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Papa
Joe ~ Travel
Notes
From: Papa Joe
To: Storytell
Subject: Tour notes #11
Date: Sunday, June 22, 1997 10:02 AM
Honor.
8:30 am, First day of Summer, 1997 - Hans Christian Anderson
Statue, Central Park, New York, NY
Tasha Tripod and I left the cottage last night and spent the
night at a rest stop in SW Conn. I wanted to get into the Big
Apple before the traffic jams. It worked. :) It's been over
twenty years since I've been here at the park. Nothing seems to
have changed. It's still an oasis in this metropolis for a forest
creature like me.
Philip David, Thank you for getting me this invitation to tell
Haitian tales with Diane Wolkstein. I'll share a tale while I
await your arrival.
A little over a decade ago, I was a single parent and a full time
student struggling to earn a few dollars to pay the rent. An
entertainment agent offered me some gigs telling stories at
children's parties. To be brief, I began studying storytelling in
the USA. What I found at first was nothing like I knew. I was
just about to give up on the idea of calling myself a storyteller
when my friend, the agent, gave me a copy of Diane's "The
Magic Orange Tree and other Haitian Folktales". Folks, if
you haven't read the notes between the stories of that book, go
and find a copy. I would credit it with my becoming a
Storyteller. Those notes paint in the details of storytelling and
storytellers. And they match the storytelling traditions I grew
up with. Tayzanne! I was hooked.
I rarely tell a story that I've not heard told. I've only heard
two of Diane's tales and rarely tell them, but now I must tell
something from that book and must tell it in seven minutes or
less. Last week I decided on "Cat and Dog and the Return of
the Dead". And yes, Storytell. I was inspired by the recent
thread on 'Why' stories.
I also decided to detail this experience as I've been discussing
the importance of practicing the "Art of Telling" vs
the practicing of stories. So here I am, at one of the oldest
storytelling venues in the USA (thirty years), waiting to tell
one of Diane's stories to Diane, herself, and I've only told it
once in my life (last Thursday to my niece and her three little
friends).
It's hot and Tasha Tripod wants to go wading in the strange
concrete pond with all the strange city dogs. I'll write more
after I've met Diane.
----------------
6:20 pm, an empty lot somewhere East of Hartford, Conn.
Had to stop and cool off. Blew a tire on Interstate 91. Spent an
hour making the change. Changing a tire on an RV is nothing like
a car, but that's a different story. Tasha is still swimming and
playing in the river. I'm drying off.
Diana is just how I imagined. Warm, friendly, and informal. She
encourages her audience to stop her with questions and stops the
story to explain anytime she thinks there might be a lack of
understanding. There is very little polish to her tellings, but
the fifty odd New Yorkers and passing tourist love her. It was
obvious that she loved them. I suppose that's why she's been
coming here to tell for thirty years.
I told "Cat and Dog...". It didn't come out the way I
had planned. Some mixture of what I had wanted and what I had
read. But again, the focus was bringing the audience to the
story, rather than presenting the story to the audience. In case
you're wondering, I'll be a featured teller in Central Park next
Summer. The moral, for those that want one: It isn't how good the
story sounds, but how well a teller shares the story with the
listeners that counts. Diana cares more about how the tellers
treat her listeners than how polished a story is told.
Diana has a quaint little apartment in Greenwich Village. I gave
her and poor Philip David a ride there after the show. Poor
Philip David had to sit in the back of the Vardo. It was probably
a hundred degrees back there. A cool and quiet lunch in Diana's
garden. Yes, a garden. Sues would have loved it. We discuss the
community of tellers and the art. Shared some experiences and
swapped tapes and books. It was hard to say good-bye, but I've
another show in New Hampshire tomorrow and it's a long drive
between.
Diana has a new picture book out, "The Banza". ISBN:
0-8037-0428-3. It's short and sweet and I recommend it. I want to
share what she wrote to me inside the cover.
June 21, 1997
For Papa Joe,
Commemorating your storytelling at the Statue of HCA.
Here's one more for your repertory to tell in your way.
Wishing you all the best - always - Diana
No request for credit. No strings attached. Just a storyteller
sharing stories and hoping the stories live forever.
Pax & Amicitia,
Papa Joe
From the Vardo, on the road, USA
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From: Philip David Morgan
To: storytell
Subject: Papa Joes meets Diane Wolkstein (was Re: Tour notes #11)
Date: Sunday, June 22, 1997 9:50 PM
Good Evening, all:
This is a special note to all on STORYTELL, from Diane and me, to
thank Papa Joe for his presence yesterday in New York's Central
Park...
<snip> Philip David, Thank you for getting me this
invitation to tell Haitian tales with Diane Wolkstein.
<snap>
And bless you for coming. I'm glad we were able to fulfill your
wish.
_The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales_ was
republished this past January in a new edition by Random House.
So there's no excuse for any Borders or B. Dalton (or any other
bookstore for that matter) not to carry it or order it for you.
Amazon.com will also get it for you, or you can connect to:
http://www.randomhouse.com/
...and do an author's search. It's in there. Or you can get in
touch with us at Cloudstone. (We're actually quite friendly.)
<snip> ...So here I am, at one of the oldest storytelling
venues in the USA (thirty years), <snap>
Actually, we've had stories at the Statue of Hans Christian
Andersen for 41 years (this is the 41st). Diane has been there
since 1967, so this is her third decade in Central Park (her own
career has clocked thus far at 31 years).
<snip> Diana has a new picture book out, "The
Banza". ISBN: 0-8037-0428-3. It's short and sweet and I
recommend it. <snap>
Actually, it came out in 1984. The new picture book, _Bouki
dances the Kokioko_, will come out this Fall from Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich. Those who have the May 1997 _Storytelling Magazine_
will have a taste of what to
expect.
_The Banza_ will be availible for sale at the National
Storytelling Festival this October 3-5. I can say that with certainty because Diana and I shipped 40 hardcover copies (40
heavy tigers!) yesterday, along with a sampling of her audio and
video work. Or you can get the book from us - but you don't have
to buy 40.
BTW, Diana _will_ be telling this coming Saturday June 28. (We
weren't really sure two weeks ago. Now we are. Do come if you
can.)
The present schedule can be reached at:
http://www.li.net/~philipda/park.htm
Papa Joe, it was really good to meet with you in the Park. Let's
hope other brave souls on the list come forward in the years
ahead!
Still smiling,
Philip David Morgan
for Diane Wolkstein
and the Cloudstone Family
22 June, 1997
______________________________________
http://www.li.net/~philipda/dianaw.htm
______________________________________
Diane Wolkstein/Regina Ress
CLOUDSTONE
10 Patchin Place
New York City, New York 10011-8342
(NB: Diana will be leaving for Israel on June 29; she'll be back
before September 13).
______________________________________
"Forty heavy tigers, forty heavy tigers/Diana ships tigers R
A W..."
;->
Papa
Joe ~ Travel
Notes
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