning have been ways for people to give form, give substance, to who they are. We shape our sense of self through stories," said Ms. Wise.
Ms. Greene, who says there are more than 300 versions of "Cinderella" told around the world, believes that "through hearing different stories, children learn about their own culture and about others."
Storytelling has great advantages for children, especially; it encourages literacy and fosters a greater sense of imagination. "When a story is told orally, children are not limited by their reading level. They’re able to think about the story and talk about it. Storytelling lets them do the kind of analytical thinking about stories we want kids to be doing, even when they’re not capable of reading or writing at a certain level," said Ms. Wise.
Ms. Greene believes that parents should start telling stories and reading to children as early as possible. "Babies should be read to so that they grow up loving the sounds of words," she said. Ms. Greene said storytelling is a great introduction to books. "When children hear stories, they want to be able to read themselves," said Ms. Greene.
Aside from its literary value, storytelling ignites new possibilities for its listeners. Ms. Wise’s work in inner-city schools has taught her that "many children believe that they can do and be and experience only what we know. Hearing stories of other people opens up new possibilities. You can’t strive for what you can’t imagine. Storytellers open up our imaginations."
While a story has the power to change its listeners by its end, most storytellers note how much a story itself changes each time it’s told. "A friend of mine heard me tell a story to two different groups of kids. He said ‘I’m glad I heard it twice because it changed.’ It must have changed in ways I wasn’t aware of. In storytelling, the story changes; it’s not like the printed page, which stays the same," said Ms. Foster.
More than 40 storytellers will share their craft at this year’s New Jersey Storytelling Festival, with sites for families of school-aged and preschool children, as well as a workshop for teachers. However, Ms. Wise says that, "the vast majority of people there will simply be people that want to come and be entertained."
Surprisingly, about three-quarters of the day’s events will be geared toward adults.
"Most importantly, stories are fun. They’re what we do when we get together," said Ms. Wise.
The 14th annual New Jersey Storytelling Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Grounds For Sculpture is located at 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton. The event will be held rain or shine. Admission is free with the $12 admission to the Grounds. For more information, visit www.folkproject.org, or call (609) 586-0616.