Friday 25 November 2016

Workshop on Storytelling



Workshop on Storytelling
On the 24th of November, a two-hour workshop on storytelling took place at Christ University, Bannerghatta Road Campus. It was conducted by acclaimed storyteller Ms. Deepa and was attended by students of first and second year English Honours. The workshop started off on an interesting note with an interactive exercise, aimed at demolishing the inhibitions of the students when it came to storytelling. Having already asked everyone to put away their notepads and pens, Ms. Deepa impressed upon the audience the importance of memory in storytelling.
Thereafter, she related an African folktale, featuring the famous character Anansi the Spider, and demonstrated to the audience the techniques of effective storytelling. She also told the audience about the power of storytelling in myth-making. Following this was a Q and A session, where the question of language being a barrier in storytelling was raised, in reply to which she told the audience a bilingual (Gujarati/English) story, demonstrating that there are no language barriers when it comes to stories. This was followed by an exercise in which the students were made to practice their voice modulation and body language skills. Pitch, pace and pause, hand gestures and facial elasticity, besides being very important components of engaging storytelling, also helped to draw energy from the audience. The audience was also informed that songs, costumes and props could be brought in to augment the process, depending on the storyteller’s preferences and practice.
With that, the workshop came to an end and the students expressed their gratitude towards Ms. Deepa for an enlightening and interactive session.


 

Our Legacy of Excellence

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) has its roots traced back to the profound visions of St Kuriakose Elias Chavara. It was established in 1969...