Dec 9-11, 2005
The Art of the Spoken Word—some call it storytelling—has surged into the mainstream of American culture over the past thirty years. An intimate, personal antidote to the over-stimulation of mass media, nearly every city boasts its guild of storytellers and its story festivals, and the styles of performance are as varied as the tellers themselves. As a spiritual practice, storytelling summons the Muse of Eloquence in each of us. In the Muse’s magic crucible, words and emotions flow freely, allowing us to explore regions of our souls that reveal themselves only in its imaginative glow.
This workshop is designed for the beginner, but will reveal secrets of the art to inspire advanced storytellers and writers. It will be filled with laughter, insight, and live music on 12-string guitars, a Celtic harp, an Indian sitar, and other instruments. We will begin by listening to what you hope to learn. Odds will interweave stories by way of example. Explore The Five Imaginations and how to use them all simultaneously. Discuss recent discoveries by modern brain science about media’s effects on learning, mood, and creativity. Explore styles of storytelling from the personal narrative to the epic myth. Learn to create character voices and vocal sound effects, and how to tell stories to children so they’ll love them. If you’re so inclined, in the fashion of the bard, you can learn to add music, too.
Odds’ step-by-step method for remembering stories creates a comfort zone with your own moment-to-moment creativity, uses certain kinds of memory to clearly recall story details. Learn to tap your emotions to bring others along with you. Merge the voice within with your public voice. Open your storyteller’s wings to the muse and tell us a story.
For 23 years, Master Storyteller and Musician Odds Bodkin has worked with the Muse, creating epic tales for worldwide audiences. His 32-show Off-Broadway debut at Lincoln Center led the NY Times to call him “a consummate storyteller” and Timeout to call him “a one-man vocal universe.” Adjunct professor at Antioch New England Graduate School, Featured Teller at The National Storytelling Festival, Teller-in-Residence at The International Storytelling Center, he has performed twice at The White House and at schools, colleges and festivals around the world. A published children’s author, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, and high-energy performer, Bodkin has taken all he has learned about the creative process and distilled it into his signature workshop, The Door to Imagination: How to Awaken Your Inner Storyteller. Rowe is honored to share this amazing work.
“Odds Bodkin struck the imaginations of my children like a lightning bolt flung by one of the gods he tells about in his Homeric epics…. His (guitar) playing was nothing short of terrific (and he) did all the things an actor needs to do well.” —Harriett Worrell
“Brilliant... enchanting, professional... captivating” —Denise Di Stefanoght