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  • Going Deep Stories Group

Going Deep Stories 2012 in San Francisco

Eth-Noh-Tec, Olga Loya, Liz Warren and Priscilla Howe present

Going Deep Long Traditional Story Retreat

and Concerts

April 11-14, 2012, San Francisco, CA

Are you hungry for the depth and substance of a rich storytelling experience? Long traditional stories are like a hearty meal in a fast-food world. During Going Deep, an epic teller serves up a long story concert each evening. The next morning, workshop participants “go deep” into that story, exploring its themes, meaning and imagery with the teller. Afternoons are free. Evening concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Morning workshops are 9:00-12:00.

Location

Eth-Noh-Tec Studio, 977 So. Van Ness Ave SF CA 94110, 415-282-8705 (please note: the venue is accessible by two staircases and shoes-off only).

Retreat fee (light breakfasts and lunches Thursday-Saturday, four concerts and three workshops)

$395 before Jan. 15, 2012, $475 after. Enrollment closed after Feb. 15. E-mail Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo about lodging options (lodging is not included in registration fee).

Tickets for individual concerts are also available to the public

$20 per evening, $15 each for three or more.

Going Deep2012 Registration Form

E-mail Priscilla Howe or call 785-331-6181 with questions.

Program

Wednesday

Kojiki told by Eth-Noh-Tec Kinetic Story Theater

Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang of Eth-Noh-Tec

In Book One of the Records of Ancient Matters, The Kojiki reveals the origins of the Land of the Rising Sun, Life and Death, the Myriad of Japanese gods and goddesses.  Through their unique Pan-Asian style of storytelling, Eth-Noh-Tec will weave of ancient metaphor and myth with modern message.

Thursday

The First Branch of the Mabinogion – The Story of Pwyll and Rhiannon told by Mythic Crew (Liz Warren & John Good)

Liz Warren and John Good of Mythic Crew

Mythic Crew blends music, language, proverb and story to evoke the Celtic bardic tradition for 21st century listeners. The First Branch introduces us to ancient concepts of the Otherworld and sovereignty while showing us how a proper medieval Welsh prince should behave.

Friday

Mahabharata: Hindu Epic told by Cathryn Fairlee

Cathryn Fairlee

Well known to all Hindus, this is an ancient epic of the dynastic struggle between cousins, the 5 splendid Pandavas and the 100 scheming Kauravas.  Full of myths, adventure, humor, and spiritual enlightenment, and three times longer than the Bible, this pilgrimage gives you its essence.

Saturday

NEW! Going Wide…Stories of Epic Proportions (in small portions)

Join us for a concert of six tellers performing shorter pieces on epic themes. Performers to be announced. There will be no follow-up workshop for this concert.



Coming very soon! Going Deep 2012

We’re on the verge of announcing stories and tellers for the next Going Deep Long Traditional Story Retreat. We’ll also have the registration form ready to roll. Until then, mark your calendars for April 11-14, 2012 in San Francisco.

Check back soon, and join our new Facebook group, Going Deep Long Traditional Stories Retreat.

2012 Going Deep in San Francisco

Heads up! We’re going to San Francisco for Going Deep, April 11-14, 2012 (note that this is Wednesday to Saturday), hosted by Robert and Nancy of Eth-noh-tec. Look for more on this soon!

And if you’re still considering sending a proposal, don’t hesitate. If we don’t use it next year, we might the following. It’s a rolling application process.

Reflections on Going Deep 2009

Last week at this time, I was in Bethlehem, IN at the Going Deep Long Traditional Story Retreat. Here’s the view from the Storyteller’s Riverhouse B&B, the venue for this amazing experience, at dawn:


Barges glided up and down the river all weekend, red lights glowing at night. The B&B is owned and run by storyteller Cynthia Changaris, who with Mary Hamilton have been incredible midwives for the retreat. Cynthia borrowed several other houses in this tiny town for participants to use, she arranged for cooks, massage therapists, a palm reader and the old schoolhouse. Yoeman’s work! We missed Mary, who was laid low by a flu, and whose hard work in past years (and in prep for this year) has made such a difference to us all. Here’s the Riverhouse:

My friend Margaret came to my house the night before, and we drove the ten hours to Indiana, arriving just in time for a quick supper and the first story, The Grail, told masterfully by Liz Warren. We sat in a trance listening to the quintessential quest story. I’d heard Liz tell this in 2006 and also on her CD. It was just as powerful this time.
Afterwards, we went back to the house to eat cake and hang out. Then we slept, dreaming about the story. One of the participants mentioned how hard it was to sleep because of the images pinging around in our heads.
In the morning, Liz led a workshop on the story. The workshops are what really distinguish this retreat from other festivals and story events. We truly do “go deep” into the story and into our own lives.
Afternoons at Going Deep are free, with all kinds of options from massage to palm reading to naps to singing. Next time, we may set up a space for a story swap for the participants.
The second story was The Paths of Osun, told richly and well by Marilyn Omifunke Torres, who holds two Yoruba chieftaincies. Her telling (and singing) of five interrelated stories from the Yoruba tradition brought the audience to a new world of story.

Once again, we went back to the house. As important as the stories and the workshops are the times of just hanging out, eating together and chatting.

Marilyn’s intense workshop the next morning took us further into an understanding of the ritual and tradition of the Yoruba, and into our own wishes and dreams, culminating in a ceremony at the river. The Ohio is sweeter for our having been there!

We also had an equinox ceremony by the river in the late afternoon, before supper and the last story of the retreat, Gilgamesh, told by David Novak.

One of the cool things about this story is that in 2006 David mentioned wanting to tell it, at the first Going Deep. We leapt on that, asking him to tell it for us. He created a simple set with river reeds, bamboo mats and tiles. David comes from a theater background, and that comes through in terms of the set, lights and music, but it’s still very firmly a story, not a play. We reveled in yet another intense experience as we listened. There’s a reason this story has lasted millenia!

As in the past years, on that last night, there were two camps in the after-story: those who were almost giddy from the stories and those who dove deeply into conversation about them.
David’s workshop had yet a different flavor from the other two workshops, with more discussion of the artistic choices he made and the ways in which stories work. Part of the beauty of the retreat plan is that each workshop reflects both the story and the storyteller. There was a lot to chew on in this session.
I was a little sad at lunch, knowing we’d have to go right after we left, and knowing that we’ve decided not to have Going Deep at the Riverhouse next year. It has been wonderful to be there, but it’s time for us to grow up and spread our wings. We are deeply grateful to Cynthia and Mary for nurturing this project for so long.

2009 Featured Stories and Tellers

 

2009 Featured Stories and Tellers

The Story of the Grail told by Liz Warren

The wonder and grace of earning a second chance.

Liz Warren, a fourth-generation Arizonan, is a storyteller, teacher, writer and co-founder of the South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Her recording of The Story of the Grail received a Parents’ Choice Recommended Award in 2004 and a Storytelling World Award in 2006. Representing SMCC, she is the producer of the annual Mesa Storytelling Festival. Her new textbook, The Oral Tradition Today: An Introduction to the Art of Storytelling was published in 2008.

 

The Paths of Osun told by Marilyn Omifunke Torres

The West African Yoruba Epic.

Marilyn Omifunke Torres is known as the WestWinds Storyteller. She is an ordained West African traditional teller of 27 years and received two chieftaincies in 1984 in the village of Imota, Nigeria as a descendent of the “children of slavery on the island of Puerto Rico.” Marilyn is the director of a college-bound program at Tertulia Pre-College Community and is dedicated to incorporating storytelling into all forms of youth leadership and literacy in secondary education.

 

Gilgamesh told by David Novak

Sex, power and immortality.

David Novak is often featured at the National Storytelling Festival and on concert stages across the US. He received the 2002 Circle Of Excellence award from the National Storytelling Network. Novak comes to platform narration with a background in theatre arts including Shakespeare, clowning, creative dramatics, playwriting and directing.Texas storyteller Jeanine Pasini-Beekman, says of Novak: “In him, the Brothers Grimm and Carl Jung meet Monty Python.” That about sums it up.

Check out our new look!

Back to WordPress, with more information and better access to it.

Going Deep 2008 flyer

Still learning about WordPress. Until I figure it out, here’s the

flyer for 2008.

Click that link and you’ll get all the information, pictures and all!

In a nutshell

Mark your calendars for April 10-13, 2008. Olga Loya will tell The Aztec Creation, Priscilla Howe will tell Queen Berta and King Pippin, Megan Wells will tell Helen’s Troy. Each evening, a wonderful story. Each morning, a workshop on the story from the night before. Each afternoon, free time for massages, palm readings, walks, naps and general hanging out. All this at the Storyteller’s Riverhouse in Bethlehem, IN on the beautiful Ohio River. It’s a unique experience!

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