February 2024 Newsletter

Join us for our Annual General Meeting in 2024!

We extend a warm invitation to all our esteemed members.

Kindly take note that only our Professional Members (PMs) and Voting Associate Members (VAMs) will have the privilege to exercise their voting rights.

However, we encourage all Associate Members to attend and witness the proceedings. After the meeting, we invite everyone to join us for an exciting Story Swap session. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to connect and engage with fellow members!

Time: 2.30pm – 4.30pm

Venue: Goodman Arts Centre, 90 Goodman Road, Blk E #03-32, Goodman Arts Centre, 439053.

Please register for February 24th 2024 AGM and Story Swap by clicking here 

For queries about AGM and Story Swap, please email SAS at storytellingsingapore@gmail.com

We all know how important movement, gesture and voice are in storytelling.

Rudolph Laban was a mid-20th century artist and observer of movement. He devised a system of movement that has been so integrated in actor training and physical education and even physical rehabilitation that we have lost the foundations of his contributions.

This workshop requires no prior experience and ensures you with a toolkit to build your Storytelling skills and expressivity for years to come. The system, like any rich system, can be simple to learn and take a lifetime to master.

About Laura: As a trained and certified Laban Integrated Movement Analyst, Laura has had 30 years of applying his work in theatre and education.

To find out more about Laura, the workshop and to register click here.

Courage Within

Life is life, embrace it.

Life bites, bear it.

Life smiles, smile back at it.

Life is life, treasure it!

Life is life, celebrate it!

The world ushered in 2024! 

In January many Hindus and Sikhs around the world celebrated Makar Sankranthi and Lohri, their respective harvest festivals.

Soon the world will usher in the Lunar New Year of the Wood Dragon.

Life is an amalgamation of the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly. Immense inner strength is required to navigate life. 

Baha’u’llah said, “Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”

What are those gems that humankind possesses? How does one cultivate them?

Courage, hope, faith, love, healing, resilience, graciousness; these are some of the innumerable gems that lie dormant within humankind and may need some polishing before they can be worn as prized possessions. 

“Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.” – Madeline L’Engle

In this series, let us explore through stories some of the inestimable gems. Here is a Mexican story.

Grandmother’s Stories and Songs.

In a village in Mexico lived a grandmother with her granddaughter. Grandmother was tall and graceful with strong arms and a face that had weathered the storms of life. Granddaughter was as delicate as the morning dew.

Like most little kids, granddaughter was curious. She loved to explore, and she enjoyed her imaginary games. She played in the nearby places, but every shadow frightened her. Anything new and unfamiliar jolted her. 

One day she saw an armadillo and she shook from head to toe as though it was a mountain lion ready to pounce on her and make a meal out of her. The shadow of a scurrying squirrel scared the living daylights out of her.

Grandmother noticed all of it. One evening when granddaughter rushed home, grandmother scooped her up in her arms and gently sat her down on her lap. She shared stories of great humans, about their courage, strength, resilience, love, faith, hope and humility; the myriad gems that lie within us. As she told a story grandmother stroked granddaughter, and as she stroked, she sang, “Oh, my precious one, I can feel your tender heart beating so. I can feel trembling inside your being. I can hear fear inside your bones.”

She stroked and stroked, and she continued, “The world is a frightening place for those who cannot trust. I am stroking trust into you, trust your mother felt, trust I felt, trust my mother felt before me.”

Granddaughter felt an immense warmth entering her body. Slowly the trembling eased, and she fell asleep.

Another evening a bunch of rambunctious boys ran past her towards the river, and granddaughter shivered within. “I can feel trembling in your being, I can hear fear inside your bones. The world is a frightening place for those without courage,” With loving strokes, she caressed her little one and she sang, “to your own bravery I add my bravery, and the bravery of your mother, and her grandmother before her.”

Granddaughter felt a surge of strength rush through her body and the trembling stopped.

One afternoon, a red warbler fell from its nest and injured itself. Granddaughter walked towards the little bird and picked it up. That was progress! Granddaughter would usually have fled but that afternoon she picked up the tiny creature and took it home. She cared for the fledgling with the same tenderness she received from her grandmother. That day grandmother said, “I can feel trembling in your being, I can hear fear inside your bones.” 

“Certainly, this is progress!” she exclaimed. “My little one, listen well. I can feel trembling in your being, I can hear fear inside your bones. The world is a frightening place for those who cannot help others. This afternoon you helped a tiny, trembling creature and discovered your gift of healing.”

Through the evening, she held her granddaughter close to her and sang, “This is my gift that I am stroking into you. It is also a gift of your mother and her grandmother before her.”

One busy morning when grandmother and granddaughter had sold their produce of corn and avocados, and were looking through the wares on sale, granddaughter noticed a greengrocer accusing a little boy of stealing something he had not stolen. He was shaking his fists and jabbed a finger at that little boy. 

Though granddaughter was shaking within, she approached the greengrocer and said, “This boy did not take anything; I have watched him. Please do not scream at him. My grandmother gave him that avocado this morning.”

Granddaughter then took the little boy aside and reached into her pocket and gave him all her spending money.

Granddaughter then narrated her tale to grandmother. “Ah, this is really progress!” said grandma with a whoop! 

That evening, over dinner, grandmother narrated a story and then sang, “My little one, listen well, the world is a frightening place for people without dignity. Today you showed your dignity when you stood tall between Mother Earth and Father Sky! To that I add the dignity I have been given, the dignity of your mother and her grandmother before her.” 

Granddaughter felt pride surge through her body. She felt stronger and filled up with warmth.

Now, how many times did grandmother sing and stroke granddaughter?

Do you remember how many stories, songs and hugs, and strokes of a loving hand you received from your loved ones? Well, neither do I. All I know is, trust and courage, playfulness and dignity, stories and songs run deep through my veins. Weeks, months, years of songs, stories, love, hope, and courage encompass me. The same was true for granddaughter. 

Granddaughter grew up to be loving and chirpy, trusting, and trustworthy, kind, and helpful, playful and gracious. She grew up into a confident woman delighting in everything around her and rich in laughter.

Can you believe that she once ran away from armadillos? 

References: Grandmother’s Song by Barbara Soros