Storytelling - what is it and what does it have to do with us today?

Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin...  Cliche, cliche, and more cliche.  Once upon a time, there was a storyteller, who came from Leeds and she thought that she'd share a bit of information about storytelling on the internet,  so here goes....

Storytelling is an artform revived in the 1980s by the likes of Hugh Lupton.  It happens when people stand and tell any kind of story - funny, sad or powerful in any kind of form - fairytale, folklore, anecdotal, tall tales.  Real storytelling does not involve reading aloud from a book, though a lot of people think it does.  This is a form of storytelling of course, but when I talk about storytelling, I mean purely by heart, purely without any written word whatsoever.  Just as a singer sings from memory, a true storyteller tells from memory.  The concept confuses a lot of people.  "Storytelling, you mean for children?" they ask.

Of course, they're right.  Storytelling is often for children.  However it isn't just for children.  It's for everyone.

We learn stories when we're young and we carry them with us throughout our lives.  We all probably enjoyed being read to when we were children, whether at a parent's knee or sitting on the floor as the teacher entertained us.  The experiences made us ask questions, use our imagination, escape into exciting worlds and learn things.  That's why, adults enjoy stories, just as much as children.  Questioning, imagining, enjoying and learning are activities that dont stop, just because you turn 18!  Whether it's a chilling tale on a ghost walk or a stirring legend from ancient Rome, storytelling is valid and valuable for all ages.

Think of your favourite soap operas or "ongoing dramas" as we now call them.  At the heart of their powerful draw are stories.  Your daily newspaper contains salacious stories of murders and scandal.  In another example, we learn about the story of the world when we visit museums.  And every one of us carries around our own story, in which we are the hero or the victim perhaps, depending on what kind of day we're having.

Yes, there's no escape from stories.  They make the world go round.  A memory for an elderly person from wartime Britain, a reminisence between two old friends down the pub, or the evocative words from a song - stories are everywhere!

So is storytelling still relevant in the 21st century?  Can adults sit still long enough, or children, come to that?
I think they can... and they all live happily ever after.

yorkshirestoryteller.com  Send your stories/anecdotes to Helen and keep the art of storytelling alive.